By MARY ANN TAKEMOTO

This week’s Rafu includes our special education issue. This is one of the essays submitted by local education leaders.

To be honest, it was never my intention to become an academic administrator. Growing up in Gardena as a first-generation college student, I had not considered the full range of career opportunities that would be open to me. I planned to follow in the footsteps of my older siblings and study biology in college.

I was fortunate to receive a scholarship to attend a liberal arts women’s college, Barnard College, at Columbia University in New York City. It was a transformational experience and I developed a passion for the study of psychology. I had a part-time job in the Psychology Department and did research with one of the faculty members, furthering

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