Kakeru： A Tale of Academic Excellence and Personal Growth
Spring has arrived for Kakeru. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom . He has achieved his long-cherished desire to be accepted into medical school. Kakeru Nakagawa has been accepted into the highly competitive Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine. I sent him an email saying, “Let’s have a ‘sukiyaki party’ at my house to celebrate your acceptance. Bring your mother along too.
On March 16th, Kakeru and his mother came to visit. I invited them to the tea room and decided to prepare matcha tea for them. When I asked Kakeru, “I heard you were in the tea ceremony club during junior high school, is that right?” he smiled and said, “Yes, for one day.” Everyone laughed.
Naoko showed them how to prepare the tea, and they followed her instructions. Kakeru must have been very busy with his studies for the entrance exams. I wonder if this bowl of matcha tea helped him to relax a little. Kakeru murmured, “Maybe I’ll join the tea ceremony club when I go to college.”
After that, I led them to the Western-style room, and we decided to have a champagne toast to celebrate Kakeru’s acceptance. Kakeru murmured, ‘I’ve never had alcohol before.’ ‘It’s okay. You’re over twenty now.’ Since I had to drive Kakeru and his mother home, I poured non-alcoholic beer into the glass. ‘Congratulations on getting into medical school!’ Let the sukiyaki party begin!
I wonder how many years ago it was. I first met him when he was a first-year junior high school student. He was a cute boy with a still youthful smile. His mother consulted with me about his difficulty with English, and I agreed to tutor him. His mother was a chemistry teacher at the same workplace as me. Knowing the severity of the entrance exam war, she probably wanted to save her son from his crisis as soon as possible. When we were alone in the school’s printing room, she approached me with a grave expression and asked, ‘Could you please tutor my son?’
In less than half a year of tutoring Kakeru, he began to show remarkable progress. His vocabulary increased, and by the time he graduated high school, he was undoubtedly at the top level in the country. His reading comprehension and grammar skills were also excellent, and he repeatedly scored perfect marks on past Center Exams certified by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
I have been teaching Kakeru English for his exams for six years. He has grown tremendously, not only in his English skills but also as a person. In 2017, when Naoko was hospitalized for three months, Kakeru not only worried about her but also showed great concern for my health, as my meals became irregular. He always added, ‘Please take care of yourself, Sensei,’ at the end of his occasional emails. Later, Kakeru faced his own hardships when he lost his grandparents. Despite these difficulties, he continued to study diligently for his exams. He dreams of becoming a cardiac surgeon, a profession where he can save many lives, which I believe suits him perfectly. I plan to continue this tea ceremony workshop with Naoko until he becomes a doctor, and maybe he can treat me if I ever get sick.
