Baton

What do you want to do?

What do you want to be?

Whenever I am asked this question, I am always at a loss for an answer.

When I was a high school student, I came to the open campus recommended by my teacher.

As I climbed the hill from the station alone, I saw a brick auditorium among the green trees.

The beautiful sound of bells reached my ears from the tip of the green roof, which shined against the blue sky.

By the time I passed through the campus gate, my misty mood had cleared up completely, just like blue sky.

A senior student in a pink polo shirt greeted me with a kind smile.

The spacious classroom looked like something I would see in a TV drama.

The auditorium with its stained-glass windows was majestic.

The library with its tranquil atmosphere was surrounded by many books.

The melody of hand bells ringing softly from the lobby of the lecture building.

She introduced each of them to us with a very happy face.

Every moment spent on this campus was so vividly conveyed to me as if I were experiencing it myself.

After the campus tour, the thought “I want to be like her” naturally sprouted in my mind.

My steps were light as I walked downhill on my way home.

I found myself smiling naturally.

I still didn’t know what I wanted to do.

I haven’t found what I want to be.

But I have found the person I want to be.

I want to be like her in this place someday.

Three years have passed since then.

I look down at the entrance to the campus from the classroom window.

Tense-looking high school students in school uniforms are walking toward us.

I wonder if I have become a little closer to the person I met three years ago.

I have made good friends at this university.

I found what I wanted to do.

I have a dream that I want to make come true.

How will I look in the eyes of the high school students I will meet today?

I’m standing in front of the mirror and faced myself.

I straighten the collar of my pink polo shirt and walk straight down the stairs to pass the baton that she gave me.