スクリプトは事前提出されたものですので、ビデオの音声とは異なる場合があります。

You Only Live Once

Seguchi Ryudai (Kagawa National College of Technology, Takuma)

Last year, I made a speech about "Carpe diem" at the All Shikoku Kosen English Speech Contest in Niihama. It means to make the most of every day. Then I said that suicide is only a foolish act committed by cowards who can't maintain the courage to live. But half a year later from that, I faced a hard reality. My friend committed suicide. It was all of a sudden. I cried over and over again, because he was a teammate who had practiced tennis with me for six years. Moreover, he was in excellent academic standing, so he was always at the top of his class. I respected him so much.

One day, I heard something that I didn't know about him from his parents. That is, that he had kept a diary and had always written his feelings or resolutions about his tennis games and practices. When I learned about the diary contents, I compared my life with his. Then I noticed that I was only living my life half-heartedly day to day. There was nothing that I was really trying my best at. I didn't really have my heart in it when I played tennis or studied.

Even now I don't know the cause of his suicide, but he must have suffered. Then I remembered my speech, and I felt that I shouldn't have said some of the things then. What is right? What is wrong? I haven't found the answer yet. But I've got one thing I can say for sure. It's "You only live once.". His death made me think deeply about the meaning of life.

I still have the opportunity to enjoy my life. For example, I can play various sports with my friends. I can talk with my friends about our future, dreams or things that happened during the day. I can go somewhere with my friends or my family to have a meal or to shop. Actually, I got to enjoy practicing dancing with my classmates every day before the school festival last month. I feel great spending time around other people. I have really enjoyed these days.

I have the freedom to set my own goals, professional and personal. For example, I want to see many movies. I want to take many photographs in order to leave good memories. And someday, I want to travel abroad, and there, I want to see lots of beautiful scenery and try some exotic foods. Well, to tell you the truth, I also want a girlfriend.

Lastly, I have a responsibility to live. If I die, I can't play tennis. I can't talk. I can't walk or run. I can't eat or see anything. Perhaps, I can't think or move. But living itself enables us to do a lot of things.

The worst thing is being too hard on yourself. When you face painful or difficult things, you can get away from it. And you should depend on your teachers, friends or family. Whatever happens, you don't have to give up living.

Now, I practice tennis every day as the captain. I study really hard with my friends. I'm a class officer in my class and enjoying taking part in school events. Like this, I enjoy every day as much as possible. Of course, there are also many troubles and hardships. But I want to keep smiling and get over them.

Whenever I remember him, I always become sad. But at the same time, my belief becomes stronger. You only live once. So you should try various kinds of things. The most important thing is how we live life in our own way. I want to get as many experiences as possible. I want to make each day count and to uncover each one of those yet undiscovered treasures to come. I think that life is absolutely wonderful. I will never be afraid of living. I will live my life with pride. I will live my life without regret. When I'm happy, when I'm in pain, or when I'm in trouble, it's my life. I will live my life to the fullest. You only live once.