同窓会で感激（２）
もう一つ感激したことがある。K-君が私のところに来て、「先生が同窓会に出られると聞いて、本日出席しました」と、私の手を握り、涙を流さんばかりの顔になった。すぐ傍にいた、別の生徒が「おい、どうしたんだ。泣きそうな顔をして……」と言ったが、K-君は私の手をしっかり握っていた。
彼曰く「高2の時に学年最低の成績で、今度の定期考査で赤点を取れば、留年になるという時に、先生が私を助けてくれました。先生は私と、もう一人の生徒を職員室近くの小部屋で、英語の特訓をしてくれました。二日か、三日教えてもらい、先生は『ええか、ここんとこ、よぉく勉強しとけ』と言われました。試験当日、その箇所が出て、大いに助かりました」
私は、落第しては可哀想だと思い、特訓をした。すっかり忘れていたが、25年後、このように涙を流すほど感謝されて驚いた。
「教師をやっていると、こんなことがあるのか」と感慨に浸った。今日は良き日であった。
Moved at Nanzan Reunion（２）
Another incident moved me deeply. K‑kun came straight toward me and said, “I came to the reunion today because I heard you would be here.” He grasped my hand firmly. His face was so full of emotion that he looked on the verge of tears. A former student standing beside him teased, “Hey, what’s wrong? You look like you’re about to cry.” But K‑kun ignored him and kept holding my hand.
He said, “My grades were the worst when I was an eleventh‑year
student. If I failed the next term exam, I wouldn’t be able to advance to the
twelfth grade. You saved me at that crucial moment. You gave me and another
student who was about to flunk special English lessons in a small room near the
teachers’ room. After two or three days of tough training, you told me, ‘Study
this page very hard. All right?’ In the next term’s English exam, that exact
page appeared in the questions. Thank God, I thought I was saved.”
I had given those special lessons because failing the grade would
have been disastrous for his future. Seeing him thank me so earnestly twenty‑five
years after graduation truly surprised me.
Teaching sometimes brings unexpected rewards. I was moved. It was a
wonderful day.
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