Ms. Lin Kobayshi, ISAK’s Founder and Chair of the Board, visited our students during Project Week to share her entrepreneurial experience and offer some inspiring advice.
When Ms. Kobayashi founded ISAK, she knew that she wanted to create an educational environment where leaders-to-be could challenge, inspire and learn from each other. And, she knew that she wanted the school to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, a holistic curriculum which emphasizes both rigorous academics as well as personal development. But, Ms. Kobayshi had no previous experience starting an international boarding high school in Japan. As she set forth on a five year journey, Ms. Kobayashi found three ideas to be extremely important in ultimately reaching her goal. She shared these ideas with our students in hopes of inspiring them to successfully pursue their own goals:
1. Find your motivation.
Keep asking yourself what it is you want to achieve in your life.
2. Take an action.
Start prototyping, no matter how small. “For ISAK, summer school got us started. We began with 30 summer school students in 2010 and now we are working towards reforming education in Japan!”
3. Be persistent.
Never give up and always keep moving forward, even in the face of discomfort.
About Lin Kobayashi:
ISAK’s founder, Ms. Kobayashi, began her career at Morgan Stanley and holds an MA in International Education Policy Analysis from Stanford University and a BA in Development Economics from the University of Tokyo. More recently, Ms. Kobayashi was honored with the title of “Young Global Leader 2012” by the World Economic Forum, was selected as a “Change-maker of the Year 2013” and “Nikkei Woman of the Year 2014” by Nikkei Business, one of Japan’s top business magazines. She is currently a member of the Committee for Japan’s Future under the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, as well as a member of the Council for the Implementation of Education Rebuilding, Cabinet Secretariat.
