<Begin Segment 8>

RP: And did you have any particular interest in high school, a particular area of study that you pursued?

DI: I loved the sciences, biology. My sister was a math whiz. Geometry, trigonometry, that's not for me. I didn't have the brains for that. [Laughs] But I loved the sciences.

RP: Any particular science?

DI: Biology I think I enjoyed. Not particularly botany, but I think I enjoyed biology more.

RP: So tell us a little bit about graduating high school and what you did after you did, you graduated.

DI: The one thing I remember about Samohi, they have a Greek theater there. And it was such a great feeling (at graduation) to come marching down there and then sitting up there. I enjoyed my high school days, yeah.

RP: Pretty, pretty studious student?

DI: Not as smart as my sister. My sister was a straight-A student. So when she graduated, they all kind of nudged me and said, "Oh, you're gonna be like her." I said, "I don't think so." [Laughs] 'Cause she took those hard subjects, geometry and that kind of stuff. That was not for me. I loved my science better, yeah. But I enjoyed high school.

RP: Now, were you, were you aware of world events at the time, of Japan and America...

DI: No, I don't remember too much. Because when December 7th came, we were already married, and we were living right there on Sawtelle Boulevard.

RP: Oh, on Sawtelle, okay.

DI: So we left right from that corner. But we had, we bought the house, didn't we. Didn't we buy the house? I can't remember.

RP: What did you do after graduating high school, Dorothy?

DI: Oh, I went to sewing school. The lady had a little, she had a business of sewing for other people, and she also ran a sewing school. And so I took a bus and came up and learned how to sew, and that's what I did.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.