Last 2 Weeks

My internship with NCI has come to an end and I am sad to see it go. These past 8 weeks have been a great opportunity both professionally and socially and I am truly glad that I was able to take part in such a great program. I just want to thank all of the people and organizations that made NCI possible and all of the people who supervised us each week. From Ellen to Paul, to Roy, Helen, Ryan, and Erika, to Kizuna and the JCCsj, thank you for all of your support and work this summer and summers past and future!
NCI has been a great opportunity for me because I got to see and do many things that a lot of people do not get the opportunity to do (I wish there was video of my closing speech in LA where I summarized why NCI is great because I feel that was the most genuine and true to Earth statement). As many people who know me know, I am a man of few words and there are not enough words in the world to describe how grateful I am for taking part in the NCI program this summer nor are the enough words to describe how amazed I am at all of the people who took their time to make this program run. I can only hope to one day do what all of these wonderful people are doing; these are some pretty big shoes to fill. Thank you NCI, JCCsj, and everyone else!
Thank you to:

Kathy Sakamoto- JBA

Roy Hirabayashi- SJ Taiko

Helen Hayashi- JCCsj

Julie Hubbard- Yu-Ai Kai

Rich Saito- JCCsj

Duane Kubo-J-Town Community TV

Ryan Kawamoto- Yu-Ai Kai

Juan Carlos- Empire 7 Studios

Franco Imperial- SJ Taiko

Wisa Uemura- SJ Taiko

Michael and Duane of Chidori Band

Sensei Gerald Sakamoto - San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin

Mike Inouye- NBC

Jessica Savage- Avaya

Raul Peralez- City Council of San Jose

Vedant Patel- Congressional Aide to Mike Honda

Cindy Chavez- Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors

Laura Wells- San Jose Dept. of Transportation

Andrew Knaack- JCCsj, NCI

Ellen Kamei- JCCsj, NCI

PJ Hirabayashi- SJ Taiko

Sharon Uyeda- San Jose JACL

Fred Buzo- San Jose Mayor's Office

Cpt. Lo- San Jose Fire Dept.

Cpt. Ciaburro San Jose Police Dept.

-Alec Matsumoto