From sweeping the halls at Pacific Union College to walking the halls of the state capital, Alan Nakanishi, assemblyperson for California’s Tenth Assembly District, has had a tremendous life journey—one that he attributes entirely to God.

“You and I serve a powerful God,” said Nakanishi, at PUC’s 27th annual career day, where he was the featured speaker. “If he can take a poor boy from the ghettos of Sacramento to PUC to Loma Linda to the halls of the state capital, then he can do more for you.”

During his speech, Nakanishi shared his own career journey, which started at PUC nearly fifty years ago. “My family couldn’t afford for me to be at PUC. But I had a conviction that God wanted me to be at a Christian college,” he said. So when he was 17 years old, Nakanishi enrolled at PUC with just enough money to last one quarter and the determination to be a doctor.

Nakanishi managed to stay, earning money by cleaning classrooms, bussing tables, selling books door to door, and working as a lab instructor. Each fall, he wondered if he would be able to continue at PUC; each fall, he managed to have enough money.

In 1961, Nakanishi graduated from PUC with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, then went on to medical school at Loma Linda University. Following a three-year residency at USC Medical Center, he served as a major in the U.S. Army for two years, heading the surgical department at McDonald Army Hospital in Virginia.

In 1971, Nakanishi joined a medical practice in Stockton and co-founded the Delta Eye Medical Group, a six-physician (three of whom are PUC alumni) group with offices in Lodi, Stockton, and Tracy.

With his dream of becoming a physician now a successful reality, Nakanishi decided to move his career in another direction—local service. In 1998, he ran for Lodi City Council and won. Three years later he became mayor.

Nakanishi was elected to represent the 10th Assembly District for the state of California in 2002. Today, re-elected to a second term, he serves on multiple committees, including appropriations, education, and health.

After nearly ten years in local and state politics, Nakanishi remains humble about the path his life has taken. Throughout his talk at PUC, he reminded students of God’s leading in each stage of life. “None of our lives is insignificant or wasted when led under the hand of our heavenly Father,” he said.