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Get Foolish!

Ohashi Takumi (Nagano National College of Technology)

Do I look active, energetic and full of passion? This may be an unexpected question to you. But everybody says I'm positive. And now I think so, too.

To be honest, I used to be a little unmotivated and passive. I did only what I could do, and gave up seemingly impossible things before even trying to do them.

"Why are you so silent? You don't look happy. Get foolish!" Becoming foolish? Am I?

When I was a second year student at Kosen, I was selected to take part in an international camp held in Nagano prefecture.　The aim of this camp was to bring together young people from a variety of Pacific Rim countries who will be the next generation of world leaders, so that they could exchange ideas and discuss cultural issues. How? All in English! About 30 students from countries including Singapore, Malaysia, America, and New Zealand participated, which means there was a good mix of native and non-native speakers of English. This was a great chance for me to use my English for a real purpose.

But, even though other Japanese campers tried to communicate with the international students, I just couldn't say anything. I was filled with negative thoughts at that time. ‘What if I make mistakes? If I use bad English, they will look down on me…' I hadn't really had an opportunity to speak in English before this.

Then, one of the staff members came to me, and said, "Hey, why don't you talk with other people? If you are silent, it's meaningless. Bakaninare. Get foolish!" Get foolish? No, kidding! I didn't want to be foolish. I was really surprised, and I thought he was rude and silly.

I didn't catch what he really meant. I was just watching him without thinking, and he looked stupid on first glance. But as I observed him closer, I figured out two things. First all the people around him smiled and looked happy. Second he was warming up the atmosphere. I was shocked a little. And I asked myself if it was all right for me to behave like that, too.

So…. "What am I standing here for?" Then I stepped forward and began a conversation like this. "Well… do you have a girlfriend?" "No. How about you?" "Me, neither." "Oh, that's great!" Then I realized I could speak, I could understand! Using broken English and gesture, we talked a lot. At that time I also realized that ‘Speaking English doesn't have to be perfect'.

After that, I made a lot of friends. And that experience broadened my horizons. I understood the true meaning of the words: 'Get foolish'. This phrase reminded me of the philosophy of the late Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple, who said: 'Stay hungry. Stay foolish.'

Because of his drive for perfection, he had to overcome enormous problems to make his ideas a reality. People may sometimes have thought he was crazy, and questioned his decisions, but he knew what he wanted – he was always ready for the next challenge. For example, when he knew effective marketing was the key to success, he head-hunted John Sculley who was president of Pepsi Cola with the words, "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to change the world?"

Without such single-mindedness and confidence, he could not have achieved the success he is now world famous for. This demonstrates both the desire, and risk, in his work ethos: Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

So, how is all this relevant to me? I've tried to take risks, but have I got such drive? Am I hungry for something?

There are two things that I really wanted to accomplish recently. The first was to prepare for university entrance, and the second was to continue the badminton club activities at the same time. My friends and teachers always said, "Concentrate on your exams. Forget about the club." However, in the end, I was able to take part in the Kosen national championship for the first time. And also I passed the exams for university. So, my risk paid off, and now, I'm happy because I didn't give up doing two things at the same time.

'Stay hungry. Stay foolish.' Steve Jobs left this message for us. And now I clearly understand what he meant. Everybody has a lot of chances. But it depends on you whether you exploit the chances, or not. How motivated are you to achieve your dreams? My desire to succeed helped me in my exams and club activity. Are you afraid to let yourself go? When I broke out of my shell, I mean ‘Got foolish', I could communicate with complete strangers. So… Let's stay hungry. Let's get foolish. And let's seize that chance!