Reflecting on Mitou Junior

This article is part of the Mitou Junior Advent Calendar.

Hello everyone, this is Soumame (https://tokumaru.work/ja). I was attending an Australian international school in Malaysia and graduated at the end of November. As 2024 is coming to an end, I’ve been reflecting on various things I’ve done this year.

Today, I’d like to casually look back on my journey with Mitou Junior, a creator support program that I completed in November this year - from how it started to how it progressed. If you’re not familiar with Mitou Junior, please check out their website.

未踏ジュニア - 小中高生クリエータ支援プログラム

独創的なアイデアを持つ小中高生クリエータに対し、各界で活躍するメンターやその他専門家による指導、また最大50万円の開発資金の援助を行います。

jr.mitou.org

It Started When I Watched the Mitou Junior Final Presentation

My journey with Mitou Junior goes back over 2 years. In November 2022, I went to watch the final presentations with a friend I had just met that day.

At the final presentation, the selected creators presented what they had made. To be honest, my only impression was that everyone was talking about complex things, and I just thought “Wow, there are so many geniuses gathered here, amazing. Someone like me…” The projects were completed at a level that seemed impossible for elementary/middle/high school students, so I was just amazed. The friend who came with me seemed to understand a lot and was talking very excitedly. Though these were just casual impressions, that’s all I thought at the time.

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