Road To Dreams

ZenZen
Feb 3, 2018
4 min read

It’s a long time since I’ve felt somewhat down. So recently what made me feel super unmotivated is that my father is not fond of the fact that I’m planning to pursue college in Japan with 100% Japanese being taught. At first I was mad because then all the Japanese lessons I’ve been learning up to this point means absolutely nothing to him? Does my passion not shine enough?? I was so mad I stopped talking to him for a while because it hurt me that my dreams were not being appreciated enough.

I’ve had many plans for my future. At first I thought of the university I went to on the summer but then the location likewise wasn’t really my kind. I was a city girl, who loved fashion and just want to be out on the busy streets of Tokyo 24/7. That’s when my dream started. I wanted to be a fashion designer and make my own brand like the ones in Harajuku but with a mixture of my own.

I searched hard for the top fashion design colleges in Japan but only came across those that are 100% taught in Japanese and require the N2 level of proficiency. That’s where my argument with my father started and that’s what made me mad and unmotivated. While on Facebook I came across a post by a sister chain school of the prestigious fashion college in Tokyo, Bunka. They were holding a free workshop so I thought maybe I would give it a try to see if fashion designing is meant for me.

I made my reservations and attended the workshop on that very day. I was surprised, the school itself wa situated in a mall right near where I lived. I realized how easy it would be if I ever were to start learning there. The school itself was just amazing, the facilities and everything. I really thought it was the actual college itself. I was a bit late So I hurried in and filled my info at the front desk.

I signed up for a skirt making and basic fashion drawing workshops. I never used the sewing machine before so I was quite nervous. Luckily the teachers there are super nice and teach you even if you have like zero experience like me oof. Most of the people who were in the workshop were women in their mid 30-40s so they already had experienced in these kind of stuff. Heck, I probably was the only 16 year old there ahaha.

I struggled at first because I never knew much about the controls and the amount of pressure that is to be applied when you used the pedal of the sewching machine. I gave a few tries before the real thing started. Honestly I was about to give up because I was so frustrated like to the point I genuinely thought that maybe this stuff isn’t meant for me. But I saw a women next to me who smiled at me as she was trying to fix her skirt on and on and on again. Her smile was enough to send me motivation to finish it off!

And so the skirt was finally made and I had a little help by one of the students there in her second year of the 2 year course at the school. I got to know her as P’Bow and she asked me why I was interested in coming today for the workshop. I told her that Bunka was one of the colleges I dreamt of going to, and proceeded to share her what went down with my father not supporting it.

She then told me that it is actually possible for me to transfer to Bunka in Tokyo on my third year after finishing off the 2 year course at this chain school here!

I was stunned. Was I hearing things right?? Was I able to actually achieve my dreams after all?? So many thoughts and I couldn’t grasp what I just heard completely so I asked her again just to make sure. She laughed and said yes it was definitely possible and the school had a direct connection the college itself so I have a chance!

I parted ways with her but added her social media in case I ever wanted to ask her questions, and I proceeded to lunch at the canteen. As I ate I thought about how I wanted to continue my future. Was I going to give up my dreams of getting into a Japanese college from square one?? I had no idea, but I hoped that this would at least loosen things up with father. I updated him what I was doing and how things were and carefully mentioned about the course at the school. Surprisingly he seemed alright with it but I wasn’t too sure if that’s what he really felt like.

The next workshop was about to start soon and I headed up. Fashion drawing was pretty interesting as they wanted you to chose your own fabrics and make your own style. I did mines and the instructors seemed to like it! After that was over we had a group shoot outside and bid farewell while thanking the teachers for their time.

I went home and considered thinking about it. I was really happy with the fact that I still had a chance to go to Bunka but I wasn’t too sure if that’s what I really want... either way I hope that soon I’ll figure out what I want.