Finding Inspiration

Who do you find inspirational and why?

I had a lot of role models coming up as a skater. I mean my first idol was Dorothy Hamill.

Oh, she's a beautiful skater.

Yes and I think so much of what she represented and just her personality and the love that you could see that she skated with. And other skaters like Brian Boitano, Scott Hamilton were all big mentors and idols of mine.

What about in your personal life? You have an interesting family history.

Yes, I mean for sure my parents and my family and my grandparents.

They were in the internment camp?

My mom was actually born in an internment camp. Amache, Colorado and so her mom was obviously in the camp while her husband was in Europe fighting. So, very unique situation where she was out of the camps for a while but she wanted to join her family and felt safer, actually, during that time.

Did they talk about that with you at all what are some of the things that you think you've learned from their journey?

They don't talk, I mean, let me say, they didn't talk about it much in the past. I mean, that generation just wanted to put it behind them and move forward and assimilate and really be Americans. Unfortunately, that's why many of the Sansei, Yonsei, third and fourth generation don't even speak Japanese anymore. But, I think our generation wanted to hear and know and understand a little more about it and so we ask more questions and that's kind of how we started to learn more about their experience.