Student Stories

Kumiko Maemura

Then: Kumiko Maemura is a 2003 graduate from the Teledramatic Arts and Technology program. During her time at CSUMB, she was also:

• Radio talk-show host on KAZU in 2002
• Tri-County achievement award co-winner
• An intern at NHK, Japan's TV corporation

Kumiko's family lived in Japan until she was four, when the family business expanded into the U.S. She lived in San Jose for several years before moving to Aptos and attending high school there. She also took two years' worth of general education from Cabrillo College before moving to southern California for her work with NHK.

"Then I heard a new program [Teledramatic Arts and Technology] at the new university was opening up near home. So I transferred in the fall of 2001 right into TAT and they became family right away."

About her experience doing the radio show, Kumiko says: "It was so much fun. It eventually went out on campus TV. It was great to have friends come up and say, 'Hey, I heard you on the radio last night!' It was just a really tight, friendly community.

"It was so fun-all my classes were what I wanted to do. It wasn't based on memorizing stuff; it was more hands-on. I loved that practicality. I had friends from UCSC who read all the concepts, but had very little hands-on experience. We [TAT students] had an abundance of that before we became professionals.

"I remember Hiro Konishi-he was a new teacher and I was a new student [in 2001]. He just turned TAT upside down and introduced great new ideas. And Steven Levinson-I bonded with him from Day One. I took his class every semester. He pushed me toward becoming a producer [because] you get to sample every aspect of producing [films]."

After two years of experience, Kumiko's first real taste of film producing came in producing a Capstone with her now-business partner (and 2004 TAT grad) Jacob Cooney. (For Cooney's Capstone, Kumiko produced the 16mm film Small Town Life, with Cooney directing.)

Now: Soon-to-be Burbank residents, Kumiko and Cooney started Sledge Hammer Films (www.sledgehammerfilms.com), using Small Town Life to get in the door with the big shots in Hollywood.

"We really pushed [in L.A.] and used our film as a business card. There's now an independent feature that we may be taking on. A Warner Brothers producer is looking for an independent production company and it could turn into our first feature.

"Going to CSUMB was great. Going to a school with classes in 400-seat auditorium, like UCLA, would've been a much different experience."

Rafael Albarrán

Then: Rafael Albarrán followed his older sister Mireya to CSUMB in the fall of 1999, having been offered the President's Scholarship award-given to high school students from around the Tri-County area. He graduated with a degree in Human Communication in 2003. At CSUMB, Albarrán was:

• President's Scholarship award winner from Gonzalez High in 1999
• Tri-County achievement award co-winner

Of all the programs at CSUMB, why HCOM? "I got familiar with the professors and curriculum in lower division (courses). It was new for me to be with female instructors, too. All my high school instructors were male. It was new for me-a very positive change. I got interested in writing, and that's what HCOM is about: writing."

Attorney Dori Rose Juda-the attorney credited with founding the Watsonville Law Center-was helping the Agricultural Workers Access to Healthcare Project get off the ground when Albarrán showed up. His Service Learning Project involved working as an intern with Juda, assisting with grant writing for the nonprofit organization. "I was hired part-time right after Capstones, and the Monday after graduation I was working there full-time. No break."

Now: Rafael is a legal assistant in the same Agricultural Workers Access to Healthcare Project.

He credits creative writing instructor Diana Garcia as being a "big inspiration."

"What helped the most were the small class sizes, the focus on school work, and the attention from faculty. I owe a lot to CSUMB and Service Learning and HCOM for broadening my understanding of the different areas and careers I could be involved in."

2002-2003 Milestones/Events/Achievements

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