In the Cherry Blossom Season | Yuko Takeda, Dean of the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care
2020.04.07
I drove to the SFC campus, gazing at the beautiful, nearly full-bloom cherry blossoms along the Hikiji River as I always do, to begin a new semester unlike any other. In contrast to the warm air outside, the air inside the buildings remained chilled, and the school buildings, devoid of students, were utterly silent. It seems that in this spring that is indeed different from usual , everyone is holding their breath in a state of anxiety.
The graduating students began their new journey without a graduation ceremony. I feel that over the past month, they have faced various struggles and have also grown significantly. In the last week of February, I received two emails from the Keio Nursing Appreciation Party Committee. One was an invitation to the faculty for the party scheduled a month later. The other was an email seeking advice, expressing hesitation about whether to hold the event. While I also struggled with how to reply, I suggested that they should consider postponing it, as a large gathering with food and drink posed a high risk of spreading the infection. The students' decision was swift.
The report of their decision to cancel the event, citing the reasons that "1) self-restraint from gatherings is being promoted nationwide, 2) two weeks after the event, most students will be starting their careers as medical professionals, which involves the risk of working among people with low immunity, and 3) some of the invited faculty members frequently visit hospitals," came on the same day that the Juku issued a notice to refrain from events involving food and drink. I was deeply moved and felt very reassured by their awareness as medical professionals about to enter the workforce in two weeks, which they cited as a reason. I imagine the decision to cancel the appreciation party they had been preparing for was not easy and was a painful one. They also received messages of encouragement from alumni who were similarly unable to have a graduation ceremony or appreciation party due to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
We, the faculty, are proud of the graduating students who made that resolute decision, and we feel they have the strength to pave the way for the future of nursing and medical care, even in these uncertain times. I felt as if I had witnessed the 16th graduating class, with whom we celebrated 100 years of Keio Nursing on the Shinanomachi campus, take their first confident step into the next 100 years.
In April, as we welcomed the 20th incoming class to the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care, the cherry blossoms along the Kanda River, viewed from the window of the Sobu Line train heading towards the Shinanomachi campus, were also in full bloom—a beautiful spring scene, unchanged from any other year.
And today, April 7, Keio University will begin closing its on-campus facilities due to the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).