University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Commencement

Tiare Sabellano-Tsutsui

Candidate for Bachelor of Arts in Psychology

After a lifetime of believing she wasn’t good enough for higher education and seven years of working post-high school, Tiare entered Kapiʻolani Community College. She instantly fell in love with education and began tutoring, peer mentoring, academic coaching, and teacher assisting. She then transferred to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM) and was accepted into the Honors Program. Tiare has served as student editor for both schools’ journals and worked as a research assistant for the Psychology, Psychiatry, and Public Health departments. Weekly, she volunteers for UHM’s Prison Education Project, working as a secretary, Positive Psychology co-teacher, and Zen mindfulness lesson and exercise developer with students housed in facilities.

Currently, Tiare is in her 15th year of Zen mindfulness training, residing at her Zen center and volunteering as associate teacher to develop weekly Zen mindfulness Zoom classes for her global meditation group. Her favorite hobbies include visiting different sushi restaurants, practicing lion dance, and listening to Audibles. Next semester, she will be a graduate student in the Master’s Program of Social Work at the Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health. Afterward, Tiare hopes to pursue a PhD in Social Welfare at UHM before working in academia and starting a non-profit organization that teaches Zen mindfulness to underserved youth in Hawaiʻi.

Maansi Murty

Candidate for Bachelor of Science in Biology

Maansi first started her journey with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 1995, when both of her parents, now UHM alumni, fell in love, married, and graduated at UH. Since then, Maansi has followed in their footsteps, and is graduating in Spring 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology, and a minor in Public Health. In her four years at UHM, she has been involved in a multitude of organizations both on-and off-campus. She has been a multi-annual Dean’s List awardee, a Resident Assistant, a College of Natural Sciences Student Ambassador, a Biomedical Researcher for the American Diabetes Association, a Girl Scout Troop Leader for Hawaiʻi Title I schools, and a mentor for UH’s Hanai Program and PAC Pre-Health Undergraduate Program.

After graduating, she looks forward to continuing her ongoing COVID-19 research at the John A. Burns School of Medicine and pursuing a Graduate Certification in Immunology, and a Medical Degree in Emergency Medicine. She would like to thank her parents and brother, her extended family and friends, mentors and bosses, and UH ‘ohana for their unwavering aloha and support for her through her path at UH Mānoa.

Genice Tran

Candidate for Bachelor of Education in Elementary Education

Genice Tran is pursuing a Bachelor of Education in Elementary Education at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Prior to attending UHM, she obtained her Associate’s degree at Kapiʻolani Community College. She intends to teach English internationally after graduating for 1–2 years before returning to Hawaiʻi and pursuing her master’s degree at UH Mānoa. Genice strives to inspire and help her students find their own passions every day.