Kahealani “Kahea” Acosta

As a soil science student, Kahea advocates for finding purpose while learning outside of the classroom. Before finding her desired academic path, she didn’t really apply herself in school and felt unmotivated because of the uncertainty about what to study and what to ultimately pursue as a career. In order to reset and figure our a plan, Kahea took a year off of school to spend time doing what she loved, volunteering her time to work in nature! She returned to UH Mānoa to study in the Tropical Plant and Soil Science Department. Soil Science gives Kahea the opportunity to be outdoors while still conducting research. Overall, she encouraged students to take the initiative to enhance their own learning by using the resources available at UH Mānoa. She says, “The resources are there, you just have to ask!”

John Phan

John is study Kinesiology and Exercise Science while still remaining involved on campus. As the Vice President of the Kappa Sigma fraternity here at UH Mānoa, he feels that many of his greatest memories were made by taking the time to balance academic and social life. With plans for Medical School and an internship at the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific, John admited it can be hard to find time to simply have fun, but it is worth the extra effort to finish his studies in order to take a breather away from his work. One of John’s critical pieces of advice was working with your advisor for more than just the mandatory visits! By sitting with an advisor, he has been able to make an academic plan and feel confident in planning to graduate on time!

Kainoa Reponte

Three majors may seem like a lot, but Kainoa assured students that when pursued organically, it is a great way for students to diversify themselves. Kainoa realized that he enjoys talking to people and being analytical so he decided to pursue Marketing. He says that Marketing can work for so many different personalities because it includes a creative side of the trade as well. For his language credits at UH Mānoa, Kainoa studied French and then the opportunity to study abroad presented itself. After returning from France he realized that pursuing a degree in International Business(IB) for a few additional credits of French really interested him. Because he opted to take the extra French course for the IB major, Kainoa added on French as a major to become a triple major. He shared with the students that it is not easy because his course load is a bit heavier, but it is worth the extra work because he is passionate about each part of his studies. Surprisingly, Kainoa originally had planned to transfer from UH Mānoa, but because of his involvement with Registered Independent Organizations he really found a place in the UH Mānoa community which has organically kept him engaged with school and extracurriculars.