graduation_issue_final

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THE PEARLSoka University of America Student News Magazine

VOL.5COMMENCEMENT

2011

GRADUATION ISSUE

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tableofcontents004

In AppreciationJihi Jolly

005Parting Words

Andrew D’ambruoso

006An Arduous Journey

Jace Chang

007This Liberal Arts Degree from SUA

Riri Nagao

0082011 after graduation

2011

0012Creating Value: Coming to a

Theater Near YouMichelle Hamada

0013My.Soka.EcNatalia Dare

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Up for AdoptionGarret Braun

0015Rejected

Commencement SpeechJean Marcus Silva

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To Our wonderful readers:

Packing and unpacking. As we wrap up the final moments of our spring semester and all the stress we’ve accu-mulated over our week of finals begins to fade away, we pack up and say fare-well. Farewell to our classes. Farewell to our essays. Farewell to our professors. Farewell to our old rooms. Farewell to our cafeteria, our friends, and our cam-pus. Most importantly, farewell to our lovely seniors. They have finished the school year strong and continue on-wards to illustrious post-grad programs and promising futures. I’m sure you are all curious where our new graduates are going and what they’ll be doing, so we’ve published a special Graduation Edition! I would like to especially thank our soon-to-be-graduate senior staff, Ji-hii Jolly and Jean Marcus Silva. Their no less than gargantuan efforts have paid off in full, for our recently published 10th Memorial Edition shows the ex-tent to which they have helped make the Pearl flourish.

Thank you as well to all of our graduating contributors and writers. The Pearl would not have functioned without your efforts. But with packing also comes un-packing when the underclassmen return for the next semester. As we wrap up the final moments of the school year, the torch is being passed to our new senior staff. I would like to introduce myself as the new Editor in Chief of The Pearl for the upcoming academic year, along with the rest of our new senior staff, De-van Torbert, Sarah Randolph, Sho Nak-agome, Josie Parkhouse, Cory Westropp, and Leia Marasovich. I am excited to work with the entire Pearl team next year. And you, readers, look forward to our issues! We definitely have some in-triguing changes in store. For now, congratulations to ev-eryone for finishing the school year. I think we’ve all earned a vacation. Enjoy the issue and see you next year!

Aaron FreedmanEditor in Chief

LETTERFROM THE

EDITOR[new]

contents0013My.Soka.EcNatalia Dare

0014

Up for AdoptionGarret Braun

0015Rejected

Commencement SpeechJean Marcus Silva

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appreciationin

map, and figure out how to fund it. The labeling has already begun. I’ve told the world I’m an aspiring journal-ist, and I’ve sent applications to programs that train me to become an expert on something or other. On this world staged battle of the egos, how can I preserve my conviction in my unspecific inner creativity while still upholding a clear and articulate goal? How will I survive away from this absolutely unique community of col-orful individuals and attentive faculty? Fortunately, SUA is not exempt from what plagues the whole wide world. Every community indulges in its share of gossip, insecurity and self-reflection, no matter how noble, evolved or hopeful its members are. We’ve all done it, overwhelmed ourselves with too many activities, or been overwhelmed by our lack of involvement. We’ve all lost sleep trying to overcome our weaker selves and ended up losing emotional forti-tude in the process. We know each other’s secrets, and we’ve inevitably judged even our best friends, out of concern, jealousy, or boredom. And this is exactly why we will pass the test of real-world survival, with flying colors. While our extremely abstract and inspiring Soka education freed us from the burden of defining ourselves, we’ve been able to spend extra energy on our personal battles against lust, dishonesty, and anxiety. We’ve nurtured friendships as deep as the ocean itself. What a beautiful thing! My extraordinary classmates in 2011 have provided me with opportunities to engage in the most honest dialogues I’ve ever had. You’ve taught me to be a big sister as best as I can to our precious underclassmen, kept me in check and alive when I’d insulate and isolate myself too much, allowed me to make mistakes and bounce back from them as slowly as I needed to, reminded me not only of my own dreams but of your dreams for me and complete belief in me, even when I’ve had none. Thank you for this, from the bottom of my heart. I could write pages and pages of appreciation for SUA, the campus, our resources, the exceptional students, our brave, hope-filled, generous donors, faculty and administration. Instead, I envelop you all in a gi-ant imaginary hug because words will never be enough. I cannot wait to see SUA continue to flourish from the eyes of an alumna. I have utmost confidence in our underclassmen and incoming students to continue innovat-ing new ideas, cultivating talent, keep up the heart-to-hearts and boldly challenge that which is not absolutely honest.

I’ve never wanted to be called a writer. The sound of it makes me shudder and squirm. I love to write, yes. I’ll proudly list it as one of my hobbies on my internet profile. But a title of any sort creates a very tangible container, hat, or pair of shoes I feel I ought to fill. It creates the expectation that I aspire to become an expert, that I am in pursuit of some specific skill, that I’ve been blessed with a particular talent. A title is measurable and identifiable. You can judge me by it, monitor my progress and compare me to others who wear the same hat. Fortunately, SUA has no distinct majors, career charts or explicit expectations of its students, except of course, to walk the con-tributive walk and talk the global talk. Here, I’ve been safe behind the Humanities in all its vagueness and profundity. For this, I am eternally appreciative. SUA has allowed me to nurse my infantile ego for four years, while allowing me to dabble in a variety of subjects and develop a hodgepodge of peculiar skills. I’ve been protected by a community of professors and peers. They applauded every project I accomplished because of my inner talent and not because I ought to write a brilliant paper on Montaigne as a literature major. The results? Soaring confidence in my reserves of creativity and little desire to prove myself in academe. Now, the real test begins. We enter the big, bad world, pulling behind us a little red wagon of dreams, trying to keep the enduring questions of humanity alive in our minds and conversations. We carve our own space on the

Jihi Jolly 2011

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Welcome to our end-of-days here at SUA. We have just about dialogued ourselves to death, and I feel no

obligation to beat a dead horse by using Soka catchphrases such as “victory,” “determination,” “overcoming struggles,” and “human revolution.” I certainly will not bombard you with a laundry-list of all the major life-changing events I’ve experienced in the past four years. This day is not about me; in the long run, it’s not even about us either, and here’s why: I can confidently assume that most, if not all of you, after spending four years at this institution, house within you a strong desire to help others. With this assumption in mind, I promise you that my following words will be very hon-est, and as much my own as possible. Also, I wish to grant a polite word of warning: this may offend you, disturb you, anger you, irk you, tire you, or bore you, but I don’t care. At all. Stop thinking about yourselves so much. I want to make my parting words with you all as meaningful as possible, and I fully intend to do so. I am firm in my conviction that the most fulfilling life is one led with the intention of alleviating the suffering and perpetual dissatisfaction of all sentient beings. You are, of course, free to disagree with me. However, you do not need to travel to poverty and hunger-stricken areas of sub-Saha-ran Africa to find suffering; you do not need to go to home-less shelters; you do not need to go to the slums of a city; you do not need to go to the numerous war-torn regions of the world. No, you need not go anywhere beyond where you sit right now in order to find suffering. Remember, all human beings suffer and experience dissatisfaction; no one is an exception to this rule. To deny this fact is ignorant and downright foolish. I say this as a cautious reminder to all of us who wish to help others in the future. To employ a long-dead metaphor, one who attempts to cure another’s sickness without having first studied medicine potentially causes more harm than good. I will say this now: If you have not discovered the origins of your suffering and dissatisfac-tion and removed them at their roots, you ain’t no doctor yet. Often times here at SUA, I find that many people at-tempt to vicariously—and altogether indirectly—solve their own problems by excessively involving themselves in other people’s problems. To those people, I ask: Who the hell do you think you’re fooling? It deeply saddens me and makes me laugh at the same time.

Even if you spend the rest of your lives outwardly feigning happiness and contentment, you can rest assured that you will never be able to lie to yourselves. Human beings—that includes all of you—find a variety of uninteresting ways to convince themselves that they do not suffer: smiling with unnatural frequency; thinking that if they repeat “I am happy” to themselves enough, that they will, in fact, be happy; not taking complete responsibility for negative or uncomfortable states of mind; entering into “romantic” relationships with other people that more or less resemble an ongoing attempt to conduct one, long, miserable, re-petitive, mutual therapy session; finding and attaching to “friends” who basically serve as negative feedback loops that compound anger and systematically deny the causes of your anger and suffering. Many of you erect altars to your suffering in various ways, and daily attempt to will content-ment into existence, and subsequently believe in the illusory apparition of “happiness” that results. In doing so, you only thicken the veil that shrouds your eyes, and unknowingly plunge yourselves deeper into the mire that is the painfully deluded notion that your visceral dissatisfaction somehow “disappears” into thin air. My point is thus: if at some point in this lifetime you wish to truly be happy, you will have to undertake the indescribably difficult task of directly con-fronting your suffering at its root. No matter what you choose to do with your life after today, you can rest assured that this university has adequately equipped you with the knowledge and tools to go very far in this world. But the fact remains that no institution, or any other human being for that matter, can remove your suffer-ing for you. I will repeat that for emphasis: No other human being can remove your suffering for you. You must assume complete and utter responsibility for your happiness. This is not easy. Since ancient times, this has remained the most difficult endeavor for any person to undertake. Liberate yourself, and you will forget fear, anger, doubt, and sorrow. You will forget what it means to lie to yourselves and oth-ers. You will have no choice but to live with a bliss that only comes from within. At that point, not a damned thing in this universe will be able to stop you.

May you all find the kind of happiness and peace of mind that only comes from within.

PARTING WORDS andrew d’ambruoso

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JaceAn Arduous Journey:Many of you probably do not even know who I am since in recent years I rarely take part in campus activities and have kept a low profile. However, I feel obligated to convey my feelings and advice to the underclassmen as a graduating senior of the Class of 2011. I believe many of you are going through or will go through the same issues that I once experi-enced throughout my undergraduate career. I came to SUA in August 2007 against the will of my Tiger Mother. She detested the idea of her only son forsaking admissions to the UC sys-tem and other better known schools for a young, unknown university in Aliso Viejo. SUA has been my pri-mary choice since I was a sophomore in high school. The greatest irony is that I almost didn’t apply. I can recall Jimmy King calling me several times to remind me to apply. Demographics have surely changed a lot over the last few years. When I came to SUA, I immediately realized I was a minority on campus. I am not a SGI member and honestly it bothered me a lot. I eventually learned to cope with it since there was not much I could do about it. I seriously considered leaving SUA during my sophomore year. I was really discouraged by so many things with the school and to some extent the alumni as well. Those who I am close with have probably heard me talk about it before, and just believe that I am full of hate. I would not

even call it hate; I am just merely critical of the school. It also hap-pened to be my sophomore year that I decided to stop partaking in most major school activities and con-centrated on, in my opinion, more important things, especially academ-ics and internships. I can understand why so many former students opt to leave SUA. The academic aspects of the school are simply not emphasized, much to my chagrin. The only events I volunteer for these past two years were academic-related events. The student body prides itself over having more than 30 or so clubs on campus and many students take part in at least three club activities. I can only say one thing: so what? It is great that the students are tak-ing part in social activities, but I find it extremely ridiculous when club responsibilities become more important than academics. People lose sleep, ditch class, skip home-work, and barter with professors for reduced workloads because of the rigor of club activities. Seriously, what is more important here? I, for one, have overloaded with 5 or 6 courses almost every semester pos-sible, trying to make the most out of my education. Then again, everybody is different. It is not my position to tell what you can or cannot do. Despite all the shortcomings of the school, I have decided to stay on with SUA, primarily because of academics. It was also this same fac-tor that changed the opinions of my

Tiger Mother. The professors here are great, their knowledge, profound. I am positive that I would not have received the same kind of education had I gone to the UCs. I mean I am graduating in May after all. Further-more, we have so many underappre-ciated departments and venues on our campus, such as Career Services, Internship Office, and the Pacific Basin Research Center (PBRC). I can assuredly say that I have taken full advantage of the academics on cam-pus, having overloaded almost every semester possible, partaken in two overseas Learning Clusters, com-pleted two internships, and received PBRC funding twice. If you have the time, look into those venues and maybe cut back on a club activity and do an internship instead. Work and academic experiences are important. I cannot stress this enough. I plead to you: please take academics more seriously. If given the choice to choose again, would I choose SUA again? It is a definitive yes. I am proud to be a graduating member of the Class of 2011. I am proud of my class in every way possible. We have people going to graduate school, JET, and other activities. I am sure that those who are taking time off after SUA will find their true calling one day. I hope our class will act as a source of inspira-tion and role models for you. Please stay true to our school’s mission of fostering a steady stream of global citizens. Change the world.

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As many of you know, I came all the way from New York City to attend

SUA. That might not be a big deal for some of who came from Japan, Brazil, India, and many other countries that are light years away. But for me, it was a big leap to step miles past my comfort zone. If I was traveling across the country just for my undergraduate Liberal Arts de-gree, then it better be worth it. My friends back home think I’m crazy for coming out to South-ern California just for this degree when there are plenty of accredited and pres-tigious institutions much closer to home. On top of the approximate $120,000 we spend on tuition, books, room and board, and health insurance (which is mostly covered by SUA’s wonderful Financial Aid), I pay who-knows-how-much for roundtrip airfares and other costly necessities of life. At our senior-faculty Wine Mixer, Kenji expressed that we won’t remember much of what we learned in our classes anyway. So after four years, what do I have to say about it? Was all this worth it?In the words of Jim Merod, I am telling you that it was “absofuckinglutely”worth it. Every bit of it. I can say with utmost sincerity that all those shin splints from running track, the overdose of caffeine and lack of sleep, the dialogues that lasted un-til 6am, the anger venting, the useless Facebook and YouTube-ing sessions, the endless birthday mass emails, and the boxes of shin ramen that I gobbled down while writing a capstone about organic food, made every bit of my life at SUA absolutely worth it. Through these seemingly mundane moments of cam-pus life, I created some of the strongest relationships that I’ve ever had with my classmates and fellow peers, my coach-es, faculty members and even with my own family back home.

One of the greatest joys I’ve had as an SUA student is the privilege to run for the Cross Country and Track & Field teams. I know I talk about it a lot but it’s a huge part of my life here. While at

other universities, athletes have to be at a certain level of performance to partici-pate, Karla, Gigi and Patrick have openly welcomed me into the team and treated me no different from the other athletes. I remember asking Patrick, “why am I running an extra repeat?! I’m not as fast as those girls.” He said, “Because you can do it! I believe in you!” (For those who know Patrick, just imagine him holding a Dr. Pepper in one hand and a timer in the other at 7 am telling me this.) In all seriousness, as long as I gave my full commitment and cheerful attitude, they have always pushed me to drop more time and reach my potential. This par-ticular season of track was painful and quite possibly the most challenging be-cause I had 4 injuries (the most I have ever had at once) that refused to go away. It was the presence and support of equally dedicated teammates that kept refueling me and making it possible for me to finish strong. I can proudly say that I am a four-year athlete! YES! From track and other encoun-ters, I’ve developed some of the best friendships. This is something that I’ve had great difficulty with. I realize that I am a difficult person. I am full of anger and hostility, which have manifested themselves oftentimes in inappropriate ways. I also close off people easily and refuse to take advice of many who say “reach other to others” and “seek your under/ upperclassmen.” Yet there have

been many who were patient enough to listen to me and get to understand my actions on a deeper level. Friendships at SUA are particularly special for that reason. They greatly inspired me to be-

come that kind of friend too. Ultimately, however, all of my experiences at SUA have allowed me to permanently erase the line between studying and living, which I guess is my personal definition of “Soka Education.” I wouldn’t say that after four years of being an SUA student, I am an intellectual who is on a lifelong journey for knowledge. I don’t eat, breathe and live aca-demia. I do love to read though and have conversations about books and the things that are happening in the world. I have developed a much greater appreciation towards the process of studying and have ac-quired the skills, especially through

the process of composing a Capstone, to apply academic materials to all as-pects of my life. When I approached James Spady to talk about my Capstone topic back in September, he asked me what I wanted to do after SUA. I didn’t really know but I knew that eventually I wanted a restaurant that is a culmina-tion of what I have learned in my entire life. From that conversation, my topic was born. And in the end, I composed a Capstone that truly reflects what I have learned and what is meaningful for me. In my earlier years at SUA, I thought history was insignificant, phi-losophy was pointless and way too ab-stract, and literature was just boring. I used to never read books. I never exer-cised. I hated my writing and refused to share it with those around me. I didn’t care about the world enough to read the news. And I was full of anger towards a lot of situations. And now, I am gradu-ating with a Liberal Arts degree as a Humanities student, a 4-year athlete, a book-worm, a senior columnist for The Pearl, and a future English teacher in Vietnam. The value of my Liberal Arts degree goes beyond the actual mate-rial that I learned and the money that I spent on tuition. My Liberal Arts degree from SUA is the first completed chapter of my lifelong journey.

This “liberal arts” degree from SUA riri

nagao

08 graduation

10. I have applied to two graduate schools in South Korea to hopefully pursue a dual-degree program in Korean Studies and either International Affairs or Public Policy, then I will return to the States for law school and Ph.D program. Years later, I hope to be either in the Foreign Service and/or academia. -Jace Chang

11. Next year I will be at-tending graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania for my Masters in education.-Allie Wong

12. I'm going to Quinnipiac Law School in Connecticut after SUA. =)-Choy Shin Chan

2011 after

1. After graduation I am plan-ning to find a job and pay back some of my loans, while studying for the GRE and hopefully within one year I will be attending grad school. -Alexandra Rodriguez

2. My plan is to make a greater and better cause than I could make at the undergraduate level.-Hideto Koizumi

3. I will be an independent woman who can do her taxes, and fix cars and computers.-Charmaine Escober

4. I will be interning for CBS2/KCAL9 in LA during the summer (and hopefully working for them in the future), and enjoying being young and happy in Southern Cali-fornia.-Janice Lee

5. My plan is to become a sports psychologist and hopefully come back to work at SUA!-Ellyssa Daum

6. I will take a year off to intern in DC in order to develop a better understanding of my future and head towards graduate school in environmental law & policy. I also want to visit at least 5 countries in 3 years; 2011 have a bed ready for me.-Heidi Helgerson

7. After Soka I’ll be work-ing full-time and enjoying my youth by going to Vegas on the weekends. In a year I’ll go to grad school or law school.-Nimsy Garcia

8. Within the next 10 or 15 years, I hope to visit as many of my classmates as well as under-classmen and upperclassmen in their respective countries and cities (I will find a way to afford this!). Along the way, I expect to enjoy delicious food and make great memories with you. Ulti-mately, I want to open a restau-rant and incorporate everything I learned in SUA. You are all invited!-Riri Nagao

9. After Soka, I’m going to shave my head and enter a mo-nastic order.-Andrew D’Ambruoso

09graduation 2011 after

13. I am going to Claremont Graduate University for Elementary teaching in May 2012, but until then I might join Languagecorps.-Nozomi Inukai

14. I will be attend-ing a grad school in England, Ireland, or the Netherlands...sit-ting by the pub, drinking chilled Guiness! -Akiko Tomita

15. I will do the same thing I do every night... try to take over the world!-Dani Siems

16. I will journey on a one-year excursion on a ro-botic donkey through the moun-tainous mountains of Japan, before embarking on the equally weird and wild world of Law School. I am still undecided as to which one will be weirder.-Kenji Yamada

17. I will be pursuing masters in social work starting this fall; my desire is to be able to help the unprivileged class in India in way that they are able to have ac-cess to the basic life requirements, education, and freedom from discriminatory dogmatic religious institutions. -Nitesh Sil

18. I will be working in an of-fice (suit & all), working toward my dream of translating, saving money for grad school, and honing my Spanish!-Kimberly England

19. I’ll be applying for “Teach for Australia” to figure where I can, and want to, contribute in the field of education.-Takako Yoshizawa

20. I will be attending San Jose State University to pursue a degree in speech-language pathol-ogy.-Wendy Cook

21. I will start an NGO that focuses on immigrant rights with Ambre Auzanneau, or maybe just work for one! :)-Katie Brazer

22. After SUA I'll be an intern at The Cleta Harder Brain Injury Center working with individuals with severe disabili-ties and brain injuries while shad-owing California's head speech and language pathologist. In my free time I'm going to take yoga classes, travel, play the spoons, get famous overnight and become the new lady gaga.-Jenny Cook

23. I’ll be attending University of Oxford to study musicology/ethnomusicology; I plan on developing music edu-cation in the future using both ethnomusicology and Soka edu-cation. -Elaine Sandoval

24. I will be pursuing engineering by going back into undergrad, probably for 3 years~-Akira Shimizu

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25. After graduation, I will be going to China this summer to study sustainable development in rural communities and then I will enroll in WWU as a postbac student to study physics and mate-rials science.-Tyko Shoji

26. I will working at SUA from this fall as the Devel-opment Assistant :)-Megumi Tanaka

27. I want to go to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) and hope-fully pursue a career in the fashion industry. :)-Erica Chen

31. After SUA, I hope to get accepted to a 3-month internship in Cambodia at UNAKRT (UN As-sistance to the Khmer Rouge Tri-bunals). I'll also be studying for the LSATs and will apply to law school.-Jolie Tea

32. I want to give back here and there. Rule the world some day... or at least a university ;) and miss you all <3-Astrid Dorantes

33. I will be taking a year off to explore my creativity and apply to Grad school in architecture and urban planning to pursue a career of becoming an Architect.-Julius Taniguchi

34. Departing SUA, only in body and not in spirit, I will be seeking fulfilling experiences in the field of education that propel me towards my goal of opening a uni-versity founded on the importance of experiencing different socio/cultural practical reflections of theory in spe-cific locations pertinent to the topic of study throughout South America. Come join me in establishing this revolutionary educational model!!!-Garrett Braun

35. I'm moving to Taipei, Taiwan to study Chinese and teach English for a year.-Julie Martin

36. I will study under-graduate physics in Canada.-Masaru Nakajimi

28. I’m gon-na put off grad school for a semester or two. I have no idea besides that... Someone please help me find a job!-Krystal Roush

29. I’ll be studying tourism man-agement in Leysin, Switzerland :)-Emiko Kobayashi

30. I will be preparing to go on tour with Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake, and Justin Nozuka as one of their backup dancers.-Justin Kunimoto

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38. I will hopefully be creating value in Hawaii, California, or Japan, whichever comes first, and ultimately in-spire youth to positively revo-lutionize the world :)-Stacy Koyama

39. I'm going to work in Japan.-Tetsuro Kizaki

40. After graduat-ing in the spring of 2012, I will be pursuing two projects: the creation of a social media based news network for people to re-port their own 'good' news, and an international art exchange program grounded in educating communities about differences and similarities through culture.-Leonard Bogdonoff

41. I’m moving back to the east coast to pursue jour-nalism training in the newsroom and then go to graduate school for media studies and to develop a curriculum for humanistic journalism studies! Hopefully I’ll be back at SUA to teach one day!-Jihii Jolly

42. After graduation I plan to take a year off and work back home, hopefully in a job re-lated to psychology to gain some real-life experience before going to grad school for psychology.-Justin Levine

43. After the gradu-ation I am planning to go to graduate school in the east coast.-Bek Holmatov

44. Environmental works and SUJ Graduate pro-gram, here I come!-Scott Williams

45. My post-SUA plans consist of working in Japan as part of the JET Pro-gram as an Assistant Language Teacher for a minimum of one year.-Alvin Koike

46. I am attending graduate school to pursue the field of Public Policy/ Interna-tional Development.-Takako Hashida

47. I am going to graduate school to study for two years, possibly more. Thereafter, I plan to work and build my career.-Ndubuisi Ibeh

48. After gradu-ation, I want to work to promote cultural exchange between Japan and other coun-tries and promote peace and unity in the world.-Yuko Ishimaru

49. ____ - Shaira Chaudhry

50. I will start a non-profit to develop inde-pendent filmmaking in Rio de Janeiro, as well as hide behind words.-Jean Marcus Silva

The distance between your dreams and your reality is always traversable. If you can dream it, you can make it so-Daisaku Ikeda

37. I will go to Bos-ton University and gain more knowledge and skills to contribute to poverty reduction and world peace.-Erika Koizumi

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There is nothing I would love more right now then to veg out in a movie theater. Eyes glazed over, back slouched, the faint hint of residual popcorn on my lips, maybe some Sour Patch Kids within arm’s reach, and definitely not a thought in my mind —I would be in complete bliss.

These dreams are painful to me now as I sit facing my Capstone, alone in a computer room, hours past mid-night, the whir of the printer as my only companion.

I’m sorry. I am being melodramatic. I have my caffeine. I have my study fort of papers, books, and blankets. I have Adele to soulfully serenade me as I type. Life, I suppose, isn’t too bad.

Mostly I’m bummed that I have no film recommendations to give you all for my final Pearl article. I know it’s a cliché but time just went by so quickly. I should’ve planned ahead for this. Perhaps, I could have chirped praise for that Bradley Cooper film, Limitless. Someone somewhere told me it was good. A guy takes this pill that gives him the ability to use 100% of his brain. I could’ve maybe said something about that. Instead all I can tell you is that Mate has a similar effect. I had half a cup an hour ago, and I’m so pumped it’s hard to resist the urge to sing as I type. The fear that someone will come to pick up the pages I heard the printer just print is the only thing that’s stopping me.

Jane Eyre could’ve been interesting. I also saw a trailer of French comedy about a housewife that film looked pretty adorable. Maybe I could’ve mustered something for Scream 4?

Unfortunately, I never saw any of these movies. I have no wise insight. The only thing I can talk to you about is the SUA film that has documented my past four years here. It’s a mixed genre piece, a little Harry Potter, a little Dead Poet’s Society, a hint of Daria. Although none of those comparisons do any of you justice. Well, except for one person who is the living embodiment of Rita Skeeter…

The truth is that life here at SUA sometimes seems more cinematic than cinema. The characters are so much more vibrant and outrageous, the narratives of our lives, so funny, so epic, yet also awkwardly endearing. Where else would someone mysteriously post a “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Pizza Party” sign over a man-hole between the dorms? Where you can eat natto for breakfast and nachos for lunch? Where else in the world could you find a character like Kimura-san? I doubt that there is a place as unique, strange, and special as SUA anywhere in reality or even in fiction.

I found my second home here beneath the palm trees and in between the screenplays of all of your lives. I spent so many hours on this campus, writing, thinking, reading, dancing, hanging out and embarrassing my-self. This school and all of you have been my entire show, my main characters, my inspiration, the laugh track for my awful jokes, the impetus to my growth. Thank you.

As the countdown is getting closer, I want to say something wise to you all. I want to give you something back, a pocket-sized token for you to remember me by. Something to encourage you when you are alone and sad. There have been so many times when you have all done that for me, but now that the moment has come, my mind is fuzzy. The mate must be wearing off. I guess the gist of it is I have faith in you all. In 2011, for making it in the real world (and changing it a bit too). I’m infinitely jealous of all the people that get to see you each and every day. And in the underclassmen too. I’m so excited to come back and see how you will transform and push SUA’s growth. I trust you all immensely and I know you need no ‘wisdom’ from me to continue to make SUA amazing.

I don’t want to sound too final. There is still time for a lot of hugs, and hellos as we pass each other between classes and the dorms. There is still graduation and even after that I’m going to visit and facebook stalk you all. It’s not over. And in the strange sad case that it is (in the slightly altered-and-overquoted-words of Humphrey Bogart), we’ll always have SUA.

VAl

UE

Com

ingtoa

Theaternearyou

michelle hamada

C R e a tiOn

013

my.soka.ec

Someone told me that student leader-ship positions are for people who need to grow. I could guess that I had to

grow—every person ought to be growing and changing at all times, right? But I never knew that my senior year as Vice President of Executive Council would be as trying as it has been. A lot of personal issues came out from the depths of my who-knows-where this year, and I found myself unwillingly to face my insecurity. I don’t attribute it to being in EC; rather; it was something I can now say that I would have had to go through sooner or later. But because of being in EC, a lot of the times it felt like the well-being of a person or group of people, or the suc-cess of a project or event, was at stake when my negativity creeped out and threatened to pull me under.

If I’m ever unhappy, I trace the root of my problem back to my lack of self-confidence. I never thought I would be the vice presi-dent of a student body, I was never a public speaker, and I never aspired to be a leader nor saw myself in that kind of position. Although I used to think these sentiments were just a sign of humbleness, I realize now that they too were connected to a deep-seat-ed insecurity. Indeed, these positions are for

people who need to grow—not just in a superficial way which is easy to see on the surface, but on a deeper, fundamental level that even we can’t see in ourselves until our circumstances directly chal-lenge that part of us.

Someone told me this year to “always have confidence in the causes you’re making.” All the seem-ingly mundane, day-to-day efforts we make, even if we’re making them despite an urge to give in, or despite a voice in our head that tells us that it won’t be worth it in the end, will definitely contrib-ute to something bigger than we could imagine—if not immediately, then sometime in the future. That’s what I learned this year in EC. I learned that in fact, efforts made in spite of such opposition require straight courage—the courage to directly face the parts of you that you don’t want to face. And these experiences cultivate strength and character—the kinds of qualities I am now beginning to understand I’ll need as I graduate and go off into the world, proving the value of my four years at SUA through whatever I do for the rest of my life .

In closing I want to thank you who are reading this for all that you do!! I really believe that each and every person’s efforts—whether they produced sweat, pain, joy, tears, or all of the above—contribut-ed to our greater success as a student body in this 10th academic year. I’d like to tell you that I think your moment-to-moment efforts serve as silent encouragement to at least one person—whether here in front of you, thousands of miles away, right now, or sometime in the future…and that in and of itself is the greatest cause yet.

NATALIA

DARE

013

014

Have you ever given a new born baby up for adoption?

Of course I have not, but I imagine it feels similar to turning in the final capstone draft. For the last nine months, the seniors have worked to nurse, grow and form our thought children into imper-fect and unfinished drafts that come to an end merely because of the existence of the deadline, the synchronized end of our gestation. April 29, 2011, we transformed our pliable, developing, immaterial thoughts into a shaped, material man-ifestation that is supposed to represent our four year spar with knowledge. Although I cannot say it with complete certainty, I am mostly positive that not a single senior achieved this Apollonian image. This is part of the feeling of emptiness that masks itself in the form of our completed drafts. In fact, there is no way to represent all that we have learned here over our four years.

We have learned techniques for communal action from our time organizing action to fulfill a pur-pose. We have learned about human coexistence from living in close quarters with a person we only met through association. We have learned to self-motivate ourselves through the individual work we have all accomplished here. From all these moments, and many others, we have incor-porated into our disposition ways of interacting, thinking and taking action that only call out in moments of critical action. Writing is only one way of representing all that we have become and learned through our cherished years together in a shared pursuit of understanding the world in which we live. Sitting there in my room, stunned by the release of stress that came from handing my capstone to John Kehlen, and confused by the

adoptionup forcapstoners unite

feelings of emptiness, I began to address these emo-tions and came to the above conclusions. Feelings of purpose and relief slowly trickled into my heart as I began to realize how much more I will be able to car-ry on than the grade I receive on my capstone.

As I pass on the torch of learning to my underclass-men, I wish to also impart one way of interpreting the “struggles” we endure here in the name of education. Education is so much broader of an activity than the mundane exercises of the classroom; every moment is educational, every interaction stays with us as we make further decisions and choices. The moments of stress that precede a deadline are uncritical mo-ments in the scope of our entire existence. We can only hope to make our best attempt at each choice we make, but our “best” changes in every moment. So please do not get drained by the hurdles we must negotiate throughout our “Soka experience.” Each hurdle will serve a much greater purpose in the ulti-mate disposition that forms within us and directs our decision-making. Please enjoy the moments of un-certainty, doubt, and frustration. They are all hurdles that can either be sheer obstacles, or they can trans-form into our greatest allies if we stay conscious of all that can be extracted from each. As you move on to your next hurdle, stop and think of all that you will better understand about yourself through the pro-cesses of completing action. I love you all for taking part in my experience, and I have the greatest hope for all the value each of us will venture to create. As the final lines of this four year chapter transition to the next, I remain humble and certain of my call to ac-tion throughout the year, CAPSTONERS UNITE!!!!

garret braun

2011

015

JEANMARCUSSILVA

Welcome, everyone, to the end. The lucky class is no more, it ceases to exist, left to encounter its maker, it bids its last farewells. We will spread our spirit beyond the reaches of Wood Canyon and take part in different collectives. From now on this beautiful congregation of minds will be

memory and nostalgia. After today, when we meet, we will be completely different from when we knew each other as SUA’s 7th class, the class of 2011. It would take me a life time to thank you enough. I am a new man because of you. That’s why, in-stead of remembering the past, I will take this symbolic moment to offer my gratitude in form of a plea. Please, take risks. Put your training into practice. Our generation lives under the pressures to overachieve and suffers heavily when we fail. Our instincts tell us to earn enough money and prestige so we never lack comfort, but to do so we leave aside our heart’s true desires because we fear they won’t fill our empty stomachs. My grandfather is a man of practice. He never had the opportunity to express his heart to the world. He was already a federal employee at age 14. I’ve heard this, and many other stories, over and over, while drinking his perfectly brewed coffee. He’s proud of his arduous life, as anybody should be. He has lived, indeed, a grand life. But I feel, from the expression in his tired eyes and his long stares at the sea’s horizon, that he wanted more from it. My grandfather can attest that a life of comfort is not a terrible one. A life of purposeful risks, though, is far more significant. The fantasy is that the uneventful choices are infallible. But there isn’t an impeccable future you can choose and rejoice in. There is always a risk, even if minimal. So let’s drop the inertia of our stable dreams and let’s be ready to take the heat from our wildest desires. Our moments to-gether at SUA—in classes, clubs and casual conversations on balconies—prepared us for much more than we can fathom.

So please, follow your hearts to the end of your lives. The serendipities of our encounters forged a clear purpose for our educa-tion. Move forward without fear of defeat, because we will always be together, contradicting space and time. Take risks. Voice your minds to the void. Then, failure will become an opportunity. Underclassmen, please do the same while you can. Take the opportunity to experiment, because you are in this glorious sandbox of the mind. Take the classes you think are too difficult. Challenge yourself to leave the comfort of your imagined futures and start liv-ing the challenges of an imagined present. Defy what you believe is wrong, and enjoy the responsibility of the consequences that might come from your defiance. Our hearts are big, our minds are sharp and our educa-tion was a painful process of transformation. We are ready to venture into the depths and reach for the clouds in the shape of our dreams. Breathe in and fill your lungs with fresh air before stepping into the world outside our lovely campus. I finish with lyrics of Leonard Co-hen’s song Anthem, which I first encountered posted on the door of my dear maestro, Arie Galles:

“Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack in everything That's how the light gets in.”

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2011 / 2012 PEARL TEAM

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Aaron Freedman MANAGING EDITOR Devan TorbertEDITORIAL STAFF Christopher Larkin Heather Huff

LAYOUT MANAGER Sarah Randolph LAYOUT STAFF Leia MarasovichBUSINESS / PR TEAM Josie Parkhouse Cory Westropp Sho Nakagome

ALUMNI ADVISORS Jihii Jolly Jean Marcus

{Always looking for inspired and creative individuals to write, design, and publicize!}

MISSION STATEMENT

THE PEARL STRIVES TO EMULATE SLAIN WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORTER DANIEL PEARL’S EFFORTS TO BRING OUT THE HUMAN SiDE OF EVERY STORY. FOLLOWING HIS COURAGEOUS

MODEL, THE PEARL OPENS CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION IN AN ENDEAVOR TO ARTICULATELY AND RESPECTFULLY EXPRESS DIFFERING OPINIONS. THE CONTRIBUTORS TO

THE PEARL REPORT ON ISSUES OF CONCERN FOR THE CAMPUS, THE LOCAL COMMUNITY, AND THE GLOBE, AIMING TO UNIFY THE CAMPUS TOWARD THE REALIZATION OF THE MISSION OF

SOKA UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA.

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