No. 06
The environment at Hayama is where I was able to express myself
and where I could pursue my dream
Haruno Hiramatsu
After graduation,
Gyosei International School
(Primary to High School)
Through Hayama International School, many students have nurtured international perspectives,
and are spreading into different paths.
Here are some of the students.
- Q1.When and why did you enter Hayama?
- Haruno:I started this school when I was 2 years old, in the kids and Mom's program with Miss Ena. My parents couldn't speak English at all, and I couldn't speak English, so I was so anxious, but Miss Ena was so kind and affectionate. She was a really nice teacher, and I wanted to go to school, so I begged my mom so that I could enter, and I started.
- Q2.How were the days at Hayama?
- Haruno:I just remember having so much fun in this school, but I remember this one time that I cried so much that I didn't want to go home, and my mom had to drag me out of school. So this environment was just like everyone like a family to me. The teachers were so kind. The students were like my siblings, so all the students were really close, and then now that environment helped me be friendly, but it made me easy to talk to other people, so I think that this helped me so much in life.
- Q3.What events do you remember from Hayama?
- Haruno:I remember having so much fun at the Christmas party here. That was usually in the big room down there. We can sit on the laps of Santa. He used to give me presents, and I remember having this Flying Fairy doll. I used to fly it around the garden here and drop it into the park down there, and I had my mom pick it up for me. I also had this huge book of Clifford and I was just so in love with it. I read it every night. So I really love the Christmas party here. It's one of my biggest memories.
- Q4.What was your path after you graduated?
- Haruno:After I graduated from kindergarten in this school, I went to Gyosei International School from elementary to high school, and I'm in my second year here. Also, I ride horses outside, which is my greatest hobby, and I'm having fun.
- Q5.How did you get started in horse riding?
- Haruno:The reason I started riding horses is really simple. I just loved animals, and one time, I was going grocery shopping with my mom, and then my mom got this pamphlet of this stable, and my mom just tried to throw it away, but I was just like so interested. I just really wanted to ride horses. Before I started riding horses, I did swimming, violin, piano, dancing, ballet and all other extracurricular stuff, and none of this worked for me. I only continued for 3 weeks, and I quit. The longest was like 3 months, but riding horses was so fun. It was just the thing I thought I wanted to pursue my whole life. So I was like, Mom, I really need to ride horses, and so I changed my stable to this first stable from another professional horse riding Academy, and I am riding two horses right now, which is my own, and I'm attending Nationals with one, and the other is for the all Japan Junior Championships I wish I can win I hope I can win.
- Q6.How does Hayama affect you now?
- Haruno:Teachers here just let me do what I wanted to do in this school. If I really wanted to sleep out in the grass, they just let me. If I wanted to play with the dog in the yard, they just let me do it. I was in love with animals, so even after I grew up, that didn't change.
I was introduced to riding horses when I was 11 years old. I just knew that it would be something that I would just continue for the rest of my life. So I want to start my own stable that offers horse Therapy Services, which is also known as EAT Services, which is short for Equestrian Assisted Therapy. There are stables in Japan that offer these programs, but they don't offer it in English, so I thought if I could open a stable that offer programs in English, I thought it would be very helpful for other people. Many people can come to join the program. They can just interact with horses, animals, anything, and I think it would be a really good experience for a lot of people.
