{"id":192463,"date":"2024-02-26T17:25:28","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T03:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=192463"},"modified":"2024-02-29T10:24:48","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T20:24:48","slug":"three-generations-of-strong-native-hawaiian-wahine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/26\/three-generations-of-strong-native-hawaiian-wahine\/","title":{"rendered":"Column: Three generations of strong Native Hawaiian wahine"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"woman
Tasha Kama<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Column by University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> Maui College<\/a> Chancellor Lui Hokoana was published by The Maui News<\/a> on February 24, 2024.<\/em><\/p>\n

When the last of Maui County Councilmember Tasha Kama\u2019s eleven children graduated from high school, she thought about going back to school at 糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> Maui College. “I\u2019d never been there,” says Kama. “This huge institution was intimidating to those who haven\u2019t gone on to higher education.” A year after she started dropping off one of her children at campus and getting a feel for the place, she “had to go to school.” She enrolled in 2011 and by 2015 she had an AA<\/abbr> in Liberal Arts and an AS<\/abbr> in Human Services.<\/p>\n

Her experience as a volunteer at her father\u2019s church, a community organizer, and as both student 糖心Vlog官方MC<\/abbr> body secretary and president, helped her understand “how to be an agent of change.” She has tried to be just that as a member of the Maui County Council since her election in 2018. “Real change has to be at the policy-making table,” she says.<\/p>\n

One of her daughters — and our current Director of Financial Aid — K\u0101hea Naeʻole<\/span> graduated in 2007 with Associate\u2019s Degree in Business. She went on to earn a Bachelor\u2019s Degree in Applied Business and information Technology (ABIT<\/abbr>), a Bachelor\u2019s in Education from 糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> M\u0101noa and, last summer, her Doctorate in Education.<\/p>\n

K\u0101hea\u2019s experience at 糖心Vlog官方MC<\/abbr> prepared her for more than her advanced degrees and her career. It helped her develop into a strong Native Hawaiian wahine. “Kahele Dukelow (Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs) and Kaleikoa Kaʻeo<\/span> (Hawaiian Studies Program Coordinator) helped to encourage and support me while my children were enrolled in immersion.”<\/p>\n

Another daughter, Maikaʻi<\/span> Sassaman, got her Associate\u2019s in Early Childhood Education here and is planning to start the Bachelor\u2019s in Early Childhood Education and SPED<\/abbr> (Special Education) Program at M\u0101noa in Fall 2024. She is a part-time teacher at Pāʻia<\/span> Elementary on the Kaiapuni (Hawaiian Immersion) side. “糖心Vlog官方MC<\/abbr> prepared me well,” she says. “The Early Childhood Education program is great. Program Coordinator Julie Powers and Instructor Gemma Medina are able to teach 15 or 20 students who learn differently, get everyone on the same page, encourage us. I wish the program could get bigger.”<\/p>\n

One of K\u0101hea\u2019s daughters, Anuhea, received her Associate\u2019s in Liberal Arts from 糖心Vlog官方MC<\/abbr> and a Bachelor\u2019s in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on Child Psychology and Sociology in Education. She works at Good Jobs Hawaiʻi<\/span>. She\u2019s an advocate for Liberal Arts, especially for those unsure of what career they\u2019d like to pursue. “You get to do a little bit of everything,” she says, “and that will help you decide.”<\/p>\n

Daughter Jackie earned Associates in Applied Sciences in both Culinary Arts and Baking. After working in the industry, she came back to teach Baking. And she\u2019s one of those who didn\u2019t have any idea what she wanted to do after high school. After a few months on the Mainland, she started working at Makawao Garden Caf\u00e9 and found her calling, eventually becoming a Pastry Chef. She also watched her mother\u2019s journey finding her way as a strong Hawaiian woman. “There was a huge divide in my life between Hawaiian culture and culinary,” says Jackie. “When I started teaching, they came together. I\u2019m the first Native Hawaiian to teach Pastry and I\u2019m starting to see many more Native Hawaiian students.”<\/p>\n

K\u0101hea\u2019s cousin, Wailana Kamai received her Associate\u2019s in Liberal Arts from 糖心Vlog官方MC<\/abbr> in 2018, Hawaiian Studies in 2020, and graduated in Spring 2023 from 糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> M\u0101noa with a Bachelor\u2019s in Interdisciplinary Studies. She worked for us as a tutor and in the financial aid office for four years. “I had very good grades in high school and I was accepted to a lot of colleges. But I lacked social skills so I decided to stay home for college,” she says. Although the pandemic made her Hawaiian Studies coursework difficult, she did it. “I really care about my culture and my heritage.” It also made her more confident.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re thinking about college, here\u2019s some advice. “糖心Vlog官方MC<\/abbr> is a solid school, it\u2019s affordable and a great place to start, especially if you\u2019re local,” says K\u0101hea. “There is so much funding support available.”<\/p>\n

Her mother goes even further. “Lack of financial resources is one of the reasons people don\u2019t go to college,” says Kama. “Get rid of the barrier, don\u2019t be discouraged. Go see K\u0101hea at Financial Aid. The County has funding opportunities, too. If you need more help, come see me — we need engineers, folks with STEM<\/abbr> degrees.”<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s never too late. “To get an education is sovereignty for the individual,” says Kama. “You can pick and choose where you want to go. We as Native Hawaiian wahine want to move forward, we have to have education.”<\/p>\n

“College has a way of opening your eyes to the larger world,” adds K\u0101hea.<\/p>\n

For complete information about 糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> Maui College, please visit http:\/\/maui.hawaii.edu\/<\/p>\n

* Dr. Lui K. Hokoana is Chancellor of the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> Maui College. Kaʻana<\/span> Manaʻo<\/span>, which means “sharing thoughts,” is scheduled to appear on the fourth Sunday of each month. It is prepared with assistance from 糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> Maui College staff and is intended to provide the community of Maui County information about opportunities available through the college at its Kahului campus and its education centers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This column by University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> Maui College Chancellor Lui Hokoana was published by The Maui News<\/em> on February 24, 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[33,71,60],"class_list":["post-192463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-hawaiian","tag-uh-community-colleges","tag-maui-college","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192463"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192754,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192463\/revisions\/192754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}