🎓🌸 (2024.03.31)

Good evening!

Todays' blog is very long

so I'd be happy if you could take your time to read it ☺︎

I have an announcement to everyone

The other day, I graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University's College of Community Studies🎓

Right now I just feel so relieved.

I really feel... that I have made it.

I managed to graduate thanks to the help of many people; the teachers and friends I met at university, my manager, family, and such.

To be honest, I've been feeling bad toward the members in the past four years. I pretty much always come late to rehearsals, and when I'm taking a class I feel bad that everyone are working hard out there... I felt sorry

But, when I met up with everyone

they would always say things like, "Thanks for the hard work~! You're doing great~!".

A lot of the members did.

Even though I'm took the liberty to go and do something on my own... but I received kind words from them.

Such words that I hear from the members have also supported me in daily basis.

There were days where as I was filled with feelings of apology and frustration for wanting to focus all my energy on rehearsals, the members would say kind words to me, and I would hide my tears as I danced desperately.

There were also times when I found myself crying while doing stretching.

When I was writing my last final report on the dressing room of a concert,

"This is the last time we'll see Take like this, huh~!"

so my manager said as they took a picture of me facing the laptop as a keepsake,

it made me realize once again how much support I had received from the staff right up to the very end

To everyone around me who have supported me

If any one of you had been missing,

I keenly feel that I would not have been able to run all the way to the end

without having to repeat a grade

 

The faculty I attended is located in Samigahara, Kanagawa prefecture.

It was a new department, in which my year is the second graduating class of.

I'm a second generation here too. It made me somewhat happy

If I had gone to a school in Tokyo, I might have been able to spend little more time as a Sakurazaka member

Commuting back and forth to school, which took about four hours, was quite tiring to do every day.

I often cried at home in the beginning because I was not used to commuting to school... lol

Those days are good memories now.

Still, there is a reason as to why I made this department my first choice and took on the entrance exam.

Even though I knew it would be difficult, I really wanted to study at this department.

There were many reasons why I wanted to apply in the first place,

but to put it simply, I wanted to contribute to and help my hometown.

This department

is about understanding "community"

and a department that studies "community development"

For four years, I was able to study a really wide range of fields

As I took various classes and studied, I broadened my perspective and narrowed down my theme

As a result, what I mainly specifically studied was

Museums, libraries, community centers, etc

about the nature of social education facilities that support the community.

In my graduation thesis as well,

I was able to write about the role of museums with participatory design in local communities,

using the Lake Biwa Museum as a case study.

As you are all well aware, I want to contribute to my hometown, Shiga prefecture.

As I mentioned last year, I wrote about Inazuma Rock Fes in my entrance exam, and after entering the school I even made "Uminoko", a hands-on learning program for children on Lake Biwa as a theme for my thesis.

That's why, Inazuma Rock Fes was a big reason as to why I was able to enter this university.

When I met Nishikawa-san, I made sure to tell him of this along with my gratitude.

I am truly grateful to Nishikawa-san!

Once again, it is a lifetime memory that I was able to perform at the Inazuma Rock Festival, which holds such special feelings for me, while I was still a AoGakusei student.

There is one more thing that I have studied with great enthusiasm.

It's about supporting people with disabilities.

I knew from the beginning that I could learn about this in this department.

I have a friend my age with a disability with whom I have had an ongoing relationship since elementary school.

They have taught me so much kindness.

I sincerely love them,

and what I have learned from being involved with them so far has inspired me to learn,

even if I can't directly help people with disabilities now, I'd like to do it for at least emotionally, and to also learn about the current social situation

This tour was the first time

I was able to invite them to come watch

It seemed that they had so, so much fun

It was the moment when I felt really glad for doing this work

Last year, during the summer of my third year of university,

I went to a facility for people with disabilities for a week of practical training

The staff members there were very cheerful

Even though it was only for a week

They also treat us with much love and affection

I really love them

I was able to learn about the social situations and issues that arise

by hearing directly from the staff,

and I was also able to experience many heart-to-heart moments of communication with the patients

by using various methods of communication

It was a moment that enrich my life,

the most fulfilling moment in my university life,

and I learned a lot of things

that I can't just learn just by reading books

There is something that stayed in my mind

It was a day when I really felt that music

was a very big part of the lives of the people living in the facility.

They each have their own favorite artists

When I listen to them talking about what music they like, how they went to a concert, or who do they like,

it was a moment where I once again realized

the power of music to reach someone's heart.

They eyes lights up the most

when they talked about things like that.

It was the moment when I decided to work harder on Sakurazaka's activities

Other than that, what I learned about LGBTQ through my wide range of classes is also very memorable.

Around the time of " Guuzen no Kotae" production, I just happened to be given an assignment to create my own article about LGBTQ issues.

It was a moment when, with thoughts and feelings from many different angles,

I was able to link a little bit the feelings I learned and felt through university with the feelings I wanted to convey in the music for the first time

I guess I was able to have such an experience

is because I continued to go without being discouraged

It was really valuable

But above all, the real fortune that I gained was

the opportunity to meet people of my generation

who are serious, straightforward, earnest, and dedicated to what they want to learn.

We did a lot of group work

and exchanged ideas every day.

Everyone has their own opinions and thinking,

they really all strong-willed

It was very cool

and every day has been filled with inspiration.

Because it is a slightly specialized department,

everyone has a firm idea of what they want to learn, what they want to know, and what they want to research,

and they are also really straight forward

No matter how passionately someone spoke, no matter how strongly someone held their own ideas, 

they are not mocked or made fun of,

being able to meet that space of straightforwardness, have inspired me a lot

When we were sharing with each other how we felt through practical training and such, I listened to the experiences of my peers and was so moved with respect that I could not stop crying as I reflected on my own experiences.

It was embarrassing to cry in front of everyone, but I know I will remember experiences like this for the rest of my life

I thought about how so many different people have gathered together like this

It was inspiring. It was a new encounter.

思い返してみると

Looking back,

there were many moments that I had no recollection of-- perhaps because they were so turbulent, 

and it is frustrating that I cannot remember them

I was also happy to have met

such kind and warm-hearted people in my seminar

who were kind, warm, and understanding of my activities, 

watched over me without saying a word,

and were quick to lend a hand when I needed it

As I said in the beginning,

I was able to graduate in four years

truly thanks to the help of a countless number of people

I am filled with gratitude

Right now, I truly feel a sense of relief now that I made it all the way through

Many, many times, I thought I might not make it

There were countless of times when I almost quit

I was able to continue doing my best even so

because of the existence of people that I could call mentor who supported me day to day, saying with the spirit of definitely achieving a graduation in four years

From the moment I entered the school, they have always cared about me and taught me the joy of learning

The presence of those teachers.

It was a wonderful chance encounter

I am truly blessed with the people I have met

My life is so full of support from others

that I feel like I don't do enough to repay them enough every day

I think that I have no choice but to keep working hard

so that by seeing my figure working hard on TV and such

they could feel glad about supporting me

Now that I have graduated,

I feel sincerely glad

to have went to this school and learned here

I am glad that I worked hard until the end!

Even if I cannot directly apply what I have learned right now, I feel that I have learned something important in terms of "mind" for my future life.

The school food was delicious too!

There was even a time when I saw a beautiful sunset on the way home!

When I was enrolled, I took both the Kanji Aptitude Test and Test of World Heritage Study.

I sure have learned a lot in the past four years, huh?

For now...

I'd like to tell myself "You've done a great job!" a lot

To my body, thank you for still going every day even if it was a long way, even when you are screaming

To my heart, thank you for working hard until the end

To my brain, thank you for moving so much

That is what I sincerely think of myself.

Just saying "Ah~ You sure have worked hard~" to myself brings tears to my eyes already. lol

I'm... really glad that I managed to graduate.

Up until now, I have always thought, "My seniors in the group have all managed to graduate within four years, I can't be lackluster about it!"...

Everyday I pushed myself with the thought that no matter how far or difficult it might be, it's something that I decided on my own, and I've been given the opportunity to go when everyone else are rehearsing. In any case, right now I feel that I could take a nice deeeeeeeeeeep breathe for the first time in years.

And

to be honest,

over the past four years, I have experienced thousands and thousands of moments when I could not devote my 100% to my idol activities as Sakurazaka,

and each time, I was... simply filled with frustration from the bottom of my heart

From today onward, I will be able to use all of that pent up frustration as heat for Sakurazaka

I was really frustrated!! Really, super frustrated!

So from today, I'm going to put all the power from the feeling of frustration that I felt into my idol activities

I'm very happy to finally able to do that

I will be in your care from now on as well.

There are countless things I wish I had time to do, other things I would like to study, and other challenges I would like to try.

Until the time I meet the next new me,

I will think of today as a new start,

and continue to push forward...

I guess that on itself is something to look forward to... lol

I'd like to continue to do my best so to let people know what I've been doing and thinking!

I am sure that there must be many of you

who are starting a new chapter of their life from tomorrow

I, too,

will be having another new start tomorrow!

I will do my best

to become someone

who can be a source of comfort

for all the Buddies reading this right now

when you encounter a difficult time!

Please continue to give your continued support for Takemoto Yui

Thank you very much

for reading such a long blog

until the end 😭

I'll put pictures at the end.

My hair has been styled so beautifully 😭🌸

My school life was always accompanied by the activities of Sakurazaka46, and I wanted to make it a memory, so I decided to wear a cherry blossom hakama!

Well then.

Good night ☺︎