Good morning everyone.
I’m so glad to be with you today and to be standing here. It was four years ago when I entered this school. I remember feeling so glad of the opportunity to come to England and experience a new environment which is completely different from Japan. As you know, the school premises are so vast and surrounded by open fields, cows, horses, wildlife etc. This school is filled with things that I never experienced in Japan, especially in Tokyo.
I clearly remember the day before coming to England. My eyes refused to close and my heart was full of expectation like a child who is waiting for their birthday presents. But expectation and reality are not always the same. This school was no exception.
Our time was organized strictly and we were given a considerable amount of time to study which made me feel frustrated. We were not allowed to bring snacks from Japan. We were not allowed to go into other people’s rooms. And we were not allowed to even have girlfriends.
In Japan, teenagers like me spend time just having fun or just talking with their friends. We couldn’t do what the Japanese teenagers normally did. Actually I regretted coming here at first because it was too hard for me to adapt to life here.
However, I had no choice but to follow the rules like “when in Rome do as the Romans do”. But as I got used to the life at RIKKYO, I found that there were many positive things aside from the disadvantages.
My year particularly loved events like OPEN DAY or SPORTS DAY. Every time these events approached, we used to prepare extensively and were very excited. It was rather strange because we loved these events so much. Actually I don’t remember studying any subjects before entering grade 3 even though there are clear memories about events in my mind. In the run up to OPEN DAY, there were no classes and no self studying. I think this time was the time when we had the most freedom. But this freedom didn’t mean that we could do whatever we wanted. In this limited period we concentrated on coming up with innovative ideas and developing our creativity. Sometimes big arguments occurred between students because of each students’ very strong opinion. However eventually we forgot all about that and focused on our WORK. Thanks to these experiences we made BRILLIANT things with no regrets. The OPEN DAY which we worked on together and spent so much energy on will remain in my mind forever.
Another time which I remember well is SPORTS DAY. I especially remember this day because it was the last big event I ever attended at RIKKYO before going through the hell of study. The memory of sports day is so profound that it can be somewhat emotional to revisit it. We had been practicing a lot and had spent a lot of time on it.
But sports day itself came astonishingly quickly. It was like a dream. Everyone looked as though they felt satisfied and fulfilled after the day. I know the English expression which says “it’s not about the winning, it’s about the taking part”. But I disagree with that because I believe in that most of the satisfaction gained from sports is in the desire to compete and win. Two things equally important for life in general. So I really want the younger students to participate fully in sports days and make great memories.
To tell the truth, I have been very nervous ever since my teacher told me that I was going to make a speech at this graduation. I’m talking in English now, it’s so strange for me and for you. When I came to this school, my English was really bad. I’ve never been to international school or local school in England. I couldn’t speak English at all. Actually I even found it
difficult to ask the way to the station in English. I’m not joking. If I look back, it’s hard to believe I’m standing here and making this speech. But the one thing that really helped me was that I liked speaking English. It’s so cool, isn’t it? But it doesn’t matter why you like it as long as you do. Motivation is somehow connected to the improvement of English. People often mistakenly believe that they will be able to speak English by just staying in an English environment for a year. To my mind though, as long as you are reluctant to learn English, you will never become a good speaker. This is a conclusion which I arrived at through experiences in RIKKYO school. I really appreciate this school giving me opportunity to keep in touch with English and teachers who taught me English. I’m really glad to speak in English in front of you and EC teachers.
Finally, I will never say that everything in this school was positive and enjoyable. There were many things I couldn’t manage alone and struggled to get over. But every time I confronted some difficulties, my beloved friends helped me and cheered me up. The time I spent in this school is unforgettable and unfortunately will never be repeated. Irrespective of our year’s reputation, I’m nevertheless proud of my year and proud of my friends. If I hadn’t come to RIKKYO school, I would have never met them. It made me think that it was a good decision to come here.
I’d like to finish by saying that I will be so sad to depart from my friends and younger students who I spent more time with than my family as we all go our separate ways. And also sad that we will never again gather at this school.
I still can’t believe that today is the last day that I will be here. But occasionally it is necessary to say farewell. I also want to say thanks to the teachers, my friends and my family.
I said in the first part of my speech, we couldn’t do what Japanese teenagers normally did. But we could do what Japanese teenager never experience and learn the important thing that I can acquire only in this school. I’m sure that I’ve become stronger mentally and physically through the experiences in this school. I will never regret coming to this school. I wish everybody here success in their future. Thank you very much.
