Monthly Archives: July 2014

hdaiki

This I believe — hdaiki

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I believe…

Tue, 2nd Period 31345050 Daiki Hirabayashi

 

I believe working hard together with friends is our lives’ asset. I recently watched the movie called “The King’s Speech”, and I again realized the importance of cooperating. If we have friends who we can trust, we will be able to overcome any difficulties.

 

Firstly, I shall give little summary of the movie. “The King’s Speech” is the historical story about Prince Albert, who was also called Bertie, and later became the King George VI in Britain. Although Bertie was a member of the royal family, he was imperfect person as we are. He was very humane, but also stubborn and serious too much. Furthermore, the biggest problem he had was stammer. He could not speak properly in front of the audiences, even though he had many opportunities where he had to speak to his people. So his wife, Elizabeth, asked the unorthodox speech therapist, Lionel Logue, to cure Bertie. At the beginning, Bertie refused Lionel’s treatment. However, he gradually opened his heart to Lionel and revealed himself, which he had kept as a secret. The treatment was about more than correcting stammer for Bertie because he gained a hugely trustful friend. Together with Lionel, Bertie could overcome his stammer and succeeded his declaration speech of the WW2.

 

I believe this movie proves that the friendship can cross over any gaps and differences. For example, Bertie was a British King and Lionel was an ordinary person from Australia, and despite their differences of classes and nationalities, they could become friends. No matter the differences, we can become friends with anybody. We do not have to care about any gaps. If we meet someone we can really trust, we should esteem that relationships. I do not say that we have to have many friends, but I believe we should have at least one friend we can trust and help each other.

 

Moreover, I believe we can overcome any tough situation with this cooperation with friends. Bertie’s stammer was a mental illness, so it was difficult to cure it. However, in order to solve the stammer problem, Lionel tried to understand who Bertie was and accept all of him. Lionel did not try to be a doctor, he rather tried to be a friend. This is why Bertie could overcome his weakness. “Don’t think about unnecessary things, just say to me, my friend.” This quote is Lionel’s word. He never stopped encouraging Bertie. This is the perfect example of friendship. A friend is a person who tries to understand and accept you. With the friend, you can relax and can be who you are and who you need to be. The friend gives us power to fight against hardships. When we work hard and try to overcome difficulties, we obviously need such friends.

 

We cannot value the importance of friendship, it is priceless. We should continue working together and helping each other with our friends because they are always with us.

haruka s

This I believe

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I believe we know what the important things in our life are. But we sometimes forget because we take them for granted. Appreciation is one of them. I don’t want to have such situation that people will forget appreciation and the phrase of “thank you” someday.

When I was a high school student, my teacher gave me a message: “You owe what you are today to the people around you. So don’t hesitate to express your appreciation to them at any time.” This message reminds me of being supported by so many people like my family, friends and teachers.

In society, we are supported by someone and express our appreciation for it unconsciously. Through such a normal interaction, we can create a bond with each other. This kind of relationship expands rapidly, from small one to all Japan and from all Japan to all over the world. It builds up strong bonds among people over the border.

Do you know “Peace Village International” in Germany? It is a non-profit charity operating a medical facility. They accept children who can’t get any medical treatment in their own country because of the war or crisis areas. It is being run by contributions only and there are many staff from all over the world. In other words, this facility is supported by the hope and good will of people who believe this is essential for innocent children. After finishing the treatment, children return home and try to contribute to the Peace Village International in their own way. They keep the hope for “peace”, which is way they appreciate it. And the staff always have appreciation for the children and other staff working there. This is the important element that the project has kept on over 40 years. The feeling of appreciation makes an emotional connection among all their people. It is most decisive evidence that this project is expanding worldwide in the ways of the “succession” and “cooperation” day by day.

What can we do for keeping appreciation in our mind? The answer is to continue to say “thank you” to others. This phrase is like a light to keep in our mind the importance of helping and supporting each other. I think it is now the most necessary phrase for this world filled with sad news. The individual appreciation may not be so strong, but every person has it. The way to express it depends on the one. So the important point is to show the appreciation in a visible way to others. When you feel happy and thankful for them, tell them “thank you”. First of all , let’s start to appreciate the small things around us.  028_140712_2021A0

Uncategorized, yamato

Yamato Aoki: This is I believe

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Yamato Aoki: This is I believe

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I believe that Japan will get rid of one quadrillion yen worth of government bonds and become the leader of the world as a developed country full of social issues.

I went to study in the Unites States of America when I was 15 on my own. It was an eye-opening experience for me especially because I only spent my time studying and playing sports in Japan. Many of the same generation was passionate about politics. There was a discussion about  American military base in Okinawa during one of the classes I took. One of the students asked me what I thought about it and I couldn’t say a word. My English wasn’t good but more than that, I didn’t know anything about that issue. Afterwards, I had many opportunities to participate in social movements. One of them was the presidential election that Obama was in.

After Obama got elected, I came back to Japan. I realized there were not many young people who were interested in social and political issues. Therefore, I started a non-profit organization to make young people more involved in politics. As the leader of this organization, I got to discuss with lot of local government workers about the future of this country. They all said that Japan faces declining birthrate and aging population.

I believe that only the young can solve these problems. Considering that I may live in this country for the coming 60 years,  we must reconsider the mindsets of local and federal governments.  They seem to believe that national tax will allocated to local governments in the form of subsidies as if they fall from the heavens. Hence, they do not live in the framework in which they must raise the money for themselves. I believe that even these local governments must take the responsibility to raise the money to solve the problems that they face.

Only after accomplishing this will Japan solve its quadrillion yen bond problem, and truly become a global leader. I believe that I will be a member who can contribute to realizing this dream.

 

nkeita, Uncategorized

This I Believe

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This I Believe

I am satisfied with my life these days because I have got to challenge myself in everyday lives. And I found some essential factors to make your life better and enjoyable.

 

What changed my life fundamentally was dancing. I had wanted for a long time to begin something through which I can achieve a goal with my own efforts before I enrolled in college. I started krump dancing. When you move in the style of krump, you can express your emotions and energies much more than any other style of dancing. Krump dancing itself is of course very good to do, but its important characteristic is that krump is a dance of battle. You express yourself and improve your skills through battles with other dancers, and in fact I can see most of krump dancers are very earnest. You have to be so earnest that you keep up with or beat your rivals.

 

But when battling or competing, you cannot help thinking of being defeated. If someone defeats you, of course you will get depressed, and have a hard time. Though at the same time you can have many ways to deny your lose, by making excuses, sometimes such fears of defeat put you away from trying, making efforts or competing with others.

 

I was also scared of competitions and defeats. The fear of defeat was, to me, too big to compete with others because I had never experienced defeat. I often made an excuse of lose and my lack of efforts. But through krump dancing, I changed. Now when I’m in face-to-face competition with the rival in dancing, somehow I do never want to lose and despite the fear of loses, I can feel like challenging the rivals. What did make me change?

 

I think that is because I met many people who are better at dancing and I lost many times, then my arrogance was swept away. Now I can also see the enjoyable dimensions of things more than the fears of failure. I think I have got more active and satisfied with everyday lives  than before. I try things, and then, whether I succeed or fail, learn many things from them. If you are scared of failure, you may also be scared of challenging yourself, then you cannot learn anything from your life. I think it is a waste of lifetime.

 

I believe what is important in life is the experience of failure, and the passion to learn from and get over it.

kazuaki, Uncategorized

This I believe

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I believe sport is the greatest things for us. Sports is like a universal language. Without knowing someone, I can enjoy the sport with someone who are stranger for me. Let me give you two example about sport.

First, I was a handball player in high school. I can get along well most people in high school club activities because I have understand each other thorough the sports. The practice was very hard. I have practiced from morning till night. I ate dish with everyone who are my team mate when it becomes late at night. I spent most time of the high school with my friends of the club. By playing sport, we can learn everything. So I think sport is very important. I play handball at the university now. I made a friend through handball. When I entered university, the first opportunity to make friends was also playing a sport. I can make friends by playing sports even if the relationship is bad. While I play sport with friends, I forget what does not matter for the game. Still now the relationship with team mates is good.

Second, I went to the Philippines last summer. Philipino is so kind. When I was walking, many people have been talking to us. People told me to welcome us, but we did not know what they are saying. So I could not be to a close friend. I was not able to reply. It is difficult for us to talk with foreigner because of language. I could not convey what I think. Then we played soccer together. Although we cannot convey words but we can enjoy playing sport. We grieve and joy together. After the game, we became very good friends. I have kept in touch with them even now.

Recently it have been said that Asia’s situation is not good especially for China, Korea and Japan. Most of Asian cannot speak English. So it is not easy for Asia to understand each other. But to make world better Asia have to stand together. As a first step, I think it is good that we Asian play sport together. It is true that it is difficult to make relationship good suddenly at the political level. But I think we can get along well in the citizen level like I experienced in the Philippines. So that, I want to play sport with people from all over the world. I want to be friends with people from all over the world through it.

koichi, Uncategorized

This I believe

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I believe family. My family always help me when I’m in a difficult situation. I have a mother,a father, a elder sister, and a cat. My family is very close. we have a supper together almost every day. And once a week everyone in the family eat out and enjoy conversations. More over we seldom get into an argument. I love my family very much.

My mother cooks breakfast and supper every day. And it is very delicious. I eat it almost every day. I don’t work and don’t have much money so eating her dish is also economical. I love her dish.

When I was an elementary school student, I tried to enter a private junior highschool. So I had to pass an exam. And my mother always taught me all subjects.

When I failed to enter an university, and I had to study one more year, she encouraged me. Thanks to her encouragement, I could study hard. Without her kind heart, I wouldn’t be a Keio university student.

My father always let me do what I want to do. When I wanted to enter private junior highschool, and when I failed to enter an university, he forgave me. More over he don’t mind paying money for me. Without his generous heart, I wouldn’t be a Keio university student too.

My mother and father are very close. They have been married for about 30 years. As far as I know, they never get into an argument. They sometimes travel double. And I’m happy when I see their closeness. I give a gift every their wedding anniversary.

My elder sister is not only valued family member but also my best friend. When I was child, I and she are on bad terms. But now we are very close. We have a same liking for food and music. So we talk like friends almost every day. I think she will have been my best friend.

Last, I introduce our cat “Sachiko”. She is two years old. She is Singapura that is most tiny cat. She is very cute and sociable. When I’m sad, I play with her and I’m healed.

As I said, I’m always helped by my family when I’m in a difficult situation. My family make what I am. I’m always thankful to my family. And I believe them. I love my family very much.

jo

This I believe

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“This I believe”

I believe the power of teammates, the power to achieve the goal as a team. Teammates cooperate on you and work to overcome difficulties, or make the situation better. Furthermore, if you feel you are working alone, you just don’t know that there are many “teammates” who support you.

For example, I belong to Keio magicians’ society. It holds a stage and about 600 audiences come to the stage every year.
This year, I appeared on the stage for the first time. I performed a playing cards’ magic, using 150 cards. Cards’ magic is one of the most difficult magic, so I had to make time for the practice.
However, I also belong to the Taiikukai, Shorinji Kempo Team. I was pressed with the practice of Shorinji Kempo and I felt shameful when I showed my magic routine to the magic club’s members because it was not well-organized. I feared what they would say and didn’t want to communicate with the member then.

From one month before the stage, my every free time had been used to practice. I thought I would be alone when I practiced. However, there were also the members of our club, who practiced for the stage or came to see our magic. I admitted to receive advices and learn technics from them to improve my magic routine. Surprisingly, they liked my magic and had many ideas which I had never thought. Practicing with their advices, I noticed my magic became better and better. That’s why I could continue practicing every day.

On the day of the stage, I appeared on the stage and my magic went very well. When I performed, I was really excited before a large audience and was greeted by their cheers.
After the stage, we hugged each other and I cried with the member who I practiced with many times. I noticed that we can achieve something difficult not alone, but together with the members. At first, I thought the magic depended on only the ability of the each performer. However, while everyday practicing, I understood there were many members gave me advices and energy to practice. Furthermore, without one teammate, I could not even appear on the stage. We made the stage together.

In conclusion, I believe teammates enable me to achieve something difficult or great things. We have to cooperate as a team, and appreciate each other.
I want to continue cooperating in this club to support the other teammates.

Thank you for listening.

daiki, Uncategorized

I Believe My Passion

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I believe that even be alone, we can succeed by having a passion. This belief always makes me positive. I learned it from my experience.

When I was a Keio high school student, I belonged to the institute of Fukuzawa as a club activity. It is a club to study about Yukichi Fukuzawa and the Meiji Era. Basically, I’d been interested in history so I wanted to study it more and focus on one historical person. As you know, he is the founder of Keio University and his most famous work, ‟An Encouragement of Learning” made me impressed when I was a junior high school student. I decided to belong to the club but there is no member except me! Have you ever belong to a club which doesn’t have other members? It was also the first experience for me. On the other hand, lots of my friends participate in major sports or music clubs. I felt the difficulty of managing the activity.

Almost all activities are entering essay competition sponsored by Keio University and having an exhibition at the school festival. An Essay was hard enough to spend lots of time in summer vacation. I had to write about Fukuzawa with twenty manuscript papers. In the first year, as a result, my work wasn’t selected for the prize.

In the Second year, my life got harder because I started to belong to the orchestra club. I also had to write an essay as a member of the institute. However, I love history so I enjoyed writing an essay. I couldn’t spend much time only for the essay but I succeeded to win second prize. And I also had a successful exhibition in a classroom at the school festival. Of course, from planning to setting, almost all exhibits are prepared by me. These activities made my club more famous in my school and the institute of Fukuzawa was introduced in school brochures for the outside. And in the final year of high school, my dream which publish club magazines came true. This magazine also consists of almost only my pieces.

These activities are small scale but they satisfied me very much. In Japan, there is an atmosphere that belonging to majority is the safest. However, since I was alone, rather I could do what I want to do. So I don’t regret belonging to one-man club.

I was absorbed in studying history anyway. I think my success comes from this passion for the activity. Success isn’t always relevant to surrounding environment. Therefore, if you want to do something, don’t hesitate to do alone. Someone may notice your efforts. I believe that only your passion lead to a success.

 

kazuya

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I agree there are many important things for life, for example money, pets, study and so on. But I think that my family is the most important thing for me so I believe my family. There are some reasons for this.

Firstly, my family is only one for me and cannot be replaced by other things. Actually there are some people who are raised by men or women without blood relationship. In that case, a family is “practically” replaced. But it is “essentially” only one family for them. They are raised and very grateful to those “essential” families. In my case, I practically have blood relationship with my family and essentially live as my family. But what I want to say is “essential” family is the true family. Blood relationship is not concerned with. What we think as “essential” family is the true family and cannot be replaced by any other things.

Secondly, I have a brother and a sister. If I were to an only child, I could have much time for me and love my parents. But by having brothers or sisters I can learn a lot of things. For example, consideration and reserve for others. In contrast with only child, I have to take action and share something to use or eat with considering my brother. And I respect both brother and sister. My brother is more intelligent and my sister has talent that can play the piano and sing songs. So existence of a brother and a sister is very important for my life.

Thirdly, my family is the best supporter for me. Each time I have ever made mistakes they scolded me and lead me the correct way. To scold me is very to my advantage so I am grateful for my family. And also when I win success my family is very glad of that. I often take actions in order to please my family because it is happy to do something for my family. The existence that always take my side is heartening.

In conclusion, I am very happy to have a great family and place my family the most important thing in my life. This is what I believe.

yuka

This I believe

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＜Find one thing you can devote yourself＞

“Prioritize studying to every other thing.”
This is what my family members always say to me.

My parents, especially my mother, are obsessed with their children’s education. They would like to broaden the future possibility of their two children through studying.

In this sense, they succeeded in growing up their first child, my brother, who is four years older than I.
They sent him to a cram school since he was the fourth grader in elementary school. He liked studying and concentrated on it than playing the piano, kendo, or other thing he learned at that time.

However, the same way as my brother does not fit me.
As well as my brother, my parents send me a cram school and told me to prioritize studying to any other activities. I do like playing the piano and the violin I learned at that time but I was not allowed to be absorbed in. My parents did not let me take part in club activity and required me to leave for a cram school soon after finishing classes in junior high school days. I really understood that it must be very helpful to study hard, but I couldn’t be a hard-working daughter without doing anything that I’d like to do. Then, I got bored with everyday life because I found it everything I did became really halfway done.

When I went on to high school, I was enthusiastic about academic debating as club activity in spite of strong opposition from my parents. That is the first time I devoted myself to something. There are many schools that students do academic debating. Students enjoy improving their debating skill in order to win a national tournament. It is the largest scale of debating championship for high school students that every team of four students competes with each other to get a ticket for a world tournament.
Since I also wanted to be champion with my team members, I struggled over how our team could get victory in national tournament. Then I found that the most important thing is not the logic, sharp view to surpass opponent arguments, and techniques to win the match. It is the cooperation, solidarity, and respect to team members. This experience has dramatically changed my view. Before starting club activity, I looked down those who focus on only one thing to do, because such people seemed to be incapable. My view was, however, totally wrong.

Being buried in one thing needs much more energy than doing a little of several things. This is because, when you faced a big problem that cannot overcome easily, you need to seek a new way that you never see.
Thus, I believe devoting yourself to something can be nice way to cultivate your mind and broaden your ways.