Students sometimes write essays on things they are interested in. This essay was written by an artist, Mayuko Morita, about the word “gene”. We can feel the sincerity in her writing, which we can also find in her lovely paintings.
 

“MORINOIE”
 

『英語教室』では、それぞれが関心のあるテーマで自由に英作します。森田麻祐子さんに “GENE”(遺伝子)について書いていただきました。彼女の作品のかわいらしい佇まいの中にある誠実な強さを感じるエッセイです。
 

‘We Are Sure You Were Born’

The word “gene” has been important to me lately. The word comes from the Latin “genus”, which means “birth” and “kind”. Many words originated from “genus”, such as “genius”, “generate”, “gentle”, and “hydrogen”.
 

I read an article about behavioral genetics. The researcher said that although 60% of intelligence is inherited from one’s parents, one’s artistic and musical senses are more influenced by the environment and one’s own efforts. Usually people think that individual effort and the environment affect intelligence and that artistic talent is innate. Many parents tend to have a lot of expectations for their kids and tell them, “Do this, do that!”, “How about this? How about that?”. I do this too. But my son has inherited my genes and the genes of my husband, so I should not put too much pressure on him. In other words, we don’t need to worry about him and we should just trust him.
 

How about happiness? I have heard about research into what makes people happy and healthy that has been going on since 1938 at Harvard University. The research indicates that good relationships are the most important components of health and happiness, so I would like to try to help my son have good relationships with us and his friends.
 
 

“MORINOIE”
 
 

森田 麻祐子　(もりた まゆこ)
mayukomorita.com
 

英語の本をすらすら読みたいのと、気負わなくても英語で話せるようになりたくて、英語を学んでいます。
I study English because I’d like to read books smoothly and speak without getting carried away.