Transcript

Danny Tanaka:

I would say Maine is cold, but warm.

Cold for the temperature, but nice warm people.

Very welcoming people and they’re just very caring is what I would say.

So my name is Daniel Tanaka.

I’m in a Bio-Premed program.

I’m currently a senior from Berkeley, California, and I’m on the swim team.

I knew like by sophomore year of high school I was ready to, you know, spread my wings and kind of leave California.

I just always wanted to see more of the United States, I guess.

Having never been to the East Coast, I was, you know, naturally curious like how it was.

I haven’t seen snow.

Like the change from California to Maine has been crazy, to say the least.

The biggest thing, obviously, temperature like California, Berkeley especially, is like usually just 50 to 80 degrees.

Maine is much more variable. It’s a lot colder, a lot more humid.

There’s also a difference socially.

Coming from like a city, it’s easy to get lost, easy to like just kind of, you know, be one person instead of like a community.

In Maine, it’s much more tight-knit.

You know, a lot more people.

From the start when I got here, coming off the airport, just a wide-eyed little kid, my first interaction with a Mainer was them offering to drive me to my hotel.

Someone who I didn’t even know, offering to do that was just crazy to me.

It’s just conveying the niceness that Maine truly embodies.

So I first came into research at Maine my, like towards the end of sophomore year.

My girlfriend who I’ve been dating since I got here, she like recommended me to, pursue research because, you know, that’s what medical school applicants do.

They have to have research. They have to be a list of applicants.

So I was like, “Oh, I guess I’ll go and, you know, email some PIs.”

And I stumbled across Dr. Talbots lab I thought I was just like some stupid undergraduate, you know, who honestly didn’t even know the

difference between like, tryponin and like, whether it was a hormone or something.

I was like, “I’m just, I’m not going to get this, you know, research, you know, job.”

I’m just like, I was so neurotic about not getting it, but I ended up getting it.

And it’s honestly been a blast.

I’ve sort of shifted my focus a little bit.

Now the opportunity of going to graduate school and pursuing a chemistry Ph.D.

And it’s really just been the opportunities that UMaine has brought me that’s, you know, allowed for this shift.

I currently am part of two research labs on campus.

I’m a student gov representative and VP of fundraising for SAC.

And it’s been honestly the guidance of my advisors, my coaches, my friends who have kind of informed my decision as well.

I didn’t think I would ever have the chance or ever be inclined to be the person to take graduate level chemistry courses or be the person to pursue like graduate school in chemistry and chemical biology.

And I can confidently say that I would like to do this for the rest of my life.

Like it’s something that I enjoy and something that is very sustainable.

And honestly, it’s intriguing.

So I started swimming when I was around six.

First started taking lessons, you know, doing all that.

I realized that I really wanted to swim in college during sophomore year.

And I didn’t really have access to a club team because they’re so expensive.

So I kind of put myself on this journey through going to the pool at the YMCA and working day in and day out to become a better swimmer.

I reached out to them, the coaches of the University of Maine.

And through them I was able to continue my dreams of being on a divisional collegiate team.

And honestly, I couldn’t imagine it happening any other way.

I’m very appreciative of the opportunities that the University of Maine has provided me and the opportunities that the University of Maine swim team has provided me.

It’s really molded me, not just as an athlete, but as a person.

And I couldn’t imagine it any other way.

Like low-key after Norwich it was hurting.

Yeah, because you went all shoulders.

I was like…

You had windmills literally attached to your arms.

I know, I know.

It was impressive though.