UH Manoa names its 2015 Co-op Education Student of the Year

Kristy Arizumi

Arizumi, in center, holds her winning trophy.

Kristy Arizumi, a Nursing major who participated in a Mānoa Career Center Cooperative Education (Co-op) opportunity with The Queen’s Medical Center, has been named UH Mānoa Co-op Student of the Year.

The 22th annual Co-op Student of the Year appreciation and award reception was held on Friday, December 11, 2015, in conjunction with The Queen’s Medical Center during the Queen’s Co-op Student end-of-the-semester luncheon. Arizumi received a keepsake plaque and $500 scholarship.

Her preceptor and nominator, Dawn “Kanani” Yojo, described Arizumi as “encompassing all the qualities that a strong and cognizant nurse would have.” She was described as a “fast learner, retaining all that she is taught” and is “often found answering call lights of patients that she is not assigned to.”

Co-op Education is a unique form of education that integrates classroom study with paid, planned and supervised work in the private and public sectors.  It allows participating students to acquire essential, practical skills by being exposed to the world of work beyond the boundaries of the campus, thereby enhancing their confidence, capabilities and career direction.

This annual awards and appreciation event recognizes outstanding student contributions in private industry and government, and the unique support of employers who provide avenues for students’ professional growth and career opportunities through a cooperative education experience.  Each year, a committee comprised of a university faculty member, co-op employer and co-op student alumnus/alumna selects one outstanding co-op student employee for his/her contributions and commitment to the program.

As the university's Co-op Student of the Year, Arizumi will represent UH Mānoa in the National Cooperative Education Internship Association (CEIA) Student Employee of the Year competition to be held in April 2016 in Dallas, Texas.

(Full caption for group photo) From left, Naomi Arincorayan of the Mānoa Career Center's Co-op Program; Leatrice Nakashima of The Queen's Medical Center's Clinical Education; Kanani Yojo, who nominated Arizumi and is Arizumi's preceptor; UH Mānoa Co-op Education Student of the Year winner Kristy Arizumi; Cindy Kamikawa, Queen's Vice President of Nursing; Arleen Fujimoto-Ikuma, Mānoa Career Center Internship Director; and Penny Morrison of the UH Mānoa School of Nursing faculty.

For more information, visit: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/careercenter/