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Chapter 4 Selective mutism and my junior high school years
Club (2)
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I joined Igo and Shogi club.
Igo and Shogi club was a relatively small club. All members were boy students. Although club name was Igo and Shogi club, no students were interested in Igo. All students played Shogi.
* Shogi is Japanese chess.
Six new students joined the club. Some of them were brilliant students. They were enthusiastic about Shogi and were strong Shogi players. But some of them weren't interested in Shogi. They joined the club because they thought that the club must be easy.
Third-year students in the club were especially brilliant. All of them were high-achieving students and were members of the student council of my junior high school.
Mr. K was one of them. He was the student council president. I respected him. He was the strongest Shogi player of the club.
[My first play]
Club members played Shogi freely.
But I didn't (couldn't) play game at first. I stood around in club room in silence. I even avoided club members. I was a student with selective mutism.
One day, one new club member tried to play a game with me. But I hesitated. Then, a teacher advisor of the club said to him with joke, "Tomishige is a great man. If you want to play with him, you need to make a bow to him." So, he made a bow to me with joke and said, "Yoroshiku Onegai Shimasu." So, I played with him. That's my first play.
When I think back, I felt bad for him.
[Choko]
I had a bad habit. While I played the game, I took a lot of time thinking. In Japanese it's called Choko. It must have been a nuisance for my opponents. Although no opponents said to me that my Choko was a nuisance, I felt guilty.
Since I had selective mutism, I had been indecisive. But I couldn't break my bad habit.
[Speak 2,000 words a day!]
Manager of the club sometimes visited my classroom. He had a role in taking care of new students like me.
He often gave me some advises about my mutism. "Speak 2,000 words a day. If you achieve the goal, then speak 3,000 words a day."
Of course, I couldn't.
(To be continued)
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