[From the SGI Quarterly]

"After 37 years of passionate Buddhist practice, my very first dream — a rock-solid, happy life — has been thoroughly realized," says Emiko Rohde.

In the mid-1970s, while reading of SGI President Ikeda's travels to France, Ms. Rohde saw a picture of him encouraging a young child. She recalls, "This wonderful, heart-to-heart exchange between Mr. Ikeda and a little French boy touched me deeply and changed the course of my life. From that moment on, I was determined to become an educator."

When Ms. Rohde started practicing Nichiren Buddhism in Japan, she was "poor, undereducated and without direction." However, her Buddhist practice and her respect for Mr. Ikeda's accomplishments, especially his establishment of the Soka school system, instilled in her the confidence needed to pursue her goals of living abroad and becoming an educator.

In 1978, while visiting a friend in California, Ms. Rohde fell in love with a fellow Buddhist, married him and settled in California. Recently, she and her husband celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary. The first part of her dream was easier to accomplish than the second. Becoming an educator in a culture other than her own was a considerable challenge, especially since she needed to improve her English before she could even begin to study in her chosen field.

She enrolled at Sacramento City College and graduated in less than three years with a degree in early childhood education. Looking back, Ms. Rohde says, "Those years of long days, long nights and very little sleep were difficult, but now they are a treasured memory."

For eight years, Ms. Rohde worked as a teacher at local pre-schools and day-care centers. She was sometimes frustrated with situations she encountered on the job, and often she would think, "That's not right! I could do a better job." In time, she felt a powerful urge to establish her own pre-school. She wanted to demonstrate how the power of Buddhism and "applied humanism" could transform early learning. 

In 1988, Ms. Rohde and her husband began visiting pre-schools that were for sale. Most of them were far away from where they were living. To make matters more complicated, the Rohdes had very little money for a down payment on a school or for the initial operating expenses. Moreover, banks were unwilling to loan Ms. Rohde the
money due to her lack of business experience. She refused to be daunted by these obstacles. Instead, she challenged them.

Ms. Rohde recalls, "It's hard to describe the intensity of my prayers or the painful ordeal of I went through. I chanted passionately to subdue my cowardly tendencies, my anger and my lack of confidence." She began praying for the wisdom to know what she must change within herself to achieve victory and to understand what strategy to follow in order to realize her dreams.

One day Ms. Rohde's older sister, seriously ill with cancer in Japan, told her that she would be willing to help finance the pre-school. This unexpected good news further deepened Ms. Rohde's resolve to succeed. During a meeting, the director of Children's Services in Sacramento mentioned that a nearby pre-school might be on the market soon. Five months later, in April 1991, Ms. Rohde was able to purchase the property. Her sister provided a large portion of the down payment and the seller was eager to carry the financing, thus enabling her to avoid having to take out a bank loan.

After only six weeks, the Rohdes were issued a Child Care Center License by the State of California, and their Sequoia Park Pre-school opened and started enrolling children. Ms. Rohde's struggles were not over, however. She discovered that caring for children was easy compared to the many unexpected complications of running a business. Finding employees, navigating the complexities of the labor laws and government regulations, convincing parents to entrust their children to a new, unproven preschool were much more difficult than Ms. Rohde had ever imagined. Eventually, the Rohdes succeeded in overcoming all of their difficulties, and they are happy to report that they have now operated profitably for more than seven years.

Ms. Rohde says, "Even while working hard to make my preschool a success, I have not cut back on my practice of Buddhism in the slightest. Every week I make time to encourage SGI-USA members in Sacramento, in Stockton, and as far away as San Francisco. If I begin to think that my life is too hard, I reinvigorate myself by reflecting on the efforts and accomplishments of SGI President Ikeda. In fact, the very name we selected, Sequoia Park Preschool, was inspired by his 1990 speech about California's giant sequoia trees: 'Some of them grow as high as 130 meters and their stumps can reportedly hold over 40 people: some of these trees also live more than 3,000 years. Even such giant redwoods sprout from a single tiny seed. One seed contains unlimited potential.' "

Sequoia Park Preschool strives to help each child build a strong foundation of self-esteem, character and competence. It is dedicated to the principle that every child has the potential to grow into a magnificent human being who can inspire others, triumph over adversity, contribute greatly to society and live a long, happy, fulfilling life. The preschool's handbook states: "With patience, love and consistency, we convey not only the standards of good behavior but also the important principles which underlie the rules, e.g., consideration of others. We do our utmost to help every child develop impulse control, empathy and self-esteem."

In 1997, readers of the local newspaper voted Sequoia Park Preschool "Best Preschool in Yolo County." Ms. Rohde says that she is thankful for the dedicated support of parents and teachers who have helped make the preschool such a success: "In a field famous for rapid turnover, my teachers have stayed with me for
years and contributed their unique skills, talent and enthusiasm for teaching young children." She also remembers her debt of gratitude to her older sister who, as she lay dying of cancer, considered her contribution to Ms. Rohde's preschool the most memorable action of her life.

The experience of establishing Sequoia Park Preschool has proven to Ms. Rohde that strong faith has the power to accomplish great things when it is animated by a great wish and an inspired dream. It has taught Ms. Rohde that "Every individual has equal or greater ability to win whatever race he or she may choose to run and to enjoy the deep satisfaction of victory."