What are your expectations for studying at university? You will find an endless number of possibilities, including in-depth exploration of your academic interests, rich communication with your peers as well as our faculty and staff, and extracurricular activities that will strengthen you both mentally and physically. You need not make a single choice to meet these expectations. You can create multiple axels. It is up to you to decide what to confront and what to challenge during your student life.

What you learn, where you go, what you encounter, and how you act while you are at university are not programmed. These experiences will be built on the paths that you design and the challenges encountered along the way. And by following these unique trajectories, you will foster your individuality. Even what seems to be an identical experience will have a unique impact on your individuality. How you perceive each experience, from what motivated you to what the consequences were, and how you take the next step, will determine your “individual trajectory of growth.”

Seen in this light, a university, as a forum for learning, needs to offer broader and deeper opportunities in greater numbers for you to make choices. I hope that you will experience unique encounters that you cannot even imagine today. These encounters can be diverse. I hope that you will pursue opportunities to grasp that “something” that you can gain through taking on challenges, including depth of your studies, diverse values in different cultures, the current state of global society, and the beliefs and aspirations of others.

Our society now stands at a major turning point, which is one of the few in human history. With a moribund global environment , disparities in global society, complexly intertwined international relations, new ways of life introduced by technological innovation, and new social issues emerging from increased longevity and the declining birthrate, all aspects of society are in need of solutions. Yet, there is no single correct answer. What kind of solutions shall we seek? That is our choice to make. You belong to a generation that will be leaders in this important dimension of understanding our choices and making the choices that will determine the direction of future human society.

Sophia University seeks to be a university that fosters the skills and courage to boldly approach various social issues and build values based on which you will pursue a rich life for yourself and justice in society. To this end, we will focus on developing a campus environment that nur tures your uniqueness and individuality. We invite you to join us and become Sophians who welcome diversity and differences and play our roles in society while caring for others.