When I became a university student, I decided I would move to Tokyo.
Seeing Tokyo on Instagram, I felt like it had everything I could ever want.
I grew up in a typical rural town where everyone went to the same middle school and high school, giving the place a stifling sense of conformity.
I had long grown tired of that atmosphere, and at some point, my smartphone became my only source of comfort. The small screen seemed like a window, opening a hole in the suffocating air of the countryside, letting in a fresh breeze from the city.
At the very least, I didn't want to waste the four years of university in the town I was born and raised in, unable to become anyone or anything. I wanted to start fresh in Tokyo, to be reborn as a new version of myself.
So, I threw myself into studying for entrance exams.
I wasn't smart enough to aim for a national university, so I set my sights on a private one, which required only three subjects.
