<Begin Segment 24>

KL: Who else was in dental school with you? Was that Caucasians and Japanese Americans, a mix of people?

MO: Yeah. There was a hundred and five students start out, and in our class we had, I think we had ten Asians, which was a very high percentage of Asians for that group. Usually they take maybe two or three, but we had ten. I think there were six Japanese Americans. And there was a Korean, there was a Chinese, there was two Koreans and one Chinese, somewhere around there. But we all got along together. We studied together.

KL: The ten of you?

MO: Yeah. The fraternities that the other kids belonged to, the Caucasians, they used to have access to test files, all the tests that were given in the past, they had accumulated all that. And so they had access to that. So for us to compete with them, we had to study together, and maybe we get one copy of an old test or something, we had to share that amongst us, the Asians.

KL: Did you have any interest in fraternity life?

MO: No, no.

KL: Was that pretty closed off at that time?

MO: Yeah, it was.

KL: To Asians?

MO: Now it's open, but not at that time. Our class, we had two girls, which is unusual. One was Japanese American, and the other was a Caucasian girl.

KL: Did she study with you, the Japanese American girl?

MO: No, she was smart enough, she didn't need us. [Laughs]

KL: Did they, how were they treated? How were they received?

MO: Well, yeah. We didn't discriminate against the girls. They were nice girls.

KL: What about the Caucasian girl? Did she need any study partners?

MO: Yeah, we treated her as equal.

KL: Did she study by herself?

MO: I think so, I don't know. I don't know. She didn't study with... she might have access to old exams and stuff. It's hard if you didn't have it, very difficult. I gave the secret away. [Laughs]

<End Segment 24> - Copyright © 2013 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.