Lake Norman Publications

CPCC serves as Ivy League bridge for Huntersville student



Koichi Takara, right, earned his associate’s degree from Central Piedmont Community College this month and will attend Cornell University. Christopher St. Hilaire, left, will attend Princeton University. / Courtesy of CPCC

HUNTERSVILLE – Koichi Takara took the road less traveled to become an Ivy League student. As a high-schooler in Orange County, Calif., he was rejected by six of the seven colleges he applied to – even his “safety” school, San Diego State. He had a 4.2 grade-point average and was bilingual but his family couldn’t afford the one school that did accept him.

“I called to see what happened, I thought it was a mistake,” he recalled. “My teachers thought it was a mistake. It was a college my counselor told me to apply to in case I got rejected from the others,” he said of the response from San Diego State.

Those rejections were just the beginning of a path that led to being accepted to Cornell University – as a transfer from Central Piedmont Community College – on a full academic scholarship.

A native of Japan, Takara’s family moved to Southern California when he was 11, and after graduating from Troy High School without a college to attend, ventured across the country to Huntersville. His father transferred through his job with the motocross team at Joe Gibbs Racing.

Takara still wanted to enroll in college, though. And watching popular Netflix documentary “Last Chance U” served as inspiration for a possible route to become a college graduate.

“I saw these community college athletes trying to fight their battles to get into an NCAA program,” Takara said. “That’s when I got motivated to make my own kind of ‘Last Chance U’ story academically.”

Since CPCC’s Merancas Campus on Verhoeff Drive was most convenient to his new home, that was what he picked.

There, his experience was about much more than academics. Takara served as president of the Student Government Association and was an active member of the college’s Rotaract Club, Phi Theta Kappa chapter (international students honor society) and the N.C. Scholars of Global Distinction.

“Koichi has been someone who’s been really driven probably from the moment he took his first breath,” said Amanda Capobianchi, CPCC associate dean of student life and student government adviser. “It’s having this drive to succeed. Like a lot of students, their first plans or first vision for what they think is going to happen in their lives didn’t pan out. I know coming to CPCC wasn’t his first choice, but it worked out.”

Takara’s first year was spent in Huntersville but as student body president he was required to venture to the central campus in Charlotte, where he served as an ex officio member of the school’s board of trustees. Outside of those duties, he interned with N.C. Rep. Richard Hudson and held a part-time job, while getting in a game of volleyball at Blythe Landing in his free time.

“It was the environment where I was able to make these decisions on what I like to do,” he said. “The environment allowed me to make a lot of mistakes and allowed me to realize these are the things I shouldn’t do or things I should do. And those allowed me to be successful as a person.”

Though Cornell accepts just 11 percent of its applicants, it’s known to be more receptive of community college students than other Ivy League schools, Capobianchi explained. The school also is well-connected to Phi Beta Kappa.

“Cornell has always been a popular Ivy League setting for community college students,” she said. “I think it’s smart, because they know they can be successful. Our transfer students perform really well. What a great opportunity for an Ivy League school to take a really good chance on community college students to be successful. It’s not that much of a risk.”

The number of applicable community college credits varies at transfers’ new schools. But with an associate’s degree in hand from CPCC, Takara will enter his program in industrial labor relations as a junior.

“I want to thank everyone who works at CP,” he said. “Without them I wouldn’t be able get accepted to Cornell or any college. These teachers really helped me achieve what I didn’t think was possible.”

Takara has learned to cherish what Mecklenburg County offers in his two years as a resident – though coming from the arid climate to the muggy summers was an adjustment.

“I just bought my first umbrella,” he said.

And he developed an affinity for fast-food chicken. But his favorite doesn’t come from national brands, but rather Krispy Krunchy Chicken. It’s found in Concord and on N.C. 73 at Beatties Ford Road.

“It’s very inconsistent,” Takara said. “But when it s good, it’s phenomenal. I need to try more of the premium kinds at sit-down restaurants when the quarantine’s over. Hopefully I have time before I go to N.Y. to try them. I have a lot of places i need to try. The variety of foods in Lake Norman is incredible.”

Though his experience locally involved politics, Takara’s future major is oriented more toward human resources and consulting.

“I don’t have anything specific I want to do yet because, frankly, I didn’t think I would get into Cornell,” he said. “A lot of things are flipped upside down.”

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