Former First-Generation Students Give Back with New School of Education Scholarship

Sharon (Kurakazu) Takahashi and Gary Takahashi, alumni of UC Davis and former first-generation students, have established their second scholarship in the School of Education, generously including a planned gift. This scholarship aims to offer vital financial support to School of Education students pursuing multiple-subject teaching credentials, prioritizing those demonstrating financial need, particularly first-generation college students.

Sharon and Gary first met at Pleasant Hill High School in the Bay Area, where the quality of the teaching built a bridge to college. “We were lucky to have great teachers in high school,” said Gary. “They inspired us and they really prepared us for college. We saw the impact that a good teacher can have on students—they can do wonders for your confidence and what you think you might be able to accomplish. We need teachers who can reach kids like that and help them early on, especially these days, so we want to do whatever we can do to help keep that pipeline of quality teachers going.”

The Impact of Supporting Future Teachers

The Takahashis’ choice to support a teaching credential student scholarship, as well as a scholarship and planned gift in the College of Engineering, reflects the impact that education has had in their own lives, and the impact they’ve seen it have on others.

“Both of us were the first generation in our families to go to college,” said Gary, who earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 1974. “We know how much our parents worked so we would be able to go to UC Davis even then, when Sharon and I could earn enough with our summer jobs to cover our tuition for the year. The cost of tuition and living expenses to get through college now just seems astronomical. That really drove us to want to establish scholarships. We wanted to do something to help these new students be successful, too.”

Sharon and Gary both feel that scholarships for student teachers benefit not only the recipients, but have a positive impact on their future students as well. “If I were to go back and count how many students I’ve reached over my career, and if you add in student teachers and start doing the numbers, you can see how one teacher can make a huge impact,” said Sharon. “That’s why we want to help as many teachers as we can.”

Launching a Decades-Long Teaching Career

Sharon earned her bachelor’s degree in history in 1974 and her teaching credential in 1975. “I knew early on that I wanted to be a teacher, and UC Davis lit the flame,” she said. “I had a fabulous experience in the teacher education program. My student teaching experiences, my supervisor—everything I learned there prepared and launched me into a great career that lasted over 30 years.”

Although her first teaching position after graduation was in Woodland, Sharon spent much of her career in Illinois, teaching students from kindergarten to middle school grades. She earned her National Board Certification for Social Studies while serving as a middle school teacher, received her master’s degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1992, and taught and supervised student teachers from Illinois State University for five years. 

In 2005, Sharon received the Golden Apple Award for teaching in the Chicago region and then worked with the Golden Apple Scholars program, teaching and mentoring young teacher candidates from all over Illinois, many of them first generation college students. 

“Even though I taught for 30 years, it went by so fast because I enjoyed it so much,” Sharon said. “And all along the way, the wisdoms of my experience at UC Davis came through. So I thought, OK, I need to give back now that I’m retired, especially to another first-generation college student so they can also have this opportunity.”

Sharon and Gary moved back to California after retiring, and Sharon joined the School of Education Board of Advisors in 2022. “The opportunity came up to be on the board,” Sharon said, “and I saw that one of the other alumni representatives was Sue Davis, who had been my resident advisor when I lived in Gilmore Hall. I met Sue when I first moved into my dorm room—she told my mom that she was going to be a teacher, too. I’ll never forget that. I was so excited that my RA wanted to be a teacher. I always looked up to her, and I still do today.”