Special Message from the Dean of GLOBIS University about COVID-19

I am writing this message from Tokyo, Japan, where we are asked to stay at home over the weekend to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. I expect that many of you have been asked to stay at home with a lockdown of your country/region, or have even been forced into quarantine after an overseas trip.

Yes, this is a difficult time. Especially if you are young and full of energy. But for us to live, we humans depend on our environment, on our mother earth. Thus, let’s not look back at the past and say that we could have done this and that, but focus our attention on the present and future.

There are opportunities here.

The first thing I recommend you do is study. When things are normal, there are so many things to do. You can play sports, dine with your friends, go out to a movie. But we are now facing a new normal, and many of us are asked to face it at home. Thus, in a way, you have a golden opportunity: invest your time into your field of interest. Cooped up at home, you’ll probably find you have the energy and commitment to read ten books in that field, gaining experience and knowledge for new perspectives.

The second thing I recommend is to think about your career. Yes, you are working in Company A or employed by Organization B. But what is the most exciting or motivating thing in your life? What are you good at? How do you deliver economic value, and to whom? Who do you want to be in five or ten years? Order a fancy new notebook through Amazon, Lazada, John Lewis, or Rakuten and scribble down some ideas. This is your first step to cultivating a down-to-earth career that will make you happy and your future bright.   

Third, this is a time to help others. Ask yourself: is there anything I can do to help people who are suffering with the expansion of coronavirus? If you are good as music, post your music on your social media account for free. This might bring a blessing to people who need a little enjoyment right now. If you can afford it, search for a way to help people in need financially. Hard times are an opportunity to cultivate our humanity. So try to do something for others, even if you’re stuck at home. 

I have been practicing aikido, a Japanese martial art, for more than thirty-five years. The heart of aikido lies in inhaling and exhaling ki, a spiritual energy of the universe. But this does not happen if you concentrate fully on yourself. It happens when you unite your body and mind, and then spread your awareness or consciousness to others, or outside of yourself like to nature and to mother earth.

After Prime Minister Abe asked all elementary and high schools to be closed on Thursday, February 27, we at GLOBIS University decided to convert all on-campus courses into an online format from the following Monday, March 2. We will continue to do so in April. This was no easy challenge—there are as many as eighty online MBA courses in a day at GLOBIS University—but we believe in providing management education to our students in a safe environment.

At the same time, as GLOBIS contributes to you and to society, we prepared a special offer through GLOBIS Unlimited for those who want to further their studies while staying at home. If you are eager to forward your career through business microlearning from Japan’s No. 1 MBA, please sign up via the link below by Tuesday, April 7:

I hope that we can come up stronger as individuals and as a society when the coronavirus settles. In the meantime, please stay safe and continue to seize every opportunity for your future in these difficult times. I very much look forward to meeting you virtually.

Yours sincerely,
Tomoya Nakamura
Dean, MBA Programs
Graduate School of Management, GLOBIS University