In this blog post, I will summarize my academic efforts and school activities during high school, examples of how I practiced consideration, sharing, and cooperation, as well as my motivation for applying and my career preparation experiences.
Writing about my academic experiences and reflections
Consistent practice beats talent! I used to feel that I wasn’t very smart. Upon entering high school, I became even more acutely aware of this difference. Since I was slower to grasp concepts than my peers, the faster the class progressed, the longer it took me to understand. In particular, it took me a long time to fully understand and move past applied math problems, classical literature and science passages, and English grammar questions.
I felt very frustrated seeing myself fall behind because I couldn’t keep up with the class. I was also upset, wondering, “Why can others understand this easily, but I can’t?” However, I didn’t give up just because I was upset. The method I chose was “repetition.” I believed it was more important to thoroughly understand one problem before moving on than to simply solve many problems.
Specifically, I focused on organizing my wrong answers from practice exams. I meticulously organized the wrong answers from the practice exams I took every three months—or every two months if I included private practice exams. I created a notebook of wrong answers by reviewing not only the questions I got wrong but also the ones I got right. I checked each problem in detail and wrote them down in a large notebook, summarizing what the problem required and what concepts I needed to know to solve it.
Organizing my wrong answers alone took at least a week and a half to two weeks, but I believed it was important to truly understand the material before moving on, so I didn’t stop. After consistently reviewing my wrong answers for a year, I began to understand more questions, and I started to develop the ability to apply what I learned to new problems. As I gradually gained the ability to handle a variety of problems, I began to find the studying process itself enjoyable.
Major School Activities and Reflections
My interest in education stemmed from the realization that I was a slow learner. I could keep up when the pace of class was “moderate,” but I struggled to understand when it was “moderately fast” or faster. At first, I thought I was the only one, but looking back, I realized there were quite a few friends who shared similar concerns. Some didn’t attend cram schools, while others simply didn’t know how to study effectively.
Naturally, the debate club I was active in began to frequently address topics related to “education.” From a macro perspective, we debated issues regarding our academic pedigree-oriented society, such as “Why do we need to go to college?” and “Why do we need to attend a prestigious university?” From a micro perspective, we discussed specific educational issues, including classroom teaching methods and why systems like Germany’s—where a single homeroom teacher guides students over a long period—are not easily adopted in our reality.
Through repeated debates, I learned how to organize my thoughts and articulate them clearly, and as I frequently expressed my opinions, my own perspective became more distinct. Furthermore, by encountering diverse viewpoints during these debates, I was able to identify my own biases and deepen my thinking. My critical thinking skills grew through comparison and debate, which became a major motivator for my career choices.
Realizing the value of group life through club activities was another important achievement. While preparing for festivals and planning external competitions and school events together, I truly understood why cooperation between upperclassmen and underclassmen is necessary. Previously, I thought that success was possible if I did well on my own, but experiencing the synergy that comes from working together made me more outgoing and helped me become less shy—leading to a change in my personality. The club was a great opportunity that brought about this personal transformation.
Examples of Consideration, Sharing, and Cooperation, and My Reflections
The “Sharing Campaign” began with a chance encounter at a stationery store. While I was there buying supplies, I saw a classmate picking out only yellow and black paint. When I asked why, he honestly told me that his parents had said they didn’t have any money that morning. Hearing that, I felt ashamed of my own prejudice—the assumption that parents naturally provide school supplies.
To spare my friend’s pride, I suggested we share the paints and jokingly asked him to help me with math in return. That’s how our small friendship began, and in our second year, when we became student council officers, we proposed the “Sharing Campaign” to the entire student body. The idea was to collectively purchase items that only required one per six students, appoint a team leader to manage them, and pass them down to younger students.
At first, students found it a hassle, but they came to trust us after seeing our determination. We promoted the campaign by visiting each class to explain how it worked and had them elect team leaders to manage the supplies. We refined the system by exchanging feedback with the team leaders along the way. As a result, our school was recognized as a school with virtually no supply costs. It was an experience that taught me how even a small initiative can bring about change.
Efforts and Preparation Related to Motivation and Career Plans
For the third question, I will provide a more detailed account of the campaign process. We planned the campaign in five stages. First, “Seeking advice from teachers to create a perfect plan”; next, “Explaining the campaign to student leaders and teachers”; followed by “Promoting it to students”; then “Implementing it”; and finally, the “Review” stage. We put a great deal of effort into each stage.
During the “Seeking Advice from Teachers to Perfect the Plan” stage, we were deeply hurt. This was because several flaws were revealed in a plan we had believed to be perfect, and because the teachers gave us candid advice regarding the management of student funds. Through that process, we clearly realized the gaps in our thinking, and our plan improved accordingly. This experience of feeling inadequate led us to resolve to study more diligently so that we could become well-rounded individuals with both knowledge and action.
During the campaign explanation and promotion phase, we struggled to find ways to convey this still-unfamiliar movement to students in an appealing and accessible manner. We put in a lot of legwork by visiting each class in person to explain the campaign and answer questions, and we were so busy during that process that I lost as much as 8 kg. At times, I wondered, “Why did I even start this?” but I never let up, remembering the people who were actually being helped by these small efforts.
During the implementation and review phases, my concerns were immediately confirmed in reality. I worried about whether students would form groups and manage supplies together as requested, or if team leaders would fulfill their roles properly, but there were no major issues in the early stages. With the exception of one team leader—who was replaced after expressing difficulty—the system of assigning one team leader per grade went almost entirely smoothly. The joy and emotion I felt when the entire student body participated in this small initiative were immense.
Through this experience, I realized that even small actions must be put into practice to yield results, and that contrary to the common belief that “the world is a harsh place,” there are definitely people who move toward doing good. This conviction led me to major in education and inspired me to set a strong goal: to become someone who can positively influence people’s hearts and actions.
Although I spent a year balancing my studies with this activity, sacrificing sleep in the process, that time was deeply meaningful and a rewarding experience that gave me the confidence that I could do it. Moving forward, I aim to contribute to improving people’s lives by leveraging my academic abilities and sense of community.
