October 16, 2004
Contributed by Thomas Yoshida
I felt it was important to try to connect these very important aspects of our institution to those we serve – the children who attend our schools. And I would like to do that through the words of one of our students whom I have known for several years and who has agreed to let us share his story with you as an example of what Kamehameha does in our community.
This is what our student shared in his application for a Presidential Scholar Award:
"It's hard to describe yourself in less than 500 words. What could I tell you that would make me stand out from the crowd? I could tell you about how I've been the stable force holding my family together ever since my grandfather passed away six years ago. How I have been forced to face my mother's gambling addiction, or my stepfather's addiction to speed. About how my 10-year-old brother has to go to therapy for depression. But isn't that just another typical family these days?
"I could tell you about how I haven't had any contact with my father since I was one, when he went to jail for burglary. About how he used my mom to pay for his cocaine addiction how he's really homosexual and only married to have a kid, or how he just went back to jail for the molestation of a 13-year-old boy. But what teen doesn't complain about his parents every now and again?
"I could tell you how hard I push myself in school, not only academically but socially as well. How, as a boarder since my seventh grade year, I not only know what responsibilities come with freedom, but that I also fulfill them. About how I run on the state champion cross-country team, or helped the JV physics team place third in the nation. How I always push myself to try my hardest and always improve so that one day my kids won't have to pay their own college tuition like I do. How I sing in the school choir, or play in my own punk rock band. How I'm the chairperson for the Weekend Activities Committee. How I'm part of the national Honor society, or how I voluntarily tutored intermediate students. How, despite all my extracurricular activities, I still remember that it's important to have fun and be yourself. How I surf on the weekends, or break dance every now and again. But who's to say that not every youth tries so hard to make the best of everything he or she is given?
"I could tell you about how being Hawaiian plays an intricate part in how I live my life. What it feels like to be part of an ethnicity that is slowly going extinct, getting smaller and more diluted with every generation. How it feels to live in a place where the native ethnicity is the minority. How my culture, despite the fact that it was once forbidden, now flourishes because there are people like me who refuse to lie down and die so easily. How I take pride in my heritage even though in many aspects it is frowned upon. But who doesn't feel a little nostalgic for the "good old days" every now and then?
"So why don't I just make it easy for you guys and tell you one word that describes everything I am. One word that encapsulates my being. One word that will allow you to decide whether or not I make the cut. Survivor."
This young man, who, by the way, was named a Presidential Scholar in 2002, today is at MIT earning a degree in biomedical engineering. His is just one of many other examples of the kind of young people who come to Kamehameha – now and throughout our history - who are able to gain from the experience something they may never have been able to achieve otherwise.
This is what Kamehameha means to our community. This is what our policy of giving preference to children of Hawaiian ancestry means to our community. This is why we need to defend our policy. Mahalo.
Kamehameha Schools’ policy is to give preference to applicants of Hawaiian ancestry to the extent permitted by law.
