{"id":233323,"date":"2026-04-29T13:59:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T23:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=233323"},"modified":"2026-05-08T16:59:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T02:59:14","slug":"uhwo-commencement-student-speaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/04\/29\/uhwo-commencement-student-speaker\/","title":{"rendered":"<abbr>糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> West O\u02bbahu commencement student speaker: &lsquo;Support others who may be walking a similar path&rsquo;"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> &lt; 1<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minute<\/span><\/span><figure id=\"attachment_233321\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-233321\" style=\"width: 676px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/uhwo-student-speaker-georcelle-lozano.jpg\" alt=\"Georcelle Lozano in her graduation attire\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"size-full wp-image-233321\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/uhwo-student-speaker-georcelle-lozano.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/uhwo-student-speaker-georcelle-lozano-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/uhwo-student-speaker-georcelle-lozano-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-233321\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Georcelle Lozano<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Georcelle Lozano\u2019s journey to where she is today and her upcoming graduation from the University of <span lang=\"haw\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span>\u2013West <span lang=\"haw\">O&#699;ahu<\/span> began eight years ago and about 5,370 miles away in her beloved hometown of Balaoan, La Union, Philippines. When she was 14, her family immigrated to <span lang=\"haw\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> in 2018 to reunite with relatives and build a new life in a new country.<\/p>\n<p>Lozano is a first-generation college student and the only fluent English speaker among her immediate family members, who speak their native Ilokano. Over the years, both her academic and familial responsibilities involved trying to figure out unknown processes and systems not only for herself, but others in her family.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"blocklink\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/tag\/commencement\/\">Meet more amazing <abbr>糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> graduates<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Lozano said the experience shaped her understanding of how access to information and support can significantly influence someone\u2019s ability to succeed.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Graduation represents years of sacrifice, both mine and my family\u2019s,&rdquo; said Lozano. &ldquo;It reflects the journey of leaving home, adapting to a new country, and learning how to navigate unfamiliar spaces.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Lozano will share her story as one of two student speakers at <a href=\"https:\/\/westoahu.hawaii.edu\/registrar\/graduation\/commencement\/\"><abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> West <span lang=\"haw\">O&#699;ahu<\/span>\u2019s 2026 annual commencement<\/a> on May 9.<\/p>\n<p>Lozano earned, with distinction, a bachelor of education in secondary education with a focus on mathematics.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;For me, this moment is not just an ending, but a responsibility,&rdquo; Lozano said. &ldquo;It is a reminder that everything I have learned here is meant to be carried forward and used to support others who may be walking a similar path.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Read more at <a href=\"https:\/\/westoahu.hawaii.edu\/kaloinews\/?p=24232\"><em>Ka Puna O <span lang=\"haw\">Kalo&#699;i<\/span><\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>First-generation college student Georcelle Lozano will share her story as one of two student speakers at <abbr>糖心Vlog官方<\/abbr> West <span lang=\"haw\">O&#699;ahu<\/span>\u2019s 2026 annual commencement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":233321,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[234,204,1459,554,660,59],"class_list":["post-233323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-commencement","tag-education","tag-ka-puna-o-kaloi","tag-mathematics","tag-student-recognition","tag-uh-west-oahu","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/uhwo-student-speaker-georcelle-lozano.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233323","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=233323"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":233924,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233323\/revisions\/233924"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}