* machine translation, inaccuracies may exist *
Oya Zemi, October/November 2013 issue
This is a non-commercial free magazine distributed exclusively to subscribers of Shinken Zemi.
Supporting Your Child’s Junior High School Life with Confidence
1st Year of Junior High
October/November 2013
Please pass this on to the parent/guardian.
Interview: Yuzuru Hanyu
How He Studied During His Junior High Years
(Shinken Zemi (進研ゼミ) is a Japanese correspondence-based educational program run by Benesse, a major Japanese education company.
It provides learning materials to students who study at home, mainly elementary and junior high school students.)
Interview with a Zemi Alumnus Who Successfully Balanced Both
Figure Skater Yuzuru Hanyu
To achieve results, what matters is what you do with your limited time!
Yuzuru Hanyu
Born in Sendai in 1994. He began skating at the age of four. During junior high school, he stood on the podium at the Japanese Junior Figure Skating Championships for three consecutive years. He also achieved outstanding results in international competitions, including winning the overall title in the Junior Grand Prix Series and becoming world champion at the World Junior Championships. After moving up to the senior level, he continued to achieve high placements in various international competitions. From this academic year, he is studying in the School of Human Sciences at Waseda University through its distance-learning program while preparing for the Sochi Olympics.
My First Year of Junior High School: Searching for My Own Study Style
Actually, I had been using "Shinken Zemi" (study materials) since I was young. I had also seen special feature articles in Zemi about how difficult it was to balance studying and club activities in junior high school. So I remember being particularly conscious at the beginning of my first year of junior high school that I needed to find ways to improve my study methods.
For me, having decided back in the fourth grade of elementary school that I wanted to reach the world stage in figure skating, skating was essentially my "extracurricular activity." Every day after school, I would head straight to the rink to train, often not returning home until around 9:00 PM. Yet, I didn't want to slack off on my studies, either.
Even so, I was still feeling my way through things until my first regular school exams. I would listen intently in class, use the brief window between returning home and heading to practice for study, and then study even more after practice while battling sleepiness.
Before the exams, I heard that my friends were giving up manga or television, so I also banned myself from playing the games I liked and worked hard at studying. While this approach helped me score 90 or above in nearly every subject, it left me with little sense of true accomplishment; I had no time to relax, and all that remained was a feeling of exhaustion.
Focusing on what matters to make the most of limited time
What I learned from this is that "pushing yourself too hard isn't sustainable." I realized that trying to study after an intense skating session or forcing myself to give up the things I love just didn't work for me. So, I decided to dedicate my evenings to gaming and rest. That meant my study time became even more limited. Instead of trying to tackle all sorts of things, I decided to concentrate on the parts I didn't understand.
Specifically, this meant quickly glancing through my Challenge study materials during the break before class to better grasp the upcoming lesson. After class—either before practice or during free time on the weekend—I would review the material by working through practice questions. If I encountered a problem I couldn't solve, I would read the explanation and try solving it again and again until I fully understood it.
There were still times, though, when I got so busy that my study materials piled up. In those cases, rather than forcing myself to catch up on everything, I would jump straight to the Akapen Sensei’s Correction Exercises. If I answered every question correctly, I considered that unit mastered. If I made mistakes, I would carefully read the explanations and then return to Challenge to review that material intensively. By using this method, I was able to achieve the greatest possible results in a short amount of time.
Starting Exam Preparation Three Weeks in Advance!
I applied this same "focused" study style to my regular school exams. However, because the time I could devote to studying was so limited, I started preparing a little earlier than everyone else—three weeks before the exams. I focused primarily on the Predicted Exam Questions workbook, working through the problems and taking the time to thoroughly read the explanations whenever I didn't understand something. Then I repeatedly tried the questions I had struggled with until I no longer had anything I didn't understand. By following this method, I was consistently able to achieve my goal of scoring 90 points or more.
My Mother's Words Kept Me Motivated
There were two things that helped sustain my motivation. The first was a timer. By using a timer to deliberately divide my time—for example, five minutes for studying and one minute for a break—I was able to create a clear distinction between work and rest and concentrate on both.
And there was one other thing. Whenever I found myself slacking off, my mother’s words would help me get back on track. Rather than telling me, “Go study!”, she would often encourage me by asking, “Is what you’re doing right now really what you should be doing?”
Another thing she often told me was, "Become an adult with common sense." Those words continue to motivate me to balance my commitments even today. Thanks to her, I have been able to give my best to both my studies and skating and achieve good results. I am truly grateful to her.
I Want to Put My Experiences into Words and Pass Them On to Future Generations
Having developed my own way of balancing both commitments in junior high school, I am now studying human information science through a university distance-learning program. I could have chosen not to go to university, but before being a skater, I am a human being. I want to acquire common sense and knowledge beyond skating, and I believe that in the future, I will need to pass on my skating experiences to younger skaters and future generations. When that time comes, having common sense and the ability to communicate effectively will surely be an advantage. Balancing both is not easy, but to fulfil these aspirations, I want to keep working hard a little longer, sticking to my approach of “narrowing down what I need to do.”
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yuzurujenn ·
