[No. 142] Hiroaki Yamada

Ever since before I started elementary school, I was interested in numbers, especially calendars, and I loved arithmetic and mathematics from a young age, even creating my own calendars for more than ten years in the future. By the time I was in junior high school, I had come to think that I wanted to major in mathematics at university. When I became a high school student, there were times when I was interested in other faculties, but that was only temporary, and I decided to enter the Department of Mathematics to pursue the academic field I loved.

When I entered university, I was very surprised by the large gap between the mathematics I had learned up to high school and university-level mathematics. At the same time, I felt a great deal of anxiety, wondering if I could make it in this department or if I was even suited for it in the first place. In that situation, during the second semester of my first year, I learned about a club called the Mathematics Study Group. Although I belonged to other clubs at the time, I decided to join this one to improve my mathematical skills. In my second year, students were divided into departments, and I advanced to the Department of Mathematics as I had hoped. Through activities such as seminars in the Mathematics Study Group, I saw other members of the group setting their own challenges and tackling mathematics. This made me reflect on my own attitude of only doing what was assigned, like just attending classes, and I realized that at university, I needed to learn more proactively. This prompted me to start studying in the library and visiting Professor Takayama's office to ask questions. Along with other members of the Department of Mathematics, I frequently went to ask Professor Takayama questions, sometimes staying late into the night. Despite his busy schedule, he was always very thorough in his responses, and I am truly grateful. The drinking parties we had with our professor are now fond memories. In this way, from around the time I became a third-year student, I finally began to realize how interesting university-level mathematics was, and I started to feel that I could somehow manage in the Department of Mathematics.

In the second semester of my third year, the time came when I had to start thinking seriously about my future career path. I had decided to go on to a master's program in graduate school and continue my research in mathematics, but as for what came after that, I thought it would be nice to aim to be a mathematics researcher, but I hadn't thought about it in much detail. After much deliberation, I also considered getting a job related to meteorology, a field I had long been interested in. However, since I would be majoring in mathematics all the way through graduate school, I wanted a job where I could use mathematics throughout my future. Also, having worked part-time as a Juku instructor and private tutor since my first year, I decided to aim to become a high school mathematics teacher.

At the same time, starting from my fourth year, I would belong to a research laboratory. I joined the Shimomura Lab, as I had become interested in complex analysis after taking a course on function theory in my second year. After that, I advanced to the School of Fundamental Science and Technology at the Graduate School of Science and Technology and continued my research in the Shimomura Lab. Normally, students start the teacher training course in their second year of undergraduate studies, but I started in my fourth year, so my graduate school life involved taking teacher training courses. The seminar was held once a week, and Professor Shimomura provided warm and thorough guidance. I am also truly grateful that he gave me appropriate hints when I was struggling to choose a topic for my master's thesis. Thus, I was able to successfully complete the master's program.

Outside of my studies, my hobby is watching baseball (I'm a Chunichi Dragons fan). With a friend I met at university who is also a Dragons fan, I traveled all over the country to watch games—not just in the Kanto region and Nagoya, but also in Sapporo, Osaka, and Hiroshima. I also went to the spring training camp in Okinawa twice. I have a particularly strong memory of using a Seishun 18 Kippu during the summer vacation of my first year to take a 15-hour local train ride from Tokyo to Hiroshima to cheer for the team.

Having decided to become a teacher, I wanted to give back to my hometown of Gifu, so in April 2006, I was appointed to Uguisudani Junior & Senior High School, a private combined junior and senior high school in Gifu. It was my first time dealing with entrance exam mathematics in six years, and I struggled at first. However, thanks to the problem-solving approaches and logical reasoning skills I had acquired in university and graduate school, I became able to solve problems that I couldn't solve when I was in high school. However, there are also many things I have learned since becoming a teacher. Even after becoming a teacher, every day is a learning process, whether it's solving university entrance exam problems on my own or searching for ways to clearly answer students' simple questions. A teacher's job is multifaceted, including not only teaching but also career guidance, student life counseling, club activities, and school administrative duties. In the midst of these busy days, I realized that eleven years had already passed. During this time, I have seen four classes of students graduate. Although it's a job where I get to use my favorite subject, mathematics, the work is not always fun. There have been many unpleasant and difficult times, but I feel the rewards of being a teacher and think that my hard work has paid off when a student says, "Oh, I see!" or "I get it now!", when they get into their desired school, or when they invite me out for a meal after they graduate. From now on, I intend to continue to approach my work "for the students" and "with sincerity."