Essays

Here are some things I've had to write for school publications. I tried to keep the vocabulary and sentences simple because they all had to be translated to Japanese by teachers or students.

This first one is an essay I wrote for the school newspaper at Suisan fisheries high school (my visiting school). It was sort of a self-introduction, mission statement thing that all new teachers have to write.

Hello. My name is Matthew O`Hair. I am from the United States of America. After graduating from college last year I got a job at a therapeutic wilderness camp for troubled teenagers. Parents send their kids to this camp for emotional healing and social education. We would often receive teenagers with drug addictions, suicidal tendencies, anger management issues or hyper activity disorders. On average, a student stays for about 45 days. And, for the entire stay, the only contact he can have with anyone outside of camp is with his family through letters. From their first day until their last day the students camp and hike in the woods occasionally meeting with a clinical psychologist and doing therapeutic assignments.
The initial purpose of the camp is to temporarily remove a student from his mismanaged life so that he might see himself and his poor decisions more objectively. The second purpose of the camp is to teach the student to make better decisions for himself so that he might improve his life outside the camp. In other words, first we allow a student to see that there are problems in his life and then we equip him with the knowledge necessary to solve his problems.
I was a field guide at the camp, which meant that I was with the students for 24 hours a day for 16 days out of the month. In other words, I would work for eight days straight and then have six days off and then work another eight days; I repeated this schedule for one year.
Part of my job as a field guide was to point out to the students the natural consequences of the decisions they made while they lived out their day to day lives at camp. Outside of camp these students would often see themselves as victims of circumstance and caught up in a life wherein nothing they did mattered. So, in a sense, my job was to show them that everything they do, say and even think actually affects their lives and determines who they are. In this way, I would infuse their lives with meaning.
In essence, I think that that is what we should do as teachers. Before our students have to go out into the world we must enrich their lives with education. And, during that education process we must show the students that what they do and how hard they try affects their lives and determines who they are. In so doing, we will prepare them for the rest of their lives.

And, this next one is an essay I wrote for the Nishi and Suisan yearbooks. I originally wrote it for Nishi HS but then I just changed the first paragraph and changed ''Nishi'' to ''Suisan.'' It's not cutting corners...it's just efficiency.

I remember my first day at Suisan high school. I was nervous at first but the teachers were welcoming and helpful and the students were friendly. I don’t know if it is because Suisan is almost an all boys school, but I remember being comforted by a sense of brotherhood among the students. Also, the students seemed genuinely curious about me, so I felt like they would be interested in what I have to offer them. I could notice a certain vitality and energy in the students as well and I knew that they could accomplish anything that they focused that energy on. But those qualities will only be the potential for success until each student chooses to use them in a positive way.
Now, I would like to tell you about some differences between my high school in America and Suisan. First, my high school had four school dances every year. My school would rent a party hall or convention center somewhere in the city and sell tickets to all the students. A few weeks before the dance boys would ask girls to be their dates. Then, a few hours before the dance, the students would dress in their nicest clothes and gather at a friend’s house with their dates. Next, they would go out to eat at a nice restaurant, and then go to the dance, often in a limousine. At the dance a DJ would play CDs of American pop music like hip hop, Rock and Country. After dancing and taking group photos, some students would usually go to an after party at a friend’s house.
Another big difference is that at Suisan high school the students stay in one classroom most of the day and the teachers move around to different classrooms. But, in America, each teacher has his own classroom where he teaches all his classes. His desk is in that room, so there is no teachers' room like there is at Suisan high school. So, American students move to different classes throughout the day. They have a different classroom and different classmates for every subject.
And another interesting difference is that when an American student misbehaves the teacher sends him to the principal's office. The principal would then call the student’s parents. Of course, I was never sent to the principal's office. OK, maybe I was sent a few times.
And lastly, in autumn every Friday or Saturday night there was an American football game. My school was called Richard King high school and our mascot was a mustang, so the football team was called the King mustangs. The mustangs would always play against another high school football team. In all, there were about ten high schools in our district. About 1500 students attended my high school and almost everyone would go to the games. So, including families, friends and everyone from the other school, there would sometimes be nearly 4000 people at a football game! The games were played at night in huge stadiums. Cheerleaders would be dancing, the school band would be playing and the games would always be exciting.
Thanks for reading. I hope to teach you more about life in America as you all have taught me about life in Japan.

And, for this last one, I had to write something to the graduating class of Suisan. I could only write three sentences.

Dear graduates,

Stay healthy, because you only have one body. Learn, because you only have one mind. Love, because you only have one life.

Sincerely,

Matthew O’Hair