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A group of aspiring political leaders received the opportunity to intern with the United Nations after visiting the U.N. headquarters in New York City during their weeklong trip May 12 to May 18. Five students from the BYU-Hawaii Political Science Department presented on indigenous issues at the conference and had the opportunity to meet with several ambassadors.“I got an internship with the Kiribati embassy,” said Eera Teakai, senior in political science from Kiribati. “I had dinner with them and they expect me to go there in the fall. The Kiribati embassy told me that I can go with them to the U.N. meetings to have the experience to see how U. N. meetings go.”The trip was organized by Professor Tevita Ka’ili to take political science students interested in working in international politics to the United Nations to present their senior research papers to U.N. members at a indigenous peoples conference and to become acquainted with world leaders.Maklen Kapalu, a senior in political science from Vanuatu, told of her experience at the U.N. conference. “It was really amazing that you have all of those leaders and you have to present your research papers to everyone. I’m definitely so happy that I got an internship with the United Nations. I will be returning there in a few months for my internship.”Kaveinga Tukuafu, a senior in political science from Tonga, also received the opportunity to work with the United Nations. “When we were talking to the ambassadors, they were like, ‘You know, people in your own country need you. They need good leaders. So you prepare yourself now.’ Just hearing their advice kind of boosts everything about your learning here in BYU to take you to another level of learning, in order to become one of them. That’s what they expect from us. That’s something that motivates you.”“We just started last year,” said Christina Akanoa, internship coordinator and instructor for the Political Science Department. “I wrote a proposal to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and we were accepted to have an observer member status. Once we were granted that status, now we’re able to go every year to the conference. These are undergraduate students and they’re talking about a lot of important issues. It’s really a golden opportunity for our students to be able to go every year.”Kapalu said, “It was great that we could meet the ambassadors from different countries all over the world and actually talk with them. They are all looking at different issues that are going on in their own countries.”Tukuafu said, “I started to use all of the terminology that I used in class. The trip made me utilize the learning that I had here. That’s one of the best ways to learn--to go out and utilize the knowledge of what you had learned in class.”

The BYU-Hawaii Enactus Team made second place in the semi-finals of the national competition, losing to last year’s runner-up and this year’s champion, La Sierra University.There are two major parts to Enactus: the performance of the projects and the competition. A local, national and international project were presented by the BYUH team this year.The regional rounds were held via the Web, allowing the team to operate from Hawaii and save travel money. They won the regional round, and on May 13, after weeks of rehearsing daily for countless hours, the team of seven flew out to St. Louis, Mo. for the national competition.“If you are competing and you have a deadline, it pushes you to finish and to excel,” said Les Harper, sustainability coordinator at BYUH, who traveled with the team as mentor. In St. Louis, the team started with a temple session, a Saturday of rehearsal practices and a Sunday of church, devotional and a small family home evening, recalled Jana McQueen, a business sophomore from New Zealand. Harper explained the key elements of social entrepreneurship. “It allows a problem to be solved on a long term sustainable basis.” This concept tackles the NGO syndrome which happens when organizations help in a certain area but are unable to make it sustainable and after the project helpers are gone, the region falls back into its previous state. “We are going in and teach the locals so we can come back in a year and see that they are still on track. Our greatest satisfaction would be knowing when we walk away that they carry on without us.” Daniel Magstadt, an exercise science and entrepreneurship senior from California, who operates as the BYUH Enactus Team President said, “Enactus is a vehicle to get the projects to where they need to go.”The willingness to serve others is the common thread McQueen pointed out as the motivation for the Enactus Team. She referred back to the latest General Conference and the emphasis put on helping the refuges, comparing it to the definition of social entrepreneurship. “It is a way we can keep our covenants. The Enactus Team of BYU-Hawaii does so well because the students come from all over the world with different challenges and backgrounds. When they bring their community concerns to Enactus we are able to work together and solve those challenges they see. When they return to their countries they will be leaders. It fits very well with the school’s mission.”In order to realize ideas and projects, Magstadt said students “just need to open their mouths and tell somebody the problem they want to solve. We just need to combine with the whole school.” He continued, “I would love to see Enactus carry out through the student body where people could have more the experience of getting out of the class room setting. Sometimes we get too much caught up in the books and homework and forget why we are actually going to school and gaining and education. One of the most important things about education for me is applying it to our lives. Enactus reminds us who have served a mission that you can be of service in any environment that you’re in.” Harper concluded, “I would believe that anyone who studies international cultural studies should take some entrepreneurial courses, but on the same note I believe anyone who takes business classes should take an ICS class. There is the mentality ‘I am going to get rich and I am going to do it for me.’ That can’t be. You have to be willing to support the needs of your community.”