Elsie Allen grad Nathan Shinagawa returned to his alma mater last week to visit with Lobo teachers and staff as well as to speak with students.

Shinagawa, who lives in New York, was elected at age 22 as a Tompkins County Legislator, becoming the youngest person ever elected to that post.

According to his website, after graduating from Elsie, Shinagawa attended Colby College, University College of London and eventually graduated from Cornell with a degree in sociology. He earned a masters degree in health administration from Cornell. He now works as administrative director at Robert Packer Hospital in addition to his work in the county Legislature.

On his website, Shinagawa recalls growing up in Roseland:

“He saw how the city, despite its growing wealth, continued to disenfranchise and neglect his neighborhood. Rampant sprawl, gang violence, and crumbling city infrastructure were the norm for his side of town. As someone who has personally experienced the result of government shying away from its responsibilities; Nate works to make sure the same doesn’t happen here in Tompkins County, and that the focus always remains on the health and well-being of the people first.”

See Shinagawa’s website here: http://nathanshinagawa.org/

Elsie Allen student Hugo Amezquita took the photos from Shinagawa’s visit, check them out.