"While providing me with the necessary tools to become an elementary teacher, the COE has also allowed me to cultivate my leadership skills and remain true to myself."

Hometown

Honolulu, Hawaiʻi

Department

School of Teacher Education - Elementary

Related Degrees

• BEd, Elementary Education

Future

After I earn my master’s, I would like to work for the Department of Defense overseas in Europe. While teaching in the classroom, I would like to be an active advocate for education and children.

Community

As a Miss Collegiate Hawaiʻi contestant, I won the Community Service Award and a $2000 scholarship. I was lucky to be part of feeding the homeless once a month, participating in Make a Wish Hawaiʻi and many other great events.

As the College of Education Student Association (CESA) president in 2013, I helped to implement a variety of community service projects. CESA hosted a Box Tops for education drive during which the COE collected over 400 box tops for the Hawaiʻi School for the Deaf and the Blind. I was also able to judge 3rd–5th graders at the Honolulu Speech Festival. And, I cherish the opportunities I had to work with the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association (HSTA), advocating for a new teacher contract in 2013, representing Hawaiʻi at national student conferences, and helping to host a local conference.

Road to Education

I did not always know that I wanted to be a teacher. As a young girl, I got a thrill when school supply shopping. It wasn’t until I had a taste of teaching in a Sunday school classroom that I realized I had the skills to be a teacher. I immediately changed course from an English major to an education major. My grades spiked as I found my calling.

On the COE

The COE has introduced me to many aspects of teaching. I am able to explore different subject areas, to see the impacts of a community on a learning environment, and much more. While providing me with the necessary tools to become an elementary teacher, the COE has also allowed me to cultivate my leadership skills and remain true to myself.

Fun with Food… and Math

In an educational foundations class, we had to film ourselves teaching a lesson to children we had never met before. I chose to teach math concepts in a way that I absolutely love – through cooking! The children made mini strawberry cheesecakes to learn about fractions. Since discovering the rich lessons that can take place while creating a dish, I have incorporated food in some way in all of my math, science, and social studies lessons.