Exercise Report: Interview Writing Practical Exercise
In early June, the Hokkaido University Festival was held on the beautiful, green Sapporo Campus.
I participated in the CoSTEP interview writing exercise, where we covered this university festival to create articles that share the appeal of Hokkaido University.
For me, as a student in the specialized course, this was my first in-person exercise.
A month has passed since the course ended, and I finally feel like I can write this report.
That is how intense those two days were for me.
1. Things I thought 'you should definitely try' after participating
First of all, what I want to tell those who are taking or will be taking CoSTEP is that I strongly recommend
participating in the real (in-person) exercises as much as possible
.
Since the assignment is to conduct an interview, one reason is that it cannot be realized without an in-person exercise, but more than that, as someone who chose a study format of taking lectures remotely and having no practical training, the interactions and connections with peers and instructors beyond the regular and specialized courses were truly irreplaceable.
Besides, the presence of peers who are also advancing their learning is truly reassuring.
During the exercise, there were many times I felt lonely, but I was truly helped by the presence of my peers.
In my case, starting from the fact that I am not good at 'festivals' in the first place, I probably wouldn't have even tried it if it weren't for my peers.
Everyone participating in CoSTEP is passionate. They have incredible enthusiasm. I believe that the influence of having many opportunities to come into contact with that is significant.
2. What I gained through interview writing
Furthermore, the instructors are also passionate.
Although there were time constraints, they noticed and pointed out even the most delicate details, and they conveyed them to the students sincerely.
In my own experience, during the writing phase, I couldn't quite grasp the concept of 'writing expressions that lead to understanding and empathy assuming the reader' (excerpted from the exercise goals).
It inevitably ended up being an 'explanation'.
I think I couldn't break out of that framework because I have often been required to explain things as objectively as possible without being emotional.
I asked questions about the parts I couldn't grasp, but these were talks about quite difficult nuances.
The instructors also struggled while continuing to convey it to me.
In the end, I couldn't create the expressions for the parts pointed out as 'let's lead to empathy and create a sense of presence' by myself, but through the interactions with the instructors, the revision process, and the articles of other students, I think I was able to somehow grasp the switching of perspectives to 'reader-oriented understanding and sensation'.
At the same time, I was able to become aware of my own selfish habits when outputting. (I'm too embarrassed to write them here)
On the other hand, there were also moments where I was made aware of my own strengths that I had been unconscious of.
Through the exercise, both good and bad points emerged, and I received truly many realizations and learnings.
3. 2026 Hokkaido University Festival Interview Article
There are 19 articles created by 10 students gathered from CoSTEP's regular and specialized courses who interviewed at the Hokkaido University Festival over two days.
They are published on the web magazine 'Iine! Hokudai' operated by CoSTEP.
Each student's personality comes through, and there are many warm articles, so please read them!