Hidemi's Rambling No.124

The season of entrance examinations for school is now in full swing in Japan. People like to label everything, and the school name is very important for them. They evaluate a person not by what they do, but by the school they go to. So, to get in a renowned school, students are prepared for years ahead for their future. I wasn’t an exception among those who were caught up in this stupid trend a long time ago. My mother was feverish to get me in the best junior high school in the city where I grew up. She didn’t want me to be a highly paid worker at a big company in the future since the society was male-dominated. She wanted me to be in the best school out of vanity and in order to boost the possibility for me to meet a future candidate of a highly paid worker and marry him. I even took the entrance examination for an eminent supplementary private school to attend after classes of the elementary school, to be prepared for an entrance examination of a junior high school…