A Blind woman enrolls at the University of Tokyo, overcoming her disabilities to go to the school of her dreams

At the start of the school year, many students have started life in a new environment. Among these freshmen at the University of Tokyo this year was a female student from Wakayama City who lost her eyesight in both eyes at an early age. I followed a female student who overcame her disabilities and realized her dream. (Wakayama Broadcasting Station Reporter Zuiha Ide)

On April 12, an entrance ceremony for the University of Tokyo was held at Nippon Budokan in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. About 3100 new students attended, and one of them was a completely blind female student.

Toshika Sugata from Wakayama is 18 years old. At the age of 3, Sugata was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, which gradually narrows a person's field of vision, and now she has no eyesight. She studied hard and got into the University of Tokyo this spring. At the entrance ceremony, Sugata said, "I am happy that I can learn at the school that I have longed for."

At the recommendation of her parents and siblings, Sugata began attending a local music class at the age of two and a half. Gradually, she was attracted to the beautiful tone of the piano, and she started to seriously study piano from the age of five.

There is a song called "Step by Step" written and composed by Sugata when she was in the 6th grade of elementary school. The song was created with a feeling of gratitude for the music, and the lyrics describe Sugata's frank feelings at that time, saying, "Thank you, God. Thank you for my nice ears." With this song, Sugata won a national music festival featuring disabled people, and was later invited to an international music festival in South Korea.

At the music festival in South Korea, Sugata learned that her foreign classmates were speaking fluent English. She said that she felt frustrated because she could not communicate without an English interpreter.

She also realized the appeal of English as a tool to connect with people overseas, and came to think, "I want to talk to many people using English." After graduating from a school for the blind that she attended until junior high school, Sugata decided to go to a regular high school with an international exchange course.

When she entered high school, her biggest challenge was studying. It was necessary to ask volunteers from all over the country to help with supplementary materials such as reference books. She looked for volunteers herself and asked them to do braille translations by e-mail or phone, putting all her efforts into studying.

In high school, Sugata studied in three countries, including Britain, to improve her English. When she was in her first year of high school in Canada, she met a woman, originally from Pakistan, who hosted her.

The woman told Sugata, "There are still many children in the world who cannot receive an education. Be a person who can contribute to the international community in the future, grateful for the opportunity to educate yourself."

Sugata recalls that until she met this woman, she had seen only a limited part of Japan's educational environment and education for people with disabilities.

However, when she learned that there were many people in the world who couldn't receive an education due to conflict or economic reasons, she was inspired by the words of this woman, and she wanted to find a job that would help eliminate the educational gaps in the world.

After studying hard for 15 hours a day to realize her dream, she finally got her ticket into the University of Tokyo.

As her student life began, Sugata soon made friends with her natural outgoing personality. On the other hand, there were many things to learn in her new life. The University of Tokyo has a "barrier-free support room" to support students with disabilities.

The support room made a braille version of the "Campus Map" for Sugata. While touching the map, Sugata found out that there were many facilities she did not know about, and said with a smile, "I'm excited".

Also, when she entered university, she rented an apartment near the university and started living alone for the first time. It took her 15 minutes to walk to school from her home to the university, and she stayed positive and forward-looking, unfazed by an environment that was quite different from Wakayama.

In addition, compared to her high school days, university classes were becoming more specialized and difficult. Sugata did not want to be late, so she immersed herself in her special device for the visually impaired and textbooks and data translated into Braille by student volunteers, and kept working hard even during the interview for this article.

Sugata is always cheerful and positive, but her favorite expression is, "When you think of a dream, invite it in." No matter how big your dream is, never say "impossible", keep pursuing your dream, and your dream will surely come true if you keep trying. The way she explained this with a smile made quite an impression.

Sugata has had a distinguished academic record, winning music festivals in junior high school, studying in three countries in high school, and winning the best award in the "High school English speech contest," but she never put on airs and always responded with a humble attitude.

Another thing that left a strong impression on me was Sugata's remark during the interview that "I think my life has changed since I entered Seirin High School. I cannot thank enough my teachers and friends who supported me. I think I am who I am now because of the time I spent studying at Seirin High School."

I felt that behind Sugata's achievements were not only her extraordinary efforts, but also the support of many people, her appreciation, and her gratitude. During the interview, I myself was also inspired by her words, "Let's make an effort even if it's difficult." Sugata has a dream "to work for an international organization like UNESCO." We hope her dream comes true. We are cheering for her.