Jessica Nagasako of Lahaina gets Congressman Daniel Akaka’s signature on a document in his office last week.
BY LOUISE ROCKETT
LAHAINA - From the blazing hot tennis courts in downtown Lahaina to the hallowed halls of Congress in Washington, D.C., the road to success for Jessica Nagasako has been paved with hard work.
The 23-year-old daughter of Annie and Wallace Nagasako graduated from Lahainaluna High School a titled athlete in 2003, with Maui Interscholastic League Outstanding Female Athlete, Lahainaluna Female Athlete of the Year and MIL Girls Player of the Year plaques on her wall.
She is another coach Shigesh Wakida and mentor Bush Makekau triumph, with athletic achievement following Nagasako to Claremont McKenna College in California, where more trophies accumulated on her shelf playing NCAA Division III women's tennis.
There are pages of Google links to her credit.
Nagasako's talents may have been honed on the court, but her accomplishments extend beyond the hard surface to the classroom and into real life.
As a Pacific and Asian Affairs Council Student Scholar, she traveled to China for a Summer Study Tour in 2004, and she spent a college year aboard studying in Athens, Greece.
She graduated from Claremont in May 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Government and Psychology.
And, one short year later, the determined young achiever is working full-time for U.S. Sen. Daniel Kahikini Akaka, serving first as Congressional Intern for three months right out of college.
There are 31 full-time employees working for the esteemed Hawaiian Congressman in both his state and Washington, D.C., offices. In addition, there are 25 staff members working on the various committees and subcommittees he chairs.
Nagasako is the chief clerk for the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C.
It's a mouthful, but she is positive.
"It's a lot logistical, like administrative, support work, but it's a really good position to get to know the legislative process, especially the subcommittee and committee process," Nagasako explained.
"Being in the subcommittee has opened me up to a lot of different opportunities that are out there," she said.
Sen. Akaka, a former educator, considers it a responsibility of his office to instill the value of service to community and country in our youth.
"This is an opportunity for young people to get involved in politics, which is important, because what we do here affects everyone in Hawaii, across the country and around the world; so we need young people from Maui and everywhere else to contribute to the process. I hope this is a stepping stone for Jessica and the other young members of my staff, and that they can use this experience as they move forward as active members of our community."
And Nagasako's vision is far-reaching, focusing on the international development realm and foreign policy.
"My long-term goal is to be in a position where I am able to help third world countries to come out of that poverty level, so that people are able to have a solid education? and give their children a better life."
Although that takes more education and experience, Nagasako is undaunted.
"You really have to work your way up there and that's where I am - working myself from the entry level positions up to where I might want to be. It's competitive. It's difficult. You really need a lot of good experience behind you and get that (masters) degree. Schooling is very important; it's something I really want to pursue," she said.
Her mother is rightfully proud and mother bearish at the same time, giving the Lahaina News some insight into the strong character of her only child.
"I would say that she is somebody who always strives to do her best, to put her best foot forward. She does things with a passion. She has grown up to be a very independent adult. She's taking care of herself; she is financially independent," she said.
"But I will tell you that things did not come easy for my daughter. She's always had to work really hard. I think because of that, because things didn't come easy and she had to work really hard, I think that helped to build her character. She had to learn to be tenacious at what she did," Annie added.
Jessica attributed her success to her strong heritage and work ethic.
"It's so important to get your high school diploma and then go to a college, any university, and get your bachelor's degree. And it's really important to get the experience - to do a lot internships in the summer - and to be really proactive with your life, because no one is really going to give it to you straight off. You really have to work for it. It's a lot of hard work, but the payoff is really great.
"I guess it goes back to my understanding of why my great-grandparents came to Hawaii - to make the better life for me basically, for their children, their grandchildren. I feel like I have been given the opportunity to do that because of their hard work. Everyone's hard work has kind of trickled down to me, and I can't imagine myself wasting their hope that they were going to be able to give their children a life so much better."
Her great-grandparents were Mitsugo and Ayako Nagasako. They immigrated to Hawaii from Hiroshima, Japan, in the 1890s.
http://www.lahainanews.com/story.aspx?id=9327
