James Jinguji is the grandson of the late Frank Shigeo Tanagi and a graduating senior at Liberty High School in Renton, WA. Jinguji has a love for basketball and is currently on the varsity basketball team. He is also an officer on the Liberty High School National Honors Society and DECA Business Club, where they placed 5th in an international level competition. Jinguji intends to study Physical Therapy at the University of Washington in Seattle this Fall. 

Question: Tell us about a personal experience or relationship you have had that exemplifies okagesama de (‘I am what I am because of you). How has this influenced your future educational and professional goals?

Although I know very little Japanese, a word I am very familiar with is gaman. It means to endure the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity, to be strong when all you want to do is give up. When I think about how this word has impacted me, I am always reminded of my grandparents. Although they never told me personally, I know that they went through the long and painful process of rebuilding their lives after internment. With nothing, and in the face of racism and prejudice that I have never even fathomed, my family built their lives back up, piece by piece. And while rebuilding their lives, they showed what gaman means to my parents. My grandparents, who were robbed of educational opportunities themselves, helped my parents to see the value of an education, something that would take me a long time to realize. On both my mom and dad’s sides, all of my aunts and uncles went to graduate school. My parents specifically, are both in the healthcare field.

First, I am who I am because of my parents. 

From the time I was little, I’ve always loved being a helper. Whether it was returning the jackets I looked for in the lost and found for people, or helping my friends figure out a fun way to memorize a formula, I’ve always found joy in serving others. 

But I don’t believe this is because of me, but my parents. Growing up, I can remember countless impromptu late-night examinations where my Dad looks at our family friend who just got hurt, or my mom at someone who just chipped their tooth. Even outside of their careers, my family takes great care in ensuring the people around are doing well. They have opened up our house for friends to stay at when they have had nowhere else to go, or bought Christmas presents for a mom who otherwise could not have gotten their kids anything. Never once have they ever asked for anything in return. Never once did they tell me service was important but showed me how to love through giving. 

By witnessing true service, my parents have shown me how fulfilling and meaningful a selfless act is, and what it can do. When I talk about my career with my mom and dad, they always tell me to, no matter what, help other people. This is why I want to go into physical therapy; I believe I can combine my love of athletics and helping others. I realize for me, much like my parents, my career is a vessel to help others. I would not have understood this unless it was for my parents.

I am also who I am because of my grandparents.

I also understand the hard work it will take for me to get in a position to help those around me: becoming a physical therapist requires a lot of school. Furthermore, serving others itself is challenging and requires tenacity and effort in order to give quality care. For me, my best work simply does not come from motivation but discipline. And this belief is once again not from me, rather, this is where I believe gaman and my grandparents truly enter my life. My grandparents didn’t achieve their goals of bringing a better future for their family with motivation, but a tenacious, unyielding discipline. I am a direct product of their hard work. What they sacrificed for me is something that I take for granted every day. If I fail to recognize what they’ve done for me, it shows I do not value the life that they dreamed of having. 

Although it’s small, I try to repay my grandparents by working hard in school, basketball, and everything I do. I try to show that just like them, I will continue to work hard to build up those around me and build a better future for my family and those I care about. I know that the formula to achieve this is through gaman.

My grandparents and parents both have always put a large emphasis on school, and for many years I didn’t know why. It wasn’t until my sister reminded me that an education is something that can never be taken away. My grandparents had lost everything, but no one can ever take away your education. That is why I take it so seriously, to show respect to my family through academics, but also to empower myself just as they wished they could. 

I can truly say I am what I am because of my parents and my grandparents. One, because of their constant sacrifices to me and those around me, I can see the value of service in a profession. Second, those sacrifices give me the discipline to continue to better myself and to give my family a better future. I am very proud to say that I am who I am because of my family.