"I would be honored to be a Social Media Ambassador for my program because my cohort has been one of the best experiences I’ve been through."

Hometown

Kapolei, Hawaii

Departments

School of Teacher Education - Elementary; Special Education

Related Degrees

• BEd, Exceptional Students & Elementary Education

Why did you choose to pursue to pursue BEd, Exceptional Students & Elementary Education program?

Being a student for the last 15 or so years of my life, I’ve had my share of extraordinary teachers. There was one teacher in particular who inspired me in the classroom and that encouraged me to want to become just like them. I wanted to assist others in their journeys towards their futures and I wanted to be a guide to help them grow as individuals. I specifically decided that I wanted to major in Elementary Education because I’m the type of person who never wanted to grow up and always liked the idea of staying curious and silly. I felt that Elementary students best matched my ideals because in my opinion it’s the age where the most curiosity takes place. I decided to also get my license in special education as well because I have a younger brother with autism. Having a sibling with special needs has really shaped my perspective of what an educational setting should look like when accommodating various students’ needs. Growing up, I’ve gotten the chance to really understand what autism is and how it affects my brother and at the same time how it makes him, him.

Why did you want to be a Social Media Ambassador for your program?

I would be honored to be a Social Media Ambassador for my program because my cohort has been one of the best experiences I’ve been through. It’s been an opportunity for me to make connections with my peers that have been such a delight in my teaching journey. I’ve been able to form social relationships with them as well as professional ones and it’s been awesome to go through this rigorous process with them. My program is also great because it’s given me the chance to develop my personal and professional skills in so many different ways. It’s taught me how to be inclusive to unique students and has taught me to think outside of the box when it comes to lesson planning and teaching in general. If I were to be a Social Media Ambassador I would love to showcase my experiences and learning with others because I feel that it’s very important to publicize to aspiring educators the opportunities that they have to really make a difference in their future careers. I’d love to give others an inside look of what it means to be a student in the ESEE cohort. Whether that means making vlogs throughout the day, giving insights of what work is done in the cohort, what social activities happen, it’s important for students to know that it’s an opportunity that’s open to them at the College of Education. Since we are a dual licensure cohort it makes it even better because we get to gain so much more knowledge and experience through multiple perspectives.

Anything else you’d like to share? 

I currently live on campus at the apartments in Wainani. I am currently working part-time for an organization called the Residence Hall Association (RHA) as president this school year. For this organization I work with an executive board to help advocate for residents at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa and we also run social programs every month to encourage community amongst the residence halls. I am also a part of an organization called the College Opportunities Program (COP) which is a summer program that offers incoming freshmen from Hawai’i an alternate route to getting admitted to the University. This program is for students that have financial difficulties, who want the opportunity to get a jump start to college life, or who are Native Hawaiian. I was a counselor’s assistant for 3 years during the summer and now support the organization at a few events to help market the organization.