Chapter 9

Taking risks is a hard thing to do, but once you overcome that risk, you are able to accomplish, overcome, and exceed the person who you used to be. In my life, one of my biggest risks I've taken recently was about the entrance exams for universities. I was deciding whether to take normal examinations and study Japanese, World History, and English, or to take special exams such as for returnees and study English and Writing. The former had more possibilities but the work load was quite demanding, while the latter demanded memorization less but decreased the chances and the number of possibilities to get in. Moreover, there weren't any other students who were taking the same examination as me in my school, therefore, there wasn't much information about special ones. All the teachers were against me because of that decision's risk. If I couldn't get into any universities through those special examinations, there was no other way for me to get into any. However, I chose to apply for the special examinations despite the obstacles. Unlike normal examinations, they required a lot of preparation and a specialized type of studying, but I enjoyed every bit of it. Throughout the preparation, I acquired a sort of ability to understand and express myself, since that was the quality that they were demanding which was a thing that never could have been acquired through a normal preparation. Fortunately, I was able to get into ICU which was the very university that I've longed to enter. Giving up an option did require a lot of thinking and risk, however, the elements which I gained were something I could never have gotten through the other option. And thanks to that decision, I am now able to enjoy my university life here at ICU!