adolescent memories

I spent my late teens experiencing quite a severe case of social anxiety. When I was in high school, it reached a point where I didn’t know how to speak or move around in the classroom. As soon as I got to school, my body would shut down and I stopped functioning. So, I used […]

When I was nineteen, I spent a year attending a special school in Tokyo dedicated to university entrance exam preparation. In Japan, university entrance exam is a big thing, and parents all across the country tend to spend a fortune trying to send their children to a good university because it is believed in the

During my second year in high school, I used to take an evening math class at a local cram school once a week. Every Tuesday, after school, I would hop onto a bus to the railway station. The cram school was located at the other side of the station, and I used to walk through

The high school where I spent between the age of 16 and 18 was a girls-only school, and it was locally famous for its unique school festivals. The biggest and most important among all was the annual song and dance contest held in autumn. The contest took place in October, but the preparation would start

When I was in high school, I suffered quite a strong case of social anxiety. I struggled to communicate with others at school, and consequently, I spent most of the day sitting quietly at my desk. During classes, when a wave of depression struck me, I would scribble my feelings and thoughts in the margin