BY AKI SHIMAKURA

When we talk together about the Student Guidance Clinic, we are sometimes under the misapprehension that it is a gloomy school facility which is used only by students who have some troubles. When I visited it to gather materials for my previous article about living by myself, the encounter I had there dispelled the prejudice that I had had against it. I would like, through this article, to let you know that the Student Guidance Clinic works very hard and is the admiration of other universities.

The Student Guidance Clinic at Sapporo University was established in 1977. It is located on the first floor of main building, next to the medical center. Although it is actually rather difficult to find, it is always crowded, with as many as fifteen or sixteen students seeking guidance. They come for various kinds of advice: advice about the curriculum, to request a loan to help them through money troubles, to ask for help with frozen water pipes. Amongst the users of the Clinic are college graduates who used to visit the Clinic when they were themselves students here.

One of the counselors who welcomes these students is Mrs. Watanabe. She used to be a school nurse, and in total she has worked at Sapporo University for eleven years. Those who visit her regularly call her the "Mother of the University", and on July 26 this year the Ministry of Education will present her with an award to mark her activities as a "school health assistant." She cares for students in a variety of ways, not all of them in terms of direct counseling. Sometimes, for example, she introduce students to each other and encourages them to talk to each other about their troubles. By this means, they can support one another and seek out the solutions for their troubles by themselves. These encounters have nothing to do with the Faculties, or with the achieving of grades.

The Faculties themselves each support a counselor, six in all, with one who is a specialist in law. Our investigations show that at other universities the Student Guidance Clinics are mostly used for medical purposes only and do not offer general counseling services. The Student Guidance Clinic at our university, however, is far from being a medical room. This is a characteristic of our university. As for students who get into trouble with law, the counselors make every effort to back them up and ask teachers in the Faculty of Law to offer extra support. They take great care of these students. Thanks to the great importance which those counselors attach to student welfare, it is easy for us to visit the Student Guidance Clinic.

When I visited the Student Guidance Clinic to gather materials for my previous article, Mrs. Watanabe shook hands with me. She said, "Life is an encounter, so let us treasure this encounter." It is a pity that on March 31 this year she will retire from her position at the Student Guidance Clinic, although I am sure that her successor, the new counselor, will be active in carrying on the work of the Student Guidance Clinic which Mrs Watanabe has build- "The Place of Encounters." At the end of the interview I had with her for this present article, she said, "It is not through our own effort alone, but through the power of encounters with others that encourages students to visit the Student Guidance Clinic and thus find power to face the world of tomorrow."

As you will now see, the Student Guidance Clinic of Sapporo University is excellent. We hope that every student will feel free to visit the Clinic without hesitation: "The Place of an encounters."