Baskadia

「京大医学部４名合格講師」による受験対策講座（9３）

Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.

                                                                          （ヘンリーソロー）

　受験指導をしていて気がつくのは

「受験に有利な参考書、問題集、塾、予備校を探している子が落ちる」

　ということ。合格する子は勉強に忙しくて、参考書や問題集のあれこれを考える暇もないほどなのだ。

　徳川家康は戦国時代の勝者になったが、その方法論をあれこれ考えていたわけではない。三方ヶ原の闘いでは武田信玄にこてんぱんにやられ、織田信長の命令で妻と長男を見殺しにするしかなかった。その段階で、天下統一など考えられるわけがない。

　ただ目の前の危機を回避し、生き残るだけで精一杯だった。

　受験勉強もそれに似ている。毎日毎日目の前の問題と格闘して、解き方を見出し記憶する。無我夢中でやっていたら入試当日が来た。そんなものだ。人生もそうだとソローは言っているのではないだろうか。

When I teach entrance examinations, I notice that

"Children who are looking for the best reference books, problem books, cram schools, and prep schools to take the exam will fail.

　This is what I have noticed. The children who pass the exam are so busy studying that they do not even have time to think about reference books and problem books.


　Tokugawa Ieyasu became the victor of the Warring States Period, but he did not think about this or that methodology. He was beaten to a pulp by Takeda Shingen in the Battle of Mikagahara, and had no choice but to leave his wife and eldest son to die on the orders of Oda Nobunaga. At that stage, there was no way he could think of unifying the country.


　He was just doing his best to avoid the crisis at hand and to survive.


　Studying for an entrance examination is similar. Every day, we struggle with the problems in front of us and find ways to solve them and memorize them. I was selfless in my efforts, and then the day of the entrance exam arrived. That's how it is. I think Thoreau is saying that life is like that.