Isn’t it too late to be serious about taking exams? #2
As a father, I think I put an expectation on my son that a man should have a college degree.
You might say I am old-fashioned. But for me at least, the title of "National University Graduate" was proof of success, even if it was not something to boast about. In fact, I can't deny that I have benefited from it to a greater or lesser extent from employment to marriage. That's why I was not at peace when I found out that my son was only thinking about "a high school somewhere" (= anywhere is fine) when he was choosing a high school as a prelude to going to college.
父である私は、男子は大卒であるべし、という期待を息子にかけていたと思う。
古い人間といわれるかもしれない。だが私にとって「国立大卒」の肩書は、周囲に自慢するようなものでないにせよ、自身の成功の証だった。実際、就職から結婚まで大なり小なりその恩恵に浴したことは否定できない。だから息子が大学進学の前段階としての高校選びで「どっかの高校（＝どこでもいい）」ぐらいの考えでしかないことを知って心穏やかではなかった。
Then, one day when the first semester was about to end, K said, "What kind of high school can I go to? What about XXX High School? Do you know anything about YYY high school?" K asked in rapid succession.
It seemed that he was inspired by S, a neighbor who goes to the same school but is different in class.
S was a childhood friend of K's, but since they were in different classes in junior high school and he was passionate about club activities, their communication was getting less than before.
What made K impress about S was the fact that he had started preparation for the JHS enrollment exam already by studying at a cram school in April. And this time, S invited K to Summer Intensive Course, run by the cram school, to use the fee discount system.
A couple of years ago, S was just a kind friend, got on each other, but now he is in Exam mode. That made him think a lot.
そんな、そろそろ一学期も終わろうというある日、Kは「オレ、どんな高校にいけるのかな？〇×高校とかどうかな？？△△高校ってどんなところ？」と矢継ぎ早に訊いてきた。
どうやら近所の同級生S君に感化されたようだった。
S君はKの幼馴染であるのだが、中学では別クラスで部活熱血少年であったこともあり、互いの家を行き来することも少なくなっていた。それが夏休み前の市内大会で部活は引退することになり、それを見据えて中三の始めから進学塾に通い始めていた。
夏期講習の「友だちを誘おう」キャンペーンで、うちのKに声をかけてきた、というわけ。
小学校時代は一緒にゲームをしたり、じゃれあっていた友だちが、すっかり受験モードになったのを見てKなりに考えるところがあったらしい。
