「What motivates you most?
Your boyfriend or girlfriend?
Your friends?
Your future dream?
For me, it's my grandparents.
They give me power to live a meaningful life.
Why my grandparents?
I lost my father when I was six, and then I lost my mother when I was eleven.
I lived with my mother’s parents until I was thirteen.
Then I moved in with my father’s parents and they have taken care of me ever since.
This may sound like a sad story.
And yes, I've had some hard times.
But this story is not all about sadness.
My grandparents are orange farmers.
They are very old.
When I came to them, my grandfather said to me, “I will keep going until I'm 80 years old.”
That meant he would continue working until I graduated from high school.
I was shocked.
He was old enough to retire and yet still had the will to continue farming in order to support me.
This is my second year of high school.
Teachers tell me that I should continue school after graduation because I’m a good student.
But my dream is to work with my grandparents as soon as possible.
I want to make their life easier.
And although it is difficult, I want to make our original-brand oranges.
Yes, college is important.
But my heart is telling me to go to the mountain with my grandfather.
This is a story about growing up.
A story about making choices.
A story about love and respect.
My grandfather is strict.
Apart from scolding me he doesn't say much.
But he shows me the importance of working hard.
Trying more means growing more.
Putting a lot of energy into oranges means making better oranges.
Is it not the same with life?
There are things I will learn with my grandfather that I can’t learn in school.
These things are not about getting good scores on math tests.
Or remembering English grammar.
These things are about soil and sun and rain.
About growing things with my hands.
These things are about working out of respect and devotion and gratitude to the land.
But also, to the people that raised me.
Grandpa, grandma, thank you for everything.
I’m very happy to be your grandson.
It’ll be my turn to support you soon. 」
Yukinori ABE Misaki High School
He lives in Hiraiso which is my home country.
Now, he is a twelfth grade student.
If he graduates, he will work agriculture.