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TI: So let's get you out of high school. So you graduate from high school, what were you thinking? What would you do with your life after you graduated from high school?

SA: Well, it was interesting because I had terrible grades in high school.

TI: So when you say "terrible grades," were you like a C student, D student?

SA: Oh, yeah, C student, maybe even some Ds.

TI: Okay. Yeah, for a Japanese, you're a bad student. [Laughs] And did your parents get mad at you?

SA: Well, my dad told me I got to go to school; I got to get a college degree.

TI: Even though you were a C student in high school?

SA: Yeah, he says, "You got to."

TI: But what did you want to do? Did you want to go to college?

SA: Well, at that point in life I said, "Okay, let me go do it." I mean, I just sort of fell in line and did it. San Jose State at that time allowed students to go on trial. So they took me on trial, but the trial period meant that you had to take all the remedial classes that you didn't do well in high school, all the way from English, math, everything. So for one year I was on the trial program at San Jose State, re-taking math, high school algebra, trigonometry, English, bonehead English, the whole thing. And I concluded that I could do pretty good in school if I put my mind to it.

TI: And what changed? Why all of a sudden putting your mind to it?

SA: Well, I guess I grew up a little bit. And now I was sort of on my own. I didn't have the high school bunch, so I was sort of on my own. And being alone, I got driven to do better. And then finally I started getting As. I had never gotten As. [Laughs] So I said, gee... and then about that time, I had to decide what I'm going to major in when I started my real program at San Jose State, and I wanted to take the easiest course, which was drafting at that time. But I found out you can't get a job in drafting. The only job that was, that you can get a decent job was engineering. And more importantly at that time, I can get a draft deferment with engineering. So I said, "I'm going to go do that." And so finally I enrolled in engineering, and I started getting some very good grades.

TI: Now which engineering type were you in?

SA: Well, this was, at that point it was just general engineering.

TI: So just taking a lot of science course.

SA: Science, math, a lot of math courses, a lot of engineering...

TI: Lot of physics...

SA: Engineering, physics, chemistry, it's the lower division class. So finally I got enough good grades, so my dad said, "You got to go to Stanford." And the reason he said I've got to Stanford was because Kirkwood was a Stanford graduate.

TI: Interesting.

SA: So he says, "You got to go to Stanford."

TI: Back then, was it hard to get into Stanford? Like today, was it really hard to get into Stanford?

SA: I don't know. I still don't know how I got in. [Laughs]

TI: But you applied...

SA: Yeah, I applied and passed the tests, and I got in.

TI: Now was Stanford an expensive school to go to?

SA: At that time, yes. Well, it was... let me tell you how much it was at that time: six hundred sixty dollars a year.

TI: Okay, but back then that was a lot.

SA: Back then that was a lot of money.

TI: Today it would be a steal. [Laughs]

SA: [Laughs] So I got in, and I think what helped probably to get in was I went in as an upper division student because I was a transfer. And I think, at the time when I applied, there was enough openings. And for all I know -- I will never know, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Kirkwood helped me, because he was a Stanford grad. He was well respected. By the way, Kirkwood became the Controller of California.

TI: Controller of the state?

SA: Yeah, the state of California.

TI: Interesting. Is that an elected office or was that appointed?

SA: That's an appointed office.

TI: Interesting.

SA: So, anyway, I got into Stanford, and that was a rude awakening for me because San Jose State, I still did a lot of playing, and I still managed to get good grades. So I went to Stanford, and oh my god, I said, "I'm going to flunk out." It was so much harder, and the pressure was so great.

TI: And in terms of your classmates, who were your classmates? Were they from all around the country?

SA: Oh, yeah, they were from all over the country. Because Stanford was a very diversified school, even at that time.

TI: So not only the curriculum was harder, but the competition was harder.

SA: The competition was much harder. So I really had to buckle down. So I had to change all my habits from playing to studying really hard. [Laughs]

TI: And so you're about twenty years old, about nineteen, twenty?

SA: Yeah, yeah.

TI: So maybe you're just a late developer, I guess. [Laughs]

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.