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Chapter 5 Selective mutism and my high school years
Entrance Exams (2)
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In
the former story, I took three college entrance examinations. But I was
scheduled to take one more examination. That is the secondary entrance
examination to a national university. I put special importance on the
examination, because I wanted to enter the national university.
Fortunately,
the examination was written examination, not interview examination. So,
it did not matter whether I was able to speak smoothly. Even today many
Japanese colleges and schools sometimes set interview examination to
applicants. So, some Japanese junior high school and high school
students with selective mutism have trouble passing entrance
examinations.
And I was successful in the entrance examination.
["Tomishige was all smiles"]
Soon
after I knew my examination result, I went to my high school to tell
the result to my teachers and thank them. But when I arrived at my
school in the evening, few teachers remained there. Opening the door of
the teachers' room, I found only one teacher worked. He was a teacher of
the third year of the school, not my homeroom teacher. As soon as he
noticed me, he walked straight up to me and said, "Congratulations, Tomishige!"
He added that the college had already informed the high school of a
list of students who passed the examination. He offered his hand, so I
shook hands with him.
I think most students will have a
happy smile if they are in the same situation. But I didn't. I was
emotionless. That must be odd. I had studied hard to pass the entrance
examination of prestigious colleges since I entered a high school. Now I
achieved my ambition. But my selective mutism caused me to be
emotionless even when I were in such a happy situation.
After I went home, my homeroom teacher called me. "Congratulations on passing your exam, Tomishige! One teacher told me you went to high school some time ago. He said Tomishige was all smiles. I felt very sorry for going home early."
I
was surprised. It was contrary to the truth. I did not know why the
teacher said such a thing. Perhaps he told a lie to her, because he
wanted her to be pleased. Like the Japanese proverb says, Uso mo houben
(Circumstances may justify a lie). Another possibility was that he
confused me with other students.
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In this way, my high school life ended. Next, I went to university.
(To be continued)
Index of SM story
