School: Bayonne AOKA Inc
Lorimiles Palencia I was born in 1981 in Honolulu, Hawaii and moved to Jersey City, New Jersey in 1983. I grew up there until my mother, older sister, and I moved to Bayonne just in time for me to start 5th grade. My sister Sharina stated in Isshinryu from her joining the Karate League at Bayonne High School, so, at 10 years old, I also got involved and fell in love with the sport. Back then the dojo was on Broadway and 19th St. I went from white belt to orange to green then 3 browns and finally earned my shodan-ho in 1995 when I graduated from 8th grade. I was really active in karate, participating on the demo team which meant performing in 7 different expos including the home town fair and other demos around town. I also participated in a Kick-a-thon and two BHS annual tournaments. I had to leave Karate because I moved into my dad's home which is in Pennington NJ. I tried to stay active in martial arts while in college at local dojos but it didn't work out for me because the classes were too expensive and I felt that I hadn't finished what I had started in Isshinryu. I finished high school and went to college at Rutgers University. I majored in economics and researched my career love of culinary arts. I always worked several partime jobs including working for Johnson and Johnson, and was very involved in my sorority, alpha Kappa Delta Phi. I held the offices of Vice President External and Social Chair and was involved in many philanthropy events such as our breast cancer awareness month, various fundraisers, and community soup kitchens. I also was a performer in the big annual fashion show at school, Asian Expo. Toward the end of school when my class load started to wind down and I had my own car, I started coming back to the dojo about a year and a half ago, sporadically as my schedule allowed. Though it had been a while, I felt something was missing in my life, karate, and I wanted to finish earning my adult black belt. I started working for the New Brunswick Hyatt Regency as an administrative assistant in the Catering department. I handle the events that are hosted by the hotel and do all the business aspects of finalizing the contracts and reviewing the logistics of weddings, meeting, proms, or any social event at the hotel. Getting party and some kitchen experience on the side, I applied and got into the Institute of Culinary Education and am currently taking classes in culinary arts. I wanted to expand my food and beverage hospitality training so I cross-train as a bartender on the weekends. My aspirations are to do an externship in the Hyatt, Honolulu Hawaii this summer and then do a rigorous program in Singapore at the Asian Culinary Institute to learn the art of Asian Cuisine at one of the top International Hotels in Singapore. Though my schedule only allows me a few hours of sleep every night, I have managed to make time for my first love, Karate, and train for one of my oldest aspirations, earning my sho-dan.