The Compasses of My Life

Now, I am enjoying my life every day: I study English that I like, talk with my friends, join the basketball circle, go shopping with my friends, and go out various places with my boyfriend and so on. It is not too much to say that I live a fullest life in my past life. However, I have only reached this situation after compasses of my great teachers. They taught me not only knowledge but also the practical side of life. I’m going to write about them, especially, two teachers.

First of all, I want to explain about an English teacher in my junior high school. Her name is Junko Shoji and she taught me English for three years. Ms. Shoji liked purple and her personal belongings were all purple. Moreover, she always talked with exaggerated gestures. Therefore, she had a distinctive atmosphere. However, she was good at teaching English and enslaving students in her English class. Also, I was one of the students become charmed by her English class. At the same time, I become enthralled by English and it was my motive of loving English. In her English class, Ms. Shoji had never only taught the language exactly as it was in a textbook. She composed English songs of memory works and had her students sing that in order to learn these things easily and pleasantly for us. Furthermore, she had her students perform a play on the stage in English to memorize important sentences simply. In the Christmas season, we sung a lot of Christmas songs together and held a Christmas party in English. We could have a great time every Christmas day. Anyway, Ms. Shoji always tried to teach us pleasure of learning English. Thanks to this, I became an English lover and I had decided to keep studying English. Ms. Shoji also taught us out-of-school discipline, especially, how a woman should be: the way of bowing rightly, a smart manner of wearing cloths, and a sophisticated way of talking and so on. In fact, these things come in very useful now. To sum up, Ms. Shoji has been like an English master and a woman master to me.

Secondly, I want to explain about a club coach in my high school. His name is Takabumi Takagi and he is the coach of a badminton club. Also, he is a chemistry teacher. Mr. Takagi loves badminton and always instructed us enthusiastically. Therefore, our badminton club’s training schedule was so rigorous and the amount of practice was very large. As I had never taken exercise too much before, it was very hard for me to complete these strict practice schedules at first. Consequently, I was sometimes ready to give up carrying out the schedules because of no guts. However, Mr. Takagi never permitted to give up. He always said like this: “Only after daily effort can one win the crown of victory. Don’t give up. Believe yourself. You can get a great sense of achievement only after you accomplish hard work. Do your best!” When I heard this phrase, I could learn the meaning of keeping going to the end. In fact, I was so pleased that I couldn’t say anything when I won big games. After that, I have been trying to do my best for everything. Mr. Takagi is not only a passionate person but also my good adviser. He was so friendly to his students and he was very popular among us. I used to rely on him in sides, both pursuit of knowledge and the practical side of life. In reference to study, I was poor at chemistry when I was a tenth-grade student because of my bad chemistry teacher, so I was always taught chemistry from A to Z by him before every exam. As a result of it, I became strong in chemistry subsequently. Moreover, during the university entrance exam season, he had been teaching me the subject until last and he had been cheering up me. When it comes to the practical side of life, whenever I had troubles: friend troubles and love troubles and so on, he hung on my every word and gave me an appropriate advice. I hadn’t had such a teacher who I can consult various private things, so I was always happy to be helped by him. We have been still keeping in touch with each other and I remember his phrase, “Do your best!”

In conclusion, I think they always led me the path of righteousness like ‘compasses’ whenever I wavered in my judgment. It’s thanks to these teachers that I am what I am today. I will never forget them and these memories and I love them forever. I will make the best use of things learning from them in the future. Thank you very much and I love you!

Maya