The graduation ceremony for the students in the 37th term of Tenri Practical Nurse Training School was held on March 9. This year, 32 students graduated from the school as the last graduates.
In the ceremony, after the singing of the Eight Verses of the Yorozuyo, Principal Kikuo Takemura presented graduation diplomas individually to the 32 graduates. He then extended his congratulations and expressed his appreciation for the efforts they had made over the past two years. He noted that they would continue their studies as students in Tenri High School’s Evening Course and, at the same time, begin working as practical nurses at Ikoi-no-Ie Hospital during the daytime. Then he said: “Human life is one of the most precious things in the world, and you are going to engage in work which is directly related to caring for human life. Consequently, I would like you to bear in mind the weighty responsibility entrusted to you and apply yourselves earnestly to fulfill your given task.”
He also encouraged them by saying: “You are the last graduates of Tenri Practical Nurse Training School. Though the school is going to be closed, its name will live on so long as its graduates devote themselves to taking care of people at Ikoi-no-Ie Hospital and other hospitals in Japan as Yoboku nurses or at churches as Yoboku.
Then, Ikoi-no-Ie Hospital Service Department Head Takehiko Nakata delivered his congratulatory address to the graduates. He said: “You will continue to study to become registered nurses even after graduation. The most important thing, however, is to continue your religious education so that you may become Yoboku nurses with strong faith.” He then asked them to keep on seeking after truth with a fresh mind.
Graduate representative Motoko Koga then delivered a speech to express the graduates’ thanks. In it, she pledged that the graduates would do their utmost to help others and become Yoboku nurses, as desired by God the Parent and Oyasama, by applying what they had learned at the school including the teachings of sincerity, joyous acceptance, and kindness.