Learning to Teach Others: How Hard Work Can Pay Off
What would you think if you had to paint cars by day and study at night when you were 15. This was normal for young Eiji Yano as he supported himself in a new area and worked towards his dream of becoming a teacher.
Being the eldest of his four siblings, Yano always helped out wherever needed. This all changed when his parents divorced when he was 13. The next year, his mother committed suicide. With the family at its lowest point, Yano didn’t know where to turn. “Because my mother passed away, I couldn’t go to regular high school so my craft teacher at the middle school found a job for me,” said Yano.
This would lead Yano at the age of 15 to move to Toyota City, Nagoya in Japan to work at the Toyota factory. Yano was the youngest worker there and took many lessons to heart. “Technology, machines is the job, but actually not. People, we run the company. We work as a team, at the office, at the factory, any kind of work environment,” said Yano.
While working in the factory, Yano was able to enroll in a home study program continuing his education.
While working at Toyota, Yano’s middle school teacher would send him a book to read. Yano would read it, send it back to his teacher and the cycle would continue. “When I was age 14 or 15, it became my habit reading books. All the books were literature, Japanese literature. I learned so many different lives, what are important things about life. Family, job, education, everything I learned from Japanese literature so I chose my major as Japanese literature,” said Yano.
After working and saving money from the Toyota factory, Yano was able to continue his education by gaining admission to Toyo University. “Because of my major, I became Japanese teacher,” said Yano.
He would work during the day and go to school at night. Though it was hard, he learned from these experiences.
After college, Yano went to teach back in his hometown of Kyushu. He only taught for two years there due to the stressful teaching system in Japan. “In Japan, we don’t have school counselors like US. So who does counselors job, teachers. Teachers teaches their subject, and then they have to do all the paperwork, all the counselors job,” said Yano.
Yano would also feel the stress from the Japanese teaching system as it continued outside of the classroom. “After school, teacher have to supervise sports team so class ends around 4 pm. After that, teachers coach the sports teams and then usually ending around 7:30 pm and then go home, they have to grade their papers, they have to prepare next day. Not easy. On weekends, you still have to practice sports team and then they have games on the weekends. Basically, being a teacher in Japan is extremely hard” said Yano.
After teaching in Japan, Yano moved to America and taught for the last eight years claiming that it is his dream job. “I don’t know what to do if I quit teaching,” said Yano.
Yano has learned from all the experiences and lessons throughout his life. While teaching, he would share some of these lessons with the students. These lessons have resonated with former student Gabrielle Giangreco.
Giangreco feels that she has learned more than she thought from Yano. She’s gained more understanding of the world which has helped her become ready for the challenges that life has ahead. The biggest lessons that she has learned was to treasure her family. “I’ve always been interested in the culture of Japan since I was young due to my grandfather living there. I can still bond with him through the Japanese culture” said Giangreco. “The lesson that I take to heart is to show my family that I care about them” she said.
Yano continues to affect others and grow, striving to be the best version of himself. “Constantly reading, constantly growing, constantly learning in any field…you can’t stop learning,” he said.
