<Begin Segment 12>

RP: And did you have aspirations to attend college after high school? How, how did that go down with your parents?

NM: Oh, I think my parents wanted us to continue education and I didn't have any special aspirations or such. It's just something that I thought I would be doing. So it was probably instilled by my parents that we would go as far as we could. So, yeah, most of us were able to go to college. I think all of us. No, junior college, and one sister was business college and another she was ill and she didn't get very far.

RP: So you went to junior college first? Or did you go straight to...

NM: Me? Oh, I went straight to --

RP: Arizona State?

NM: Yes. I guess it was Tempe at that time, I don't know.

RP: And were you able to receive a scholarship or how was education financed?

NM: No scholarship, but I worked in the summer. I remember working at the college there. We had to do the scrubbing, like cleaning the walls and doors. And the man who was in charge says, "Don't do it from the top. Start from the bottom and go up. Because if you do it from the top, dirty water will come down and make a streak which won't come off." So that was the lesson I learned from that experience. But, yeah, so we sort of financed it ourselves and I didn't get any outside help.

RP: And how far away was Arizona State College from your, your home?

NM: I'm not too sure about the distance but it was between Phoenix and Mesa. Tempe was about five, six miles maybe?

RP: Did you commute?

NM: I commuted, yes.

RP: What kind of car did you drive at that time?

NM: Model A, Ford.

RP: Uh-huh.

NM: And it had a rumble seat I think, as I recall.

RP: Wow. So, what was, what were your first impressions of college? You know, going from the farm to, to a state college?

NM: I don't know that I had any impression but it was a big place, of course. And kind of confusing. Had to go to different classes and different buildings. And it's kind of hard to get used to all the people, I guess. And changing teachers, I mean, going to different classes.

RP: When did your future husband show up in Mesa? You said that he was assigned to come and minister there.

NM: Minister, yes. I think he came in '39. And in the fall of '39, I think, or summer of '39.

RP: So you were going to college at the time?

NM: Yes, at that time I was going...

RP: Uh-huh and how did you meet him?

NM: (...) My dad and I went to the station to pick him up. 'Cause he came by train. That's the first time I saw him.

RP: And did he, and so he ministered at the Methodist church?

NM: Yes.

RP: And did he also attend the college that you were going to?

NM: Yes, he was on a student visa at the time. And of course being a minister he was able to stay, too, but, so he was still required I think to go to school. And so he went to college.

RP: And where did he come from before he, he landed in Mesa? Where was he based in?

NM: I think he, he was a student in New York. He attended the seminary in New York. And then he was ill and was in a sanitarium for a year or maybe two. And then after he was released he came out to Mesa. I guess he joined the provisional conference that summer and he was assigned to Mesa.

RP: So, what were your impressions of him when you first met him or got to know him a little bit?

NM: Oh, I don't know. [Laughs] He was kind and he was very interested in people. And so... I don't know whether I thought anything special at the time.

RP: And when did you get married?

NM: In '41, in the summer of '41, 1941. I graduated in '40. So it was the next year.

Off Camera: 1941?

NM: 1941.

Off Camera: They never did celebrate their anniversary.

NM: What?

Off Camera: I said you never did celebrate your anniversaries.

NM: No, I don't think so. We could hardly celebrate our wedding either. Well, we had a wedding party and all. But that was in the summer just before the war broke out. So...

RP: So you had just graduated and, and you received a bachelor of arts degree?

NM: Yes. I graduated in '40, 1940. And then, yes, with a bachelors. It was bachelor of art although I majored in science. I don't... well, because I guess it's a, it's a teaching, it used to be a teachers school, college. And so I don't know whether they had bachelor of sciences at that time.

RP: Were there many other women attending that college at that time?

NM: There were many women, yes. You mean in general?

RP: In general.

NM: Not very many Japanese though. Was I the only Japanese? Maybe. I think at that time, uh-huh. My sister had moved out already. She, she attended there but she moved away.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.