Youth exposure to technology in Little Tokyo

When I met a group of high school students and graduates this afternoon, I wished, for the first time, I was a teenage. They are interns from the Information Technology Agency within a ten-week internship program sponsored by the UCLA. The trip to Little Tokyo was their exposure to technology and get an idea of what is available in the downtown. Armed with laptops, they learnt to test the wireless internet network speed and surfed the web at different locations around Japanese Village Plaza. The kids appeared to be excited with this kind of hands on experience. I was impressed with their eagerness to learn when I saw them answer Davis, the Director of the Little Tokyo Unplugged Project,'s quiz with not much difficulty after listening to his presentation about the project. Technology was not kind of dry and complicated topic as they thought before. I felt envious with them as they had the learning opportunities I did not have when I was at their age. The experience inspired me to organize a youth mentorship program which develops youth leadership skills to help the community with a focus on technology.