My thoughts on Na Hopena Aʻo

I really enjoyed learning about Na Hopena Aʻo and the efforts that were made by pioneers of the program to have this type of education medium placed in the mainstream DOE system.  I feel their efforts are something to be applauded as we know throughout the history of education in Hawaiʻi, Hawaiian concepts, thoughts and language have not always been something welcomed into the teaching curricula.  Itʻs a crazy concept to comprehend when we know the value indigenous culture and the practices of this place can play in the providing individuals (not just kanaka maoli, natives) a sense of identify and connection.

As I was reading through Na Hopena Aʻo, I couldn't stop thinking about how similar this program is to what my friends and I have talked about in the sense of what students today lack and what they need.  I personally feel that the programʻs efforts to highlight cultural concepts and values can be a real game changer for youth in our Hawaiʻi education systems if and only if this program is fully honored for what it is and applied consistently.

In my observations and in some instances in my own path, Hawaiian youth and non Hawaiian youth lack so much after high school in relation to the real world and what it truly means to be from Hawaiʻi and to brough up in this special place.  They are so caught up in the happenings of adolescence with all its extra-curricular activities that a lot of times the aspect of connection to place and also responsibility to community and family is overlooked and not stressed at all. It can happen at home for sure, but when majority of a studentʻs day is taken up at school, this type of education needs to be happening in the school system as well.  Too often I see students graduate from a high school in Hawaiʻi and leave and represent nothing that is Hawaiʻi.  They don't carry with them any true example that can make one identify them as coming from Hawaiʻi besides the stereotypical/generalizations of people from Hawaiʻi. Example, a shaka, talk pidgin, eat spam, love pineapples.  Its a shame that our youth can graduate from an education in Hawaiʻi and carry no true concepts of Hawaiian culture, the beautiful ʻaina that surrounds them and feeds them while in school.

If our students could be given a strong foundation in Hawaiian cultural concepts of caring for one another, leaving places better than we found them, respecting places for what they are and understanding that people do as they do where they are and that we must adapt to those ways when we are guests our students would come out much more worldly and be better able to adapt to any environment.  It also provides Hawaiʻi a plethora of citizens that are actually attuned to one another and the responsibility each of us have to eachother if we want a strong, capable and functioning society. Not only does this program have the ability to instill and highlight the human aspect of connection but also the value of environment and most importantly create a firm foundation for our youth to stand up on and not feel alone.  They can feel apart of something big and know they have a an actual role in the vitality of their community and peers. Aloha kekahi i kekahi!

STEMS2 Goals REVISITED:)

After my first blog post on my goals for this semester and in STEMS2 Iʻve realized that in setting out what I intend to do, I often tend to carry a heavier load on myself. What I mean by that is I tend to do the groundwork on my own initially and then start to wrangle in others to the dream. I also shy away from pinpointing out my struggles in the process and just keep trekking on optimistically despite it being difficult, definitely both a good and bad thing.  Therefore, tasks can be somewhat overwhelming at periods of time in the process and thatʻs never fun.

I realize that I tend to do the groundwork on my own initially because I am still figuring out what I want things to look like or follow a certain way.  I also tend to not want to bother someone with my goals and thoughts when everyone has things going on too.  More often than not, once I am pretty clear on my direction and I got components of the project set properly then i feel more comfortable bringing people in to the wild ideas I have.

However, in the past two weeks Iʻve been networking with various people about upcoming projects within the non-profit but also for a bunch of my extracurricular activities and even something as simple as getting my yard landscaped.  In these moments of exchange, Ive come to believe that even if I get everything figured out on what I want it to look like and how I want something to flow, as my old boss used to always mention, "everything falls to shit." He is definitely not a pessimistic person at all, but it was more his way of reminding us to always have a plan B because plan A can and possibly will fall to shit and we best be prepared.  Therefore, I like to think that if things can and possibly will fall to shit at some point, then maybe having a bunch of ideas from all facets of life and various minds early on isnʻt such a disadvantage.  In fact I think as Ive always believed two minds are better than one, so having input early on before I even know the exact route and destination to my goals may be more of an advantage than a disadvantage.  Furthermore, it could even mean more ideas I didn't even think to incorporate or challenge myself to believe was possible.  Outside thoughts definitely can give fuel to the partial ideas we have, making them complete and capable of even greater things than we initially fathomed.

In conclusion, my goals mentioned in my first blog post still stand, but it now most certainly includes me being mindful to not be caught up on figuring it all out beforehand by myself.  But allowing for input at the early stages of accomplishing the goal so I have the opportunity to be inspired by others and incorporate their ideas together with mine to truly crush goals in the future. I also personally feel that working with others and sharing my ideas early on when trying to tackle a big goal makes for light work emotionally, physically and mentally.  I definitely get to experience that in this program as Ive never been a part of a cohort before and experience this level of peer support. I have always been in programs within UH (minus Hawaiian Studies) where Im the minority or Im somewhat alone.  Therefore, Iʻve come somewhat accustomed in academia to only work in groups if assigned or just work with one person to study but not necessarily develop programs and complete projects that I hope to better people and places with.  I look forward to implementing this mindfulness more often and truly open myself up to all kinds of things both old, new, out of my normal and maybe even at times uncomfortable and vulnerable feeling.