The first Global Citizenship I (GCI) special lecture was delivered online to the first-year students of the Department of Global Awareness (DGA) on July 15, 2025.

The lecturer was Mr. Kouta Hirose, who is currently participating in a co-op program (also known as cooperative education) near Vancouver, Canada. Co-op programs in Canada integrate academic study with practical, paid work experience in a student's field of study.

Mr. Hirose graduated from Akashi Nishi Senior High School in March 2022 (the 44th graduating class and the 17th DGA graduate) and began studying English at Kobe City University of Foreign Studies in April. During his third year, he decided to study in Canada.

Mr. Hirose discussed the following topics online: 1) self-introduction; 2) what a co-op program is; 3) differences between co-op programs and working holiday programs; 4) his experiences at a language school and at work; 5) his career plans after the program; and 6) what he learned from the program.

After the one-hour lecture, several questions were asked, including about his favorite food, his English proficiency while studying at the DGA, and the languages used in Canada.

He said, "At first in Canada, my English speaking skills were weak because I didn't provide reasons for my statements. I was perceived as superficial. Since then, I have tried to support every statement with a reason. I encourage you to practice expressing your opinions with supporting reasons consistently."

In his final message, he said, "Of course, you should study English, but please also try to find another field of study besides English language learning. In Canada, there are many immigrants from around the world, and they all speak English."