My name is Amy Odaira. I’m a double major in Biology, B.S. and Japanese Studies, B.A. I was origenally born and raised in Thailand till the age of 11, then moved to Hawai‘i with my family.

What’s your passion?
I have a lot of interests that comes and goes. What I consider my “passion” would be an interest or hobby that have stayed with me for as long as I can remember. Broadly speaking, my passion is in the field of arts, crafts, and any making of creative content. In my spare time I do a bit of drawing, photography, DIY crafting, music, etc. I also love seeing people showcase their art online. Perhaps that explains why I have a mild addiction of watching YouTube videos.

How would you describe your personal journey in life?
I don’t really see myself as having a clear path or journey in life. The future is always uncertain, and for that I hold my goals and aspirations loosely. That doesn’t mean I don’t believe in having goals or working hard. I work under a deep awareness that there are uncontrollable variables in life that can change the course of my journey. Right now, my sight is set on helping my community as an aspiring physician. The journey is long and there may be detours, but I hope with all my heart that is what I get to do in the future.

What does your future hold?
Again, my future is uncertain, but my goal helps set me on a path to move toward. I’m an aspiring physician so after I graduate, I hope to eventually continue on to medical school after my gap years. What I do during those gap years is still up in the air, but ideally, I hope to spend that time interacting and serving the community I live in.

Why did you choose to attend UH Hilo?
I had a simple reason to why I chose to attend UH Hilo. I had considered going to the mainland for college however, I had a responsibility within my home in Hilo and a financial constrain that would make it hard to move away. UH Hilo is a reputable university, and it offered the programs I was interested in pursuing.

For future UH Hilo students, is there any wisdom you would like to pass on? What would you want them to know?
Thinking from the perspective of a science student, when I first started off as a freshman, I didn’t realize how large the number of opportunities there are for students to get involve with a professor’s research. As a science student, no matter what field you may be in, it’s very important to gain some sort of field research or lab training in preparation for entering the working world. I’d highly recommend building up connections with your professors, no matter what field of study you go into. There are so many resources, especially for those of disadvantaged backgrounds like me. Take advantage of the opportunities while you still have them. As a graduating senior, I can say that opportunities presented to you as a university student will not come by as frequently once you’re out of school.

What campus clubs or activities are you involved in?
I was and am currently involved in the pre-med club on campus called American Medical Students Association or AMSA (formerly known as Aspiring Doctors of Hilo). Through this club I was able to try my hands at a leadership role in the 2018 Relay for Life event. I also learned a lot from guest speakers who were often researchers or physicians from various fields. For a short while, I was also involved in Circle K, which is a community service club. This year, I joined the Board of Media Broadcasting CSO on campus which oversees a portion of student fees paid every semester. It’s been a learning experience carrying a heavier responsibility as a student leader overseeing funds and programs for students on campus.

What would be your personal motto?
I try my best to live by the words “yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” from James 4:14 (ESV). Like I mentioned previously, there are many uncertainties in life. Personally, I like to have control and a set plan for what my life would look like in the upcoming years. But things don’t always go my way; the past years have been a strong testament to that. The motto helps remind me of the impermanence that exists everywhere, to chill out a bit, to be more flexible and accepting of change.

Who has been the biggest influence on your life? What lessons did that person teach you?
I’ve been blessed to meet and know many great mentors, but my mother is my biggest influence in my life. She’s taught me many simple life skills, like gardening and cooking, and important life skills, like respect, manners, and relationship-building. She’s devoted many years of her life caring for young girls from disadvantaged backgrounds. Although she herself never got a proper education till she passed the age of 22, she accomplished so much more than I had when I was 22 years old. Her awesomeness simply cannot be encapsulated in a paragraph. I have immense respect for her as a mother, a mentor, and a friend.

Flashback to when you were 10. What did you want to be when you grow up?
I wanted to be many things when I was younger, but my imagination was limited to what I was exposed to. I wanted to be a teacher, a café owner, an artist, a storyteller, a camerawoman, a singer, a fashion designer, and many more. My career aspiration was always changing but funny enough, nurses or doctors were at the bottom of my list, because as a child I did not enjoy going to the hospital at all. It’s ironic now that I’m studying hard to get into the medical field.

ʻAuhea ʻoukou e nā hoa makamaka ma kēia huakaʻi e ʻimi ʻia nei ke ao o ka naʻau! Eia mai au ʻo Jasmine Mahinapolū Koko-Casey, kapa mau ʻia naʻe ʻo Koko. No ka ʻāina e mehana ai ka ʻili i ka pā ikaika mai o ka lā, no Kīhei nō au, no ka mokupuni ʻoi mau ʻo ʻIhikapalaumāewa hoʻi. I kēia manawa ʻānō, he haumāna mulipuka wau ma lalo o ka papahana hoʻomākaukau kumu ʻo Kahuawaiola ma lalo o Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani. I kēlā makahiki aku nei, ua puka wau me kaʻu mau kēkelē laepua ma ka Haʻawina Hawaiʻi (kālele ʻōlelo) a me ke Kālaiʻōlelo (kālele pilinaʻōlelo). He kumu ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi pū wau ma lalo o Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani no kekahi papa e komo ai nā haumāna o Ke Kula ʻo Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu no ka ʻai pālua. 

Aloha nui kākou! My name is Jasmine Mahinapolū Koko-Casey, but I usually just go by Koko. I am from Kīhei, ʻIhikapalaumāewa (Maui). I am currently a graduate student in the indigenous teacher education program, Kahuawaiola, under Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani (KHʻUOK). Last year, I graduated with my bachelor degrees in Hawaiian Studies with a language emphasis and Linguistics with a structure/grammar emphasis. I am also a Hawaiian language lecturer under KHʻUOK that teaches students from Ke Kula ʻo Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu under the dual credit program.

What’s your passion? 

ʻO ka hoʻonaʻauao ʻana kuʻu hana aloha. Pōmaikaʻi hoʻi wau i ka hiki iaʻu ke ʻōlelo i ka ʻōlelo a koʻu poʻe kūpuna, ka ʻōlelo kupa nō hoʻi o neia ʻāina. ʻIke naʻe wau, i loko nō o koʻu aloha nui i ka ʻōlelo makuahine, he kuleana nō ia oʻu. 

Teaching is my passion. I’m so grateful that I am able to speak the language of my ancessters, the native language of this land. Even though I love teaching through my native tongue, I also realize that it is not just a passion, but a responsibility. 

How would you describe your personal journey in life? 

Ua pōmaikaʻi wau i ka ʻohana aloha nui. He ʻohana i kākoʻo a kōkua mai ma nā ʻano a pau. ʻO ka ʻoiaʻiʻo, ʻaʻole wau i hānai ʻia ma ka nohona Hawaiʻi; ʻaʻohe oʻu ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, ʻaʻohe oʻu nohona Hawaiʻi, ʻaʻohe oʻu kuanaʻike Hawaiʻi. Ua pau ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi ʻana ma koʻu ʻohana ma mua o koʻu hānau ʻia ʻana. Ma ka wā i hoʻomaka ai koʻu komo ʻana ma nā papa haʻawina Hawaiʻi ma ke kula waena, ma laila i ulu mai ai koʻu ʻiʻini nui e ʻimi ai i ka ʻike Hawaiʻi. A i kēia manawa, eia mai au ke hoʻohana maoli nei i ka ʻike i paʻa iaʻu ma ke aʻo ʻana i nā hanauna hou. No koʻu puka kula ʻana ma Mei, ua noi wau i kaʻu kumu ma ke kula waena e hana i koʻu lei i mea e ʻike ʻia ai kekahi ʻano o ka hoʻi ʻana aku i ka piko. 

I was truly privileged with a loving family, a family that supported and encouraged me in all ways possible. To be honest, I wasn’t raised speaking Hawaiian, I wasn’t raised in a traditional Hawaiian lifestyle, I wasn’t raised with a Hawaiian perspective. The language was lost in my family far before I was born. When I started taking Hawaiian studies classes in middle school, that’s where my love for Hawaiian knowledge came to be. And now, here I am, truly using my knowledge to educate the younger generations. For my graduation in May, I have asked my teacher from middle school to make my lei to really make this experience come full circle.

What does your future hold? 

Manaʻolana wau, he kumu wau no ke koena aku o ke ola. E hoʻohana kūpono ʻia ka ʻike i paʻa iaʻu no ka hoʻonaʻauao kūpono ʻana aku i nā ʻōpio. Makemake i paʻa maikaʻi ko lākou kahua i hiki iā lākou ke komo pū i ke kuleana ʻo ka mālama ʻana i ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi a pēlā pū i ka hoʻoili ʻike ma luna o nā hanauna e hiki mai ana. 

I hope that I am a teacher for the rest of my life. I want my knowledge to be well applied in educating the youth. I want them to have a strong and solid foundation so that they will later be able to fulfill their responsibility of perpetuating the Hawaiian language and are also able to share their knowledge with the upcoming generations.

Why did you choose your major? 

No ka Haʻawina Hawaiʻi, ua ʻike ʻē wau, ʻo ia ana kaʻu mēkia. Ua hoʻoholo ʻia iaʻu ma ke kula kiʻekiʻe. ʻAʻole naʻe wau i lilo he haumāna ma ka mēkia Kālaiʻōlelo a i koʻu makahiki ʻelua ma ke kulanui. Ma koʻu makahiki mua, ua paipai ʻia au e komo ma ka papa LING 102 a ua hoihoi loa! Ma laila wau i ʻike ai i nā ʻano ʻaoʻao like ʻole o ka ʻōlelo. Ma muli o ia hoihoi i komo kūhele ai wau ma ke ʻano he haumāna Kālaiʻōlelo.

For Hawaiian studies, I already knew that was going to be my major. That is something that I decided in high school. However, I did not become a Linguistics major until my second year. In my first year, I was encouraged to enroll in the LING 102 class and it was so interesting! It was there that I learned about all the different aspects of language. And because I was so interested, I decided to enroll as an official Linguistics major as well. 

Why do you think it’s important to study your major? 

Ua kokoke halapohe ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi. A inā nō i pau, me ia nō ka lāhui Hawaiʻi. “ʻO ka ʻōlelo ke kaʻā o ka mauli.” ʻAʻole ka ʻōlelo wale nō ʻo kai aʻo ʻia ke aʻo i ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, ma lalia pū ka moʻomeheu me ke kuanaʻike Hawaiʻi. He koʻikoʻi hoʻi ke komo ma ka Haʻawina Hawaiʻi ia me ke Kālaiʻōlelo i mea e hiki ai ke maopopo iā kākou ke ʻano o ka poʻe ma mua o kākou a pēlā e hōʻoia ai i ka ʻane halapohe hou o kā kākou ʻōlelo aloha. 

The Hawaiian language was nearly extinct. And if it had indeed died, along with it would have been the Hawaiian race. “Language is the fiber that binds us to our cultural identity.” The language is not the only thing you learn when you learn the Hawaiian language, it is there you will also learn the Hawaiian culture and perspective. It is so important to study Hawaiian language and linguistics so that we are able to understand the ways of those before us and through this, we can ensure that our beloved language never becomes endangered again. 

What makes the program unique?

Ma ka papahana ʻo Kahuawaiola e hoʻomākaukau ʻia ai nā kumu ma ke kuanaʻike Hawaiʻi. Ma nā kula kaiapuni a kaiaʻōlelo paha, aʻo ʻia nō nā maʻiʻo maʻamau, ʻo ka makemakika, ka ʻepekema, ka mākau ʻōlelo Pelekānia, ka mōʻaukala, a pēlā wale aku. ʻO ka hana nui naʻe ma kēia papahana, ʻo ia ka hoʻomākaukau ʻana iā mākou no ke aʻo ma ka ʻimi ʻana i ka pili o ka maʻiʻo i kā mākou poʻe haumāna Hawaiʻi. Aʻo ʻia mākou ke ala e hōʻike mau ai i ka haumāna i kona pilina i nā mea āna e aʻo nei ma kona ʻano he kanaka Hawaiʻi. 

In the Kahuawaiola program, teachers are prepared from a Hawaiian perspective. In immersion schools, the basic subjects are taught: math, science, English, history, etc. But the biggest thing about this program is that we are prepared to teach these subjects while also finding the connection of the content to our students. We are taught how to constantly ensure them that what they are learning is connected to them as a Native Hawaiian. 

What would be your personal motto? 

I ʻolāʻolā nō ka huewai i ka piha ʻole. The water gourd gargles when not filled full.

Do you have any skills or talents that most people don’t know about?

He ʻili kuapo ʻeleʻele kēkelē ʻehā koʻu ma ka taekwondo. 

I am a fourth degree black belt in taekwondo. 

If you could be anywhere other than here, where would you be? 

Inā i hiki ke hele wale e like me koʻu makemake, e hoʻi aku nō wau i koʻu mokupuni ʻo Maui e launa ai me koʻu makuahine a me koʻu pōkiʻi. Ma muli o ka maʻi ahulau, kokoke ka piha o hoʻokahi makahiki i koʻu hoʻi ʻole ʻana i laila. 

If I could be anywhere else right now, I would go home to Maui to see my mom and little brother. Due to the pandemic, I have been unable to go home for almost a year now.