The end of the year is a busy and exciting time for third graders in Japanese junior high and high schools.  Students choose the high school or university they want to attend, and they study hard for the entrance exam, held in January or March.  For seniors in American high schools, the end of the year is an important time, too.  Students select the university they hope to enter, and they prepare for the “center test” , or SAT.  I remember my senior year of high school very well.  In today’s essay, I will tell you about some of my experiences in the fall and winter of 1987.
    I began thinking about choosing a university just after the start of my final year of high school.  In September of that year, I made a list of the schools that interested me.  All of them were small, and most of them were far from home.  I showed the list to my parents, and we talked about my choices.  In October and November, my parents and I visited some of the schools.  We met university teachers and students, and we toured college campuses.  I was impressed by the beautiful buildings and the university libraries, with their many thousands of books.  It was difficult for me to decide which school I liked best.  In the end, I applied to all of them. 
　　My parents and I nervously waited for the mailman to bring my SAT scores, as well as letters from the universities. When the results came, I was very pleased. However, making a choice was difficult. Finally, I decided to attend Louisiana State University, a university in my hometown. I am glad I made this decision because I had many excellent teachers, and I met many interesting students from around the world. I wish you the best this winter as you prepare to make important decisions about your future.

<注>third grader(3年生)，university(総合大学)，attend(参加･出席する,通う)，entrance exam(入学試験),
senior(年長者,上級生の)，select(選ぶ)，enter(入る)，prepare(準備・用意する)，center test(センター試験),
essay(エッセイ,随筆)，experience(経験,体験)，start(始め)，final(最後の,最終の)，list(リスト,一覧表)，
interest(興味を起こさせる)，choice（選択），tour（小旅行，見て回る），college（専科大学），campus
（キャンパス，構内），many thousands of〜（何千もの〜），in the end（結局，ついに），apply to〜
（〜に申し込みをする），nervously（不安な気持ちで），mailman（郵便配達人），score（得点，成績），
A as well as B(Bと同様にAも），result（結果），was pleased（喜んだ），making＜make a choice（選ぶ），
finally（ついに，とうとう），Louisiana State University（ルイジアナ州立大学），hometown（故郷），
made＜make decision(決定する)，excellent(素晴らしい)，future(将来，未来)