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BN: So you eventually graduate from Roosevelt. What was your thought process then of what you were going to do?

RO: Well, I had already decided a long time ago that I'm going to college. And since we lived on the east side, I wanted to go to UCLA. I thought, well, I'll just go to a two-year school for the first two years, and then I'll make the long drive to UCLA. So the first year I was at... I can't remember the name of it, but there was a two-year school kind of in the downtown area. So I went one year and then I realized this is like being in high school. So I decided I'm just going to go to UCLA.

BN: Was it LACC?

RO: LACC, thank you.

BN: There were quite a few Nisei that were going there, right? I think my father-in-law went there. But again, he's quite a bit older than you.

RO: Yeah, I thought it was a waste of my time because it was like high school. And back in those days, the rules were not as tough as they are now. I could transfer after one year, so the second year I started going to UCLA and I was there for three years, got my undergrad degree there.

BN: How did you, how was the cost?

RO: It was free. Isn't that nice? [Laughs]

BN: Totally free at that time?

RO: Totally free. Well, we had to pay for books, but outside of that, it was free. Which was great for people like me who didn't have much money. I mean, there are still people like that today, but they don't get the free...

BN: Yeah, I believe UCLA is not free anymore. [Laughs]

RO: Oh, you've had children there. [Laughs]

BN: Yes. Actually, no, we paid even more.

RO: But you were there. When you were there it was expensive?

BN: It was affordable. You could, at that time, even when I was there, you could work your way through school. You can't do that now, it'd be just impossible. And where did you live while you were going to UCLA?

RO: Oh, initially, I was still living on the east side.

BN: So you're commuting across town.

RO: Yeah, and then my parents decided to move to the west side. So I think the last year or so it wasn't as far to go.

BN: Where on the west side?

RO: I can't remember the name of the street, but it was on the west side.

BN: But like Crenshaw area, or closer to UCLA?

RO: Oh, more like the Crenshaw area. In fact, I think it was just east of Crenshaw area. But it was so much closer. And then I think the last year, I stayed with a couple of, a few other guys, we rented a place and then I just, it was great.

BN: How were the studies at UCLA, having now come from a public high school and making this kind of jump?

RO: It was very difficult for me because they were, it was almost all white in those days, which is kind of hard to believe now, but I would guess ninety-five percent of the students were white. And I was, since I'd never gone to school with white kids, I thought, oh, I'm not going to make it. And I was a math major, so this was all white men, white boys then. And they used to get together to work on things together, but they wouldn't invite me to join them, so I was on my own. So that was one reason that I didn't do as well. The other was I wasn't that interested, so I didn't study and I was working on weekends, having fun. So I came out of that, I graduated, but I didn't have great grades. So in part, it was because I was, I thought the white kids were a lot smarter than me. And the other part was I was just not into school. I was working on weekends and still hanging out with my high school friends.

BN: What were the high school friends doing? Were a lot of them going to college, too?

RO: Interestingly, no. I think they were (not), I was the only one, I think, that went to a school like UCLA.

BN: So out of that group, you're sort of the smart one, the college kid. They were just working, kind of more blue collar type jobs?

RO: More blue collar jobs, yeah.

BN: Did you stay in touch with the group?

RO: Well, I moved after I got my degree. I worked for about three years locally, and then I moved to the East Coast, so I didn't see them. But I still see one of my friends.

BN: From that time?

RO: Yeah. He lives in... he doesn't live close by, but I do see him once every year or two, yeah.

BN: Did you ever have, like, a reunion of your group?

RO: Yeah, we did.

BN: Because I know some of the groups still meet regularly.

RO: It was really funny because I went to one, by then I had married a white woman and we had a huge dog. So we were living on the East Coast, and we came to the West Coast just to see my parents and all that. And so I went to one of these get-togethers with my own gang. And my wife was just, I guess she was afraid, because everybody else was JA. She didn't know any JAs at that point except for me.

BN: She was probably seeing a different side of you, too, that she didn't know about.

RO: Yes, that was a learning for her.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2021 Densho. All Rights Reserved.