Today, I am here with:

今日のスペシャルゲストは

Taylor B!

テイラー・ビー　こと

Slash Sailor Moon, here in her most lovely of homes.

セーラームーン。今テイラーの家にきています。

Because I would ask a very specific question. It's kind of been bothering me.

なぜなら、どうしても聞きたい質問があるのです。

Basically, am I too old for school?

私はもう、学校へ行く年齢を超えた？

We only are wearing these because we just finished filming a video on Taylor's channel.

ところで、この服は別の動画のために着ているけど、

So there's a link below and you can check that out.

よかったら、テイラーのチャンネルで見てください！

But I want to talk, just do some honest talk, about some things I've been feeling since I started school here.

でも、今回は日本で入学してから感じてことを正直シェアしたくて

So let's get that going now!

今すぐ着替えて、始めたいと思います！

Hello, guys and welcome back.

やほー！　着替えました！

We are eating some nacho cheese fries.

食べながら話しますけど、手元の料理は

Nacho fries

チーズポテト

Nacho fries

メキシコ風のチーズポテト。

But today, more importantly, because we're on my channel, not yours

といっても、料理の話をする場合じゃあい！

I wanted ask. I'm on MEXT scholarship now. You are a MEXT alumni.

国費留学の話ですね。テイラーも国費留学生でしたよね？

Yes.

そう。

You have a grad degree.

修士レベルだったよね？

Yep.

そう。

And you're awesome!

テイラー、すごい！

Thank you!

いいえ、いいえ、ありがとう。

So one of the things that I noticed when I first started was basically that everyone in Japan is really young.

最近、入学してから、周りの同級生が若くてうらやましいと思った。

It was like my first day of class and everyone's doing their self introductions

例えば、学校の最初日に、皆が自己紹介して、

And there's one guy who walks up and he's like: "I'm probably the oldest person in the room here."

一人がこう：「俺、一番年上だと思うんだけど･･･」

"I'm 23."

「23歳です。」

"I'm 23." I was like, you baby!

「23歳」と聞いてすごく驚いたわ。

You're a child!

ぜんぜん若いよ！

Meanwhile, I'm in the back like:

私が後ろからこんな目で：

There's this word called like "(8) Years-late-to-becoming-a-working-adult"

後で、日本語で色々調べて、自分も「8年遅れ」と言えることに気づいて

Yeah

うん、

Which is like, you're 8 years late to the graduation scene.

つまり、日本で就職すれば「8年遅れている」に見えるとか

There are basically kind of like set ages where you're supposed to graduate and start looking for a job.

やっぱり、日本では色んなことが年齢によって決まっている。

And the job searching process here in Japan is pretty set.

卒業、就職などがある程度基準があって

You're supposed to do certain things and interview in a certain way

「就職活動」みたいな制度があって

Wear a certain type of interview Clothing and hopefully a daikigyo

決まった格好で、インタービューがうまくいったら

a big corporate company will reach down and be like, "You're cool. Work with us forever."

大企業に選べるのが理想だと言わている。

We're taking you.

それが理想だね。

We're taking you into the fold!

大企業に認められることだね！

One of us!

ワン・オブ・アス！

Meanwhile I'm the complete opposite, like, as Americans...

アメリカ人として、今までやってきたことと正反対ですね。

I know so many people who, they graduate, they start their job because they to pay off their student loans

ローンを支払いするために、早くお金を稼ぐために就職するアメリカ人が多いです。

Right

そう。

And then you go back to grad school

で、貯まったら、また大学院に入る子が多い。

And you're like, "Wait, the job that I'm doing isn't exactly what I wanted.

最初に見つけた「お給料あれば何でもいい」の仕事をやめて

It's just the one I was using to get money and now I need to specialize. I need to go back."

選択肢を自分の専門に絞るために大学院にもどる学生が多い。

So I know that in America, it's ok to be older.

なので、大学院を通っているアメリカ人の平均的な年齢が高い。

You're paying for your school in America.

アメリカでは、大学も大学院も高いから

And the way I see it is if you're gonna pay for grad school

そんなに沢山お金を費やすなら

Yeah

また大学院に入る前に、少し考え直すのもいいんじゃない？

Don't do it until you know what you want.

例えば、今マーケティングなどの部門で働いている友達は

But a lot of my friends who were in other fields like marketing or advertising or whatever

大学を卒業して、5年間働いて、また大学院に入学したの。

They took maybe like four or five years off and then went back.

でも、ある程度。アメリカの方がそうやりやすいと思わない？

But I think there's also protections in place

アメリカは面接で年齢を聞くのが禁止されている。

Like when you're job hunting, they're not allowed to ask in America how old you are.

でも逆に日本の多くの場合は自分の写真を提出せざるをえない。

And things like that. Here in Japan, when you give your resume, you have to attach a picture of yourself.

普通に年齢を隠せないじゃん。

So there's no like hiding your age range.

新卒のあなたについてなんでも聞けるじゃん。

It's like they can basically ask you anything that they want to ask you, right?

まあ、法律詳しくないけど、そう感じますね。

I mean, I don't know the law that well, but I feel like you're not as protected

日本は個人より、会社のニーズが先だと感じる。

in that sense as you are in America. Like it's more protection for the companies.

うん。

Yeah

何でも聞いてもいい

They can ask whatever they want.

うん。

Yeah

アメリカは年齢・性別・ゲイ・子供の有無など聞けないからさ。

Whereas in America, they can't ask your gender or your age or any of that stuff.

日本で、大学を卒業したらすぐ大学院を考える学生が多いと思うけど、

I know in Japan, a lot of people do immediately go in. If they're gonna go to grad school, they go immediately.

私は、慶應義塾大学大学院メディアデザイン研究科に入って

But at least at my specific school, like I was just at the Media Design School at Keio

ある程度普段より自由だと思って

I feel like it was a lot more liberal and so

学生のダイバーシティが望ましくて

They aimed to have

違う年齢・人種・国籍の学生が望ましくて、

Different ages and different backgrounds and people from different cultures

なぜなら、それも大事な経験だと言われた。

Because it was part of the experience

でも、学校によると思う。

So I wonder if it varies from grad school to grad school.

そうだよね・・・私はいわゆる「経営学」専門ですから、あまり自由じゃないかな・・・

Yeah, and mine's like the school of business, so it's very, what's the word? Cookie cutter?

そういえば、日本の大学院に入学した理由を聞きたかったの。

Yeah! So I want to ask you, why did you decide to go for your Master's in Japan?

正直、無料だから。

Because they're paying for it.

本当？

Really?

そう、国費留学制度のおかげさまで、無料で勉強することができました。

That's the honest, really, the MEXT scholarship makes it free.

そう。

Right

最初、アメリカで大学を卒業した時、こう、

And I remember, when I first graduated college, I originally was like

「OK,　じゃ、次は修士かな？」

"Okay cool. I'm gonna get a Master's degree."

「東アジア研究でいいのかな？」と適当に思って

In East Asian studies cuz that's all I know about.

「修士」が当たり前だと勝手に思って

I was just like I think they need to get a Master's degree, so I'll go and try and get it.

結局調べたら、相当高いと思って止めたの。

And then I looked into it and was like, that's a lot of money, forget it! And I stopped.

あれから、日本の会社との交渉や営業ミーティングで

But I knew I always wanted to do something in Japan because I did sales with Japanese companies

「ところで、ロレッタは日本何年住んでいましたか」と聞かれ、

And I did like all these meetings. Answering "What's your real background with Japan?"

どう答えればいいか　分からなくて

And every time it was just like...

うん

Right

なんか、本当は・・・

You'd have the impractical...

その望んでいる答えが中々できなくて

Right! Not the answer they were looking for, so now

今回は日本の大学院に申し込んだの。一人で引っ越すわけじゃないから、

I applied for this scholarship. I kind of wanted a reason to go back to Japan and because it's not just me

しっかりして日本でも丈夫な生活ができるように

I wanted to have a legitimate reason to go back

ちゃんとした理由で日本に引っ越したかったの。

and have something a bit more fortified

それに、国費で、つまりこんな素敵な奨学金を得たので

And because it's a free scholarship-, well I mean, it's full, right? So at this point...

行くしかないと思いました。

I might as well.

日本の「経営学」を学んでいるから、これからは

And if it's a Japanese business degree, when I go into business meetings with Japanese people

営業などがお互いにできやすいと思いました。

Then I think it brings me closer to the playing field than where I was before

前みたいに「外人だからミスを許してください」という言い訳せずに、平等にがんばる。

As much as like flying in, like "I'm a special foreigner! Treat me well!"

私の場合はロレッタとちょっと違うと思う。

I feel like my experience is a little different than yours because I got into Keio

最初の一学期は奨学金がなくて

And I had a semester where I didn't have a scholarship

後で慶応大学から推薦いただいて

And I got it through the school. The school recommended me.

私費から国費に変わったの。

And then I was able to get the scholarship to pay for the rest of my school after that.

一学期は自分で払ったからロレッタと違うと思う。

I don't know. I feel like that was a little different. The way I got it was a little different.

そんなやりかったもあるよね。

Because those are the two tracks.

そう、慶応の大学院に申請した時に、もう日本に住んでいたの。

Yeah, and I was already living here when I applied to Keio.

うん。

Yeah

あら、電池切れたよね。

Is it back on?

ちなみに、

Yes

これ美味いよ。

This is so good.

思った！チーズ美味いでしょう！

It's good, right? The cheese is good.

ビーガンだと分からない。

This is really good. Your nacho cheese is quite good.

この味　好き。

I'm into it.

とにかく、キャリアのために大学院に入りました。

So I decided to go back to grad school because I wanted to get job that was kind of more towards my career.

でも比較的に、自分がすごいお婆さんだと思う。

I was just like, why do I feel so old though?

そんな　わけないでしょ。

But I don't think you are.

大学時代もこうだったけど、なぜか一人すごくとして取っている人がいつもいた。

It makes me think of, you know when you go to college, remember that one student

「だれだ、あのお爺さん？」といったけど、

And you're like, "Bro, why you so old?"

私は　あの変な一人の婆になったの！

I'm that student now!

「婆」　じゃないよ。

You're not though.

安心して。

Trust me.

婆になっても、自慢してほしい。

And even if you are, I feel like it's something to be proud of.

ん？

Right

自分で、この道を選んだからさ。

You decided to do this thing for yourself.

そうだよ。日本がなからば、大学院に行くチャンスがなかったかも。

And that's the thing, I wouldn't have gone to grad school otherwise. I could not afford to.

アメリカの大学のローンがまだ終わっていないし。

I'm still paying for my undergraduate degree.

私もよ。

Yeah, me too.

日本の大学院通っても、アメリカで残っているローンを支払っている。

While I'm going to grad school.

ですから、みんな自分の道を選んだ方がいいと思うけど

I definitely believe you should do what you wanna do. Live your life. Be strong. Be you.

逆に、大学・大学院などはあまりに高くて

But then at the same time, I'm like,

大学なんて、皆行くべきなんて、そんな当たり前な物じゃないからさ。

I think people think that college is kind of "atarimae" like it's just obvious that you should go to college.

ほかの国で国費とかあって違うかもしれないけど

And maybe in other countries it is because maybe it's better paid for.

アメリカ人の学生は

But if you're a U.S. student

そんな簡単には支払えないと思う。

It's not that easy to pay for.

最初でも、後のローンでも、いつかは絶対払うから

If you're going to end up paying for school or if you're gonna pay for your school

アメリカの大学･大学院は必要じゃなければ行かなくてもいいと思う。

Whether it's grad, undergrad or whatever, don't pay for it and unless you absolutely need it.

それより、払ってくれる会社・奨学金を見つけるのが理想。

Before you start looking for grad programs start looking for people who can pay for you to go to grad school.

私の友達が大学院を支払ってくれるアメリカの会社しか面接受けなかったの。

So my friend, he has a job. He looked for jobs specifically that would subsidize his grad school.

すごいね。

That's smart.

頭いいと思った。

That's really smart.

私もそうやればよかったかも。

I wish I had done that.

でも、ニューヨークの時は余裕がなかったから

That's why I didn't go jumping into grad school when I was in New York or before then

今まで大学院にいけませんでした。

Because I didn't wanna pay for it.

日本の国費制度のおかげさまで、いけるようになったけど、

And now that is being paid for, I'm like, well now I have the opportunity to go

大学院はそんな簡単に入る物じゃないと思います。

But for a lot of people, I would say don't just jump into grad school.

うん。

Yeah!

まあ、キャリアのためだったら、それはいいけど

I mean, if it's a means to an end, I would say it's worth it.

ただ「社会人になりたくない」みたいな理由は

If you're just doing it to kind of like

ばかばかしいだろう。

A job having to work

でしょ？

Maybe it's not the best.

でも、皆、自分の道があるから、自分で見つればいい。

Right?

まとめると、私はもう、学生になる年齢を超えたの？

But do what you want. You're an adult.

マイペースで自分の道をえらんだから、そうじゃないと思う。

Long story short: Am I too old for school?

学校が入学させてから別にいいんじゃない？年齢とか。

I don't think so because I came back on my own time. It wouldn't have made sense financially for me.

ただ、同級生の一人が「ロレッタって、社会人として失敗したの？」と聞いた時に

If they're willing to accept you at your age, you're not too old for school.

超　ぶち切れたよ！

Some kid was like, did you fail at being shakaijin? Did you fail at being a full-on adult?

お前分からないでしょ？

I was like, BRO! Did you start?!

経験ないから　間単にいうな！

Did you even try?

まあ、皆適当に年齢の水準なんて想像しているけど

Did you even try?!

年齢なんて関係ない。

I feel like there's such an idea of a path you should take and things should take a certain amount of time.

年齢なんて人が勝手に気にする。

But it's not real.

「多くの人がこうやっているから」と言ってさ、

It's just something that people made up in their heads.

３０代、４０代、５０代、９０代の時に大学院に入学したいと思えば

You shouldn't have to follow that just because a lot of people have done things that way.

自分が遅れているじゃなくて、ただ自分のペースだそうなっただけ。

If you go to grad school if your 30 or 40 or 50 or 90

結構食べたよね。

It doesn't mean you're too old or you're a failure. It's just in your own time.

まあ、私は自分の年齢をすごく気にするけど、皆はどうですか。

The food's almost gone.

時に、日本人の意見を聞きたいですね。

Yeah, that was just something I was kind of thinking about. What do you guys think about it?

８～１０年遅れになるかもしれないけど、どうしよ私・・・

Especially Japanese people, I hope they're reading the subtitles.

自分の思っていること・意見をコメントでぜひ書いてくださいね！

Like, maybe I'm 8-years(or more)-too-late-to-be-an-adult, so what should I do?

それで、テイラーの動画もみてね！

So let us know in a comment below what you guys think about school, life, following your own path, doing what's right for you.

こんな感じじゃないけどね。

And check out Taylor's video!

結構面白い動画アップしている。

It's not like this!

変に面白い。

We're weird.

そう。

We are being quite silly.

それでは、私の変な話を聞いてくれて

Yeah

本当にありがとうございました。

Thank you for listening to my weird talk about my weird feelings

料理美味かったね。

And watching us eat really good food.

美味しかったね！

So tasty

では、次の動画で合いましょう！

So tasty!

We'll see you guys in another video. All right. Thanks for watching, guys!

I love you guys!