In retrospect, I feel that completing my daily classes and assignments at school contributed to my studies for the entrance examinations. From the winter of my second year of high school, I started going to a preparatory school and studied with my friends until around 10 p.m. I was especially fortunate to have a senior from my high school as a tutor, so I was able to ask questions about what I didn't understand and discuss my future plans. In the summer of my third year of high school, I participated in a study camp organized by the prep school for three days and two nights, where I devoted myself to studying with my friends from early in the morning until late at night. Through such experiences, I feel that I was able to improve myself.

When I was a first-year high school student, it was difficult for me to balance my activities as a high school peace ambassador with my studies, and there were many parts of my studies that I did not understand deeply. In my second and third years of high school, I had a hard time going over what I had learned in my first year while also learning new things.

Currently, I am studying clinical medicine, which involves learning about the ailments of the different medical departments. I am learning about the underlying causes of each disease, what sort of diagnostic testing is needed, and how to proceed with treatment. Specifically, classes are divided into sections such as “Gastroenterology,” “Cardiology,” “Ophthalmology,” “Dermatology,” and “Pediatrics,” and students take exams every week. For example, in the pediatrics class, we were divided into groups to discuss what diseases were suspected using data from actual patients, and then we had to research and present what additional tests should be performed to diagnose the disease. Another unique class at the School of Medicine is the “Medical Research Training” in the fourth year. Students are assigned to laboratories both on- and off-campus for research training, which lasts for four months. Compared to other universities, the training period is much longer. From next spring, I am planning to conduct research on myelodysplastic syndromes of atomic bomb survivors at the Nagasaki University Atomic Bomb Disease Institute.

At university, I am a member of the badminton society and the tea ceremony club. In the summer of my first year at university, I participated in a training camp where I had fun playing in the river, watching fireworks, and eating fish that we caught in the fishing pond.

I have also been learning dance since I was in the first grade of elementary school, and I continue to do so today. The other day, I had the opportunity to perform in a dance concert.

As for volunteer activities, in my first year of university, I applied for the Hiroshima City A-bomb Survivor Awareness Program, hoping to make use of my experience as a high school peace ambassador, and have been participating in monthly training sessions to become a “Memory Keeper” to pass on the A-bomb experience of Shouso Kawamoto, an A-bomb survivor to the next generation.

It all started when I heard from a senior at high school who was working as a high school peace ambassador. When I was in my third year of junior high school, I started participating in a petition that high school peace ambassadors would submit to the United Nations. When I was a first-year student in high school, I was selected as the 18th High School Peace Ambassador from Hiroshima, and I also had the honor of giving a speech at the Conference on Disarmament held at the United Nations European Headquarters. As a member of the Japanese government delegation, I expressed the wishes of the A-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the solemn atmosphere of the United Nations Conference Hall and called on the disarmament representatives of various countries to visit Hiroshima.

I know it is very challenging for students who are taking the entrance exams to juggle various tasks such as daily classes, preparation and review of classes, and weekend assignments and quizzes, and it may be hard for them to do it alone. Even in such a situation, I would like you to face the exam with the awareness that you are not facing the exam alone, but together with your classmates and teachers.

Actually, I was able to study more efficiently and concentrate more on my studies when I studied with others who had the same goal of passing the university entrance exam than when I studied alone. I went to school early in the morning and studied in the classroom before the start of the school day, and I actively used the study room at the cram school. As you keep working hard, there will be times when you cannot get the results you want no matter how hard you try. At such times, it is important to take a break or get advice from your teachers or seniors to relieve your mind.

I would like you to be proactive about your examinations and think about what you need to do, working backward from your dreams, ask yourself what kind of dreams you have, which university department you should enter to make your dreams come true, and what you need to do now to enter that university. I am sure that teachers and family members will support students with great enthusiasm. I am cheering for you all to realize your dreams for the future!

November, 2021
Interview and Photograph: Public Relations Group (H)
Location: Kasumi Campus