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AI: Well, now, as you were going through your classes and your increasing awareness, what other kind of activities had, were you involved in during your college years?

LB: Hmm. They were primarily social. [Laughs] My mother, you have to recall at this point in time, was going through college at the same time I was. And she was doing very well. She was on dean's list, like every quarter, and doing quite well in school, and I was not. And I explained to her that I was going through a very important socialization process, getting my first apartment, getting my first checkbook. And while I did well in school, I was probably pretty typical of a lot of new college students. You know, I was out there learning about life and learning about, kind of meeting people from all over the United States, and trying to find myself as an adult, young adult person.

I was involved with a number of Asian American friends, certainly involved through Asian American Studies. I got involved in a dojo, actually, in Santa Barbara, and took judo, Aikido -- the dojo had judo, Aikido, and ballroom dancing. And I got very involved in that dojo. But again, part of it was not only learning these particular sports and activities, but also maintaining a connection to the culture. And it was a Nisei man and his wife who ran the dojo, and they were very much kind of second parents to those of us who were away from home. And for me, being in a place that was not Gardena, it gave me a little piece of Gardena, and as I was away at school, to be involved in this dojo.

AI: Well, now, also at some point in your college years, you made a decision to go on to additional education in school, and how, can you tell me about some of your thinking and your decision-making and how you came to the decision to go into law?

LB: I suppose there were a number different things that went into that decision. Certainly when I was in Environmental Studies and in Asian American Studies, and as a result of growing up after the Civil Rights movement and learning about all the protests and everything, there was an overriding theme that law really had tremendous impact on our day-to-day lives and certainly tremendous impact on social policy and on why things are the way they are. Laws cause segregation, laws break down segregation, for example. Much of the Asian American experience in this country has been shaped by the way laws have treated Asian Americans for immigration purposes, not being able to own land, things like that. So I certainly had a very great awareness of the impact of law and certainly a real interest in law as an institution that shapes our lives.

In addition again, I'm not the kind of person who is interested in just one thing like four years of chemistry and then three years of graduate school in chemistry. Law was appealing to me because it is multi-disciplinary. It's not just one subject. When you are working as a lawyer, one case may involve a machine shop and the next day the case may involve a department store and the next day the case may be a major civil rights case. You're constantly learning new things. I've always felt really comfortable about writing and communication, and law is kind of a literary profession where you write, communicate by writing and speaking. And although I think I write better than I speak, I certainly was attracted to law in that regard, too. Law was also a graduate school where you didn't have to have a particular major to be able to enter it, and so you could go to law school with a major in anything. Having a degree in Environmental Studies didn't prepare me for a wide range of graduate school experiences. So again, law was something that I knew that I could pursue with that particular degree. So I applied to law school.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2000 Densho. All Rights Reserved.