at the prodding of

すばらしいことです。ゼミ生にはこのおばあちゃんの爪の垢を煎じて飲ませたいものです。

83 year old great-grandmother to graduate from high school

83-year old Chie Kaminakabeppu is set to graduate from high school next year. Entering a junior high school at the age of 76, this grandmother of five, and a great-grandmother of four, is out to show that a person can start anything at any age.

Born in Kagoshima Prefecture, Kaminakabeppu’s desire to study came when she was 32 years old and wanted to read her daughter’s name, but was unable to because it was written in English. She was 15 years old when the Second World War ended, and married at the age of 24, but didn’t have the time then to take up schooling. Her desire was revived when her husband passed away and she was feeling down, her daughter suggested she go out of their house more often and she remembered wanting to study English, and after two years, enrolled in a night-time junior high school.

After graduating from a junior high school, Kaminakabeppu enrolled at Takatsu High School for their part-time curriculum at the age of 79. She also joined the school’s baseball team at the prodding of her adviser, 45-year old Katsumi Nakajima. Though it was initially a joke, she signed and helped the team with the drinks and refreshments. Earlier this May, when the school joined preliminaries for a national baseball tournament for part-time and correspondence schools set in the Kagawa Prefecture, Kaminakabeppu played left field for the first time, though no balls came her way.

Her adviser Nakajima believes that Kaminakabeppu’s presence in the school and the team is good for the other students, as it serves as an encouragement to them to have good manners and conduct themselves in a behaved manner, with some of the students having troubled backgrounds. Thinking of graduating next year is sure to make Kaminakabeppu miss her schoolmates but she has plans of continuing her studies, and is already looking at taking swimming and ink painting next.

http://japandailypress.com/83-year-old-great-grandmother-to-graduate-from-high-school-3041615/

at the the prodding of は「〜のすすめによって」という意味で、under the prodding ofとほぼ同義です。 （UG）