September 14, 2015
Dear students and friends
First time I met Atsuto was after I successfully taught his sister attending Yokohama Futaba
to enter Keio University Engineering Department. He just entered Keio University Futsubu
(junior high school). He was a Keio gentleman and outstanding student and a tennis player.
I had many outstanding students from Japanese elite schools but he was far outstanding from them. He, then, entered Keio Jukukou(high school) with some other students I had. He was a good tennis player and a good student. As a Keio student he had a choice of department to enter in university to follow. He could have entered the Medical department, but entered the Engineering department because he wanted to be a pilot, he also joined the varsity team of Keio Tennis Club where he had to wear black school uniform all the time.
He graduated with cum laude and took the test of joining ANA as a pilot and unexpectedly failed
in the first primary.
At that time I was teaching a Sacred Heart student whose father was a 40 year-old ANA pilot and mentioned about Atsuto's failure and I was told that in 20 minutes any veteran pilot can tell the candidate's talent. I knew his statement was true from my experience as an English speech contest examiner. So I felt Atsuto may not fit to be a pilot, but his dream since his childhood or from his mother's, being living right next to Nagoya airport at Komaki and as a childhood Atsuto always saw airplanes flying over his grandfather's house, always wanted to be a pilot. He never changed his dream.
He joined the graduate school and prepared to be a pilot again.
I always supported him with supplying all the English materials need to be one.
This time he was careful, so he applied to Chiyoda Engineering company where most of new members were highly educated engineers from graduate schools who loved backpacking adventures.
He was able to go through screening to more advanced levels but failed again. His father was one of the high level directors of ANA but could not join them. He told me in ANA, unusual like JAL, they don't like a company contact to affect the choice and purposely they reject the company affiliated candidates.
So I thought he would join Chiyoda Engineering and will go to one of the plants in deserts.
However, I learned that he got in to the only pilot training school, Nippon Airline College.
He spent two years and got a license and became a pilot.
He was lucky to become a pilot when the world needed badly compare to first trial when JAL
became bankrupted and many pilots were laid off.
Today I heard from Atsuto that he got in to ANA.
I admire his perseverance, dedication, and commitment.
