Tatsuo Itakura

Student

“I think I’ll be doing some ocean research some day. Counting the waves, maybe.”

Counting waves? Can that possibly qualify as a research project? For Tatsuo Itakura of Japan-current biology major, probable med-school student, and inveterate surfer-it does. “I went to the Big Island in Hawaii to study English,” explains Tatsuo whose father is a doctor in Tokyo. “And I had some problems learning English there. The surfing was always good, but my Hawaiian friends always spoke ‘pidgin’ English. And that didn’t help me too much.”

But after a year and a half at SMC, Tatsuo’s spoken English has improved greatly and has given him the confidence to explain some profound differences between Japan and the US. “Education is great here,” says Tatsuo. “It’s so difficult to get into college in Japan. If you don’t do extremely well in high school, and if you don’t study like crazy—that’s it, you’ll never become anything. But here, there are so many possibilities, even if you’re older. You can choose to study at any time of your life. And that’s why I decided to come here.”

Tatsuo says that, “just being in the countryside is the best thing about California. You can’t imagine the stress and the…velocity of all the crazy things that happen in Tokyo.” He adds that though he misses his family a great deal, he has found a supportive environment at SMC. “I have a very good feeling about my teachers. I feel I can trust them because they’re very good and they always want to tell me the best direction to go in.”

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