Miss Miho Nakatsuka, a second-year student of Nursing Course, School of Medicine was awarded the "Live for our dreams: women education and training" prize by Soroptimist International of the Americas Japan Chuo Region on February 23, 2018. Her work was selected to second in ranking in the Soroptimist Federation* out of 66 applicants at the screening meeting held on February 23. The awarding ceremony was held at the Soroptimist annual meeting at the hotel in Kobe on April 25.

Currently, the Soroptimist International has approximately 80,000 members in 130 countries and regions including Japan (134 organizations) whose members engage in various volunteer activities for improvement of women's lives. The "Live for our dreams: women education and training" prize is one of the main programs of Soroptimist International which aims to support women who are studying for their independence. On an average, only 6 are presented the prizes per year in 14 prefectures of Japan Chuo Region (Aichi, Fukui, Gifu, Hyogo, Ishikawa, Kyoto, Mie, Nagano, Nara, Osaka, Shiga, Shizuoka, Toyama and Wakayama prefectures), and the first prize is considered to be one of the most eminent honors in Japan Cho Region.

Miss Nakatsuka and Professor Futoshi Okumura, Dean of the Nursing Course visited the Office of President on May 24, and reported her awarding. Miss Nakatsuka said, "I have compiled a report about the ordeals I went through after Kimomoto Earthquake and eruptions of Mt. Aso. I also reported my strong wills to continue my studies despite such difficulties. Now I realize that every misfortune that descended on me has a meaning." President Moriwaki made the following comment to her: "Your awarding is truly outstanding. Please keep on working hard and stay well-informed on any fields of research and studies.

*There are four Soroptimist Federations under the umbrella of Soroptimist International; Soroptimist International of the Americas, Soroptimist International of Europe, Soroptimist International of Great Britain & Ireland and Soroptimist International of the South West Pacific. )