Since being crowned queen at the 67th Cherry Blossom Festival, Lauren Sugai, a 2016 graduate of the William S. Richardson School of Law, has been told by fellow attorneys that the feat has changed her life.
“When I’m in a hearing or at a conference, they said that they can feel a difference in how I present myself,” said the attorney who works for Chong Nishimoto Sia Nakamura and Goya. “I do feel more confident.”
The festival experience also gave Sugai a deeper sense of her heritage, and a more complex understanding of the roots of her family, the sacrifices they made and the values they hold.
“I did karate and for years we made sushi, but I never realized that everything was done because of tradition and values,” said Sugai. “My dad always made sure I worked hard—it was the Japanese values that made him think that way. Now I realize my father was like this because of our culture. Everything was purposeful.”
Sugai’s great-grandparents came to Hawaiʻi as illiterate sugar plantation laborers, settling in Waialua, where the family still has roots. The North Shore community is where Sugai and her twin sister, Lisa, grew up. With their parents’ guidance, they set high standards for themselves, both graduating from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa law school. They are now practicing attorneys, while brother Daniel is a physician, a graduate of the John A. Burns School of Medicine.
Entering the Cherry Blossom Festival was something Sugai did, in part, to better understand her cultural background. “It has been life-changing,” she said. “I had no idea how profound the classes are, from making manju, to taiko drumming, to tea ceremony, ikebana and more. The biggest part was learning the values that made me realize who I am today. Now my culture and traditions are even more meaningful.”
For the full story, see the law school website.
—By Beverly Creamer
