Finishing
school is a big step for any student, regardless of which
nation they belong to. My story has no real beginning or
end to it, but high school has provided it with some fond
memories. My name is Mark and I am an Australian student
in my last year of high school and the vice captain of Mirani
High School.
My Japanese teacher Futamura sensei has taught me not only
Japanese but lessons on life. Last year Futamura sensei
told our class a Japanese saying which mean live in the
now and to have no regrets. I have lived in the now and
tried my best at school since grade eight, the first year
of high school. In grade eight I remember the senior leaders
encouraged me to gain new experiences and now that I am
the vice captain I do the same.
By getting involve in
the many fun activities the school has to offer I have made
many friends and have many fond memories. The highlights
of my years at high school include the school musicals where
I play the role of Dracula's son and Tarzan the Jungle man,
swimming carnivals, sports carnival and the school dances.
Our school dances are where many boyfriends and girlfriends
first meet. The last school dance was a Valentines Day dance
so I decided to dress up a Cupid to suit the occasion. I
always take many pictures of the school dances because I
am a journalist and editor for our school year book. In
the future I want to be a journalist, especially one that
gets to travel, this way I get to experience new cultures
at first hand.
These activities are
important to our school because unlike in the big cities,
students don't get to see their friends after school due
to the great distances between them. Some students travel
200km per day to get to school. There are no game centers,
no way to get to the shopping centers (department stores)
and the movies. Most of our students live around 60km away
from the nearest town. Because there is little to do outside
school many young people move away from the country to the
large cities. I too will have to move to one of the capital
cities if I want to go to a good university. The capital
city for Queensland, the state I live in is about 1000km
away. I wish I could stay in the country but to get a well
paying job I cannot.
Our high school takes
students from seven primary schools. My primary school had
only sixty students in it and my grade had only eight students.
In primary school I started learning Japanese on the telephone
because the Japanese teacher had to teach two small schools
at the same time. I loved to learn a new language and discover
a new culture.
In the future I hope
to travel the world so that I may learn about people and
thier language so I can record their stories. I hope that
my writings help people to gain a greater understanding
of a different culture. If people seize the day, their stories
become so much more interesting and full of happy memories.
