Name: Robert Sakaguchi
Year: Junior
Major: Arabic Language and Middle Eastern Culture
Minor(s): Anthropology and International Studies
Involvement: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated, Gymnastics, Gospel Choir, Japanese Study Club, Can I Poet?, Orchestra Wind Ensemble
Relationship Status: Single and Ready to Mingle
New Year, new Campus Cutie! Meet Robert Sakaguchi, Wake Forest’s resident globetrotter and brother of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated.
HC (Her Campus): So in light of the New Year and new semester, do you have any New Year’s resolutions?
RS (Robert Sakaguchi): Well, I really want to work on myself and be more open minded toward the people around me. I just want to be more positive about every aspect of my life and stop being negative. Also, I wanted to get ripped this year, but that has already seemed to fall through a bit (laughs).
HC: Don’t worry Robert; you’ve still got eleven more months to get those gains. Can you tell me more about what it’s like to be a part of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated at Wake Forest?
RS: Joining Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. has been one of the best decisions of my life. I truly and honestly love my organization. I like it because it is not just a social group, but an organization that strives to better humanity through philanthropic programs. One of my fraternity’s national programs, for example, is “Go-to-High-School, Go-to-College,” which helps kids strive for a better education and aim higher in life. For Alpha Phi Alpha’s chapter at Wake, we developed our own project called “Generation heART” where we put on a performing arts show to raise money as a way to provide high school seniors with college scholarships. Being a part of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. has changed my life by pushing me to help change the world for the better.
HC: That’s so beautiful! So I know you are abroad this semester. What are you most looking forward to about that experience?
RS: It is going to be hard being away from my fraternity, but I’m looking forward to just experiencing a different culture, you know? I think it’s stressful sometimes being in this ethnocentric environment all the time, so being able to experience another country’s culture and way of life is pretty exciting. I’ll actually be doing research on the Fa’afafine population in Samoa, which is [Samoa’s] form of a third gender. I love the thrill of being immersed in a different culture because it gives me a better insight into another world and even into parts of my own world that I haven’t discovered yet.
HC: That sounds like a really cool study! Is there anything you’re afraid of while going abroad?
RS: I’m honestly very prone to getting sick. I don’t know why or how it always happens to me, but I always get sick really easily. I just hope I have good health when I am abroad and don’t catch some illness.
HC: Is this the farthest you’ve ever been from home?
RS: No – this summer I was abroad in Morocco working on my Middle Eastern Culture major. I’m not sure which one is farther from home: Samoa or Morocco.
HC: How come I’ve never heard of that major?
RS: That’s because I designed it myself!
HC: Ambitious! So, if you could design a date yourself what would it look like?
RS: Oh gosh, I’m very cliché. I think my ideal date probably would be taking a girl to dinner and then going out to see a movie. Oh that is going to make me sound boring…
HC: No it’s not! I think that’s very classic and romantic. If you could go out on a date with any celebrity, who would you pick?
RS: I’ve always had a thing for Jessica Alba … Maybe not so much now but back in the day…
HC: Oh, so old school Jessica Alba?
RS: Yeah I guess if I could pick, I’d totally go for ‘90’s Jessica Alba.
HC: What’s one thing no one would know by looking at you?
RS: Like something weird?
HC: Yeah, just something I would never guess about you, like hidden talents or obscure fascinations.
RS: I mean, do I have any? I don’t think I do! I like to think I’m a pretty straightforward person. I’m really an open book type of guy when it comes down to it. With me, what you see is what you get!
HC: If you could sing one song on American Idol what would it be?
RS: Hmm … What’s one song I sing all the time?
HC: Yeah something you’d sing best in front of a crowd of millions.
RS: Oh I know! “My Boo” by Alicia Keys and Usher. Do you know that song?
HC: Yeah of course! Everyone knows that song! So if you were a box of cereal, what would you be and why?
RS: Oh this is easy. I’d definitely be Cinnamon Toast Crunch – a little sweetness [with] those swirls that have the cinnamon. It’s a mix of cinnamon and sugar just like I’m a mix of personalities and a mix of interests.
HC: Also because it’s the taste you can see?
RS: Yep! (Laughs) Exactly. Like I said before, what you see is what you get!