Having traveled around Mongolia and the United States, Lkhagvajargal Dalaichuluun said her experiences have helped her overcome challenges. Her passion for traveling, she said, has led her to make new friends, explore new places, and create new memories. According to Dalaichuluun, you don’t have to be wealthy or wait for the perfect timing to travel, all you need to do is set goals, pick a date and just do it.

At a beach in Haleiwa, endangered green sea turtles bask under the watchful eye of volunteers from Malama na Honu, an organization whose name in Hawaiian means, “Protect the Turtles.”

Hawaii has only been part of the United States of America since 1959, and Hawaiian traditions are still deeply embedded into the modern Hawaiian-American culture, including Thanksgiving. Before Hawaii adopted the traditional American Thanksgiving, they had Thanksgiving traditions of their own.Makahiki lasted four months, November through February, and was known as a season of thanksgiving for the harvest. Members from each district would offer fish, pigs, and vegetables at an altar, “which sat on the boundary of each ahupua‘a (land-division). The warlord of each district would pass through, collect the goods, and sponsor a huge feast,” according hawaiimagazine.com.Makahiki was a time when rival tribes were not allowed to fight. The rainy winter weather often prevented the people from working, so they spent their time having surfing competitions, boxing and wrestling matches, and eating, as said in hawaiimagazine.comThen, in 1849, King Kamehameha III declared December 31st a national holiday of Thanksgiving in hopes of strengthening the relations between Hawaii and the United States, Hawaii Magazine reported. This was 14 years before United States President Abraham Lincoln declared the fourth Thursday of November to be a national holiday of Thanksgiving.Napualani Watson, a student from Hawaii, said of Thanksgiving, “It’s more of an American thing. It’s not really traditional for us to celebrate it, so we just celebrate it like Americans do.”Other students at BYU-Hawaii are embracing their Hawaiian heritage and are finding ways to incorporate Hawaiian traditions with American traditions during the season of Thanksgiving.“Every day is a day of thanks for any Hawaiian. Thanksgiving is an American holiday,” said Alena Nu’uhiwa Pule, a student from Hawaii.Keli’i Mawae, a junior studying business finance from Hawaii, said, “I come from a fishing family, so most of the time we always had fish alongside our turkey or sometimes no turkey at all. Actually, it was very seldom that we had turkey, mostly all types of seafood instead.”“The bowl of poi that we made would be huge, and we all shared the same bowl to signify the joining and unity of the family,” Mawae added

Filled with a desire to help those in need throughout the world, Chloe and Lydia Wilson and Jeteijie Curtis said they started selling treats and their toys on a street corner in Laie to raise money for the Philippines and Australia. After Mark Camiso shared a photo of the girls on Facebook, the picture went viral and received more than 58,000 likes and 46,000 shares.

The White House released a statement saying President Obama signed a proposal that will quadruple the size of the Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Monument off the coast of Hawaii. This monument will be twice as big as Texas and will protect more than 7,000 marine species. This will improve the resiliency of Hawaii’s underwater ecosystem and slow the effects of climate change on the region. The monument will surround the islands of Midway Atoll. According to the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument website, a quarter of the 7,000 species in Midway aren’t found anywhere else in the world. The area also has the highest density of sacred Hawaiian sites, and has a rich historical context.Yanki Chang, a senior studying social work from Hong Kong, said creating and safeguarding marine preserves is an urgent task. “It’s important because once you destroy the environment, it’s hard to repair. We need to protect it before it’s too late.”Commercial fishing and mining will not be allowed in the monument, which has sparked some controversy. Sean Martin, president of the Hawaii Longline association, said, “We are disappointed that the president has made the decision to close an area nearly the size of the entire state of Alaska without public process. This action will forever prohibit American fishermen from accessing those American waters.” Sunny Ostergard, an undeclared sophomore from Utah, said, “Marine life is very important. For example, the corals are dying as we speak. We need to sustain our marine ecosystem instead of overusing it. We should be considering how our actions will affect the ecosystem long term.”This preserved area will not just serve to protect Hawaii’s marine species. Obama said the area is also of “great cultural significance to the Native Hawaiian community and a connection to early Polynesian culture worthy of protection and understanding.”Ostergard also mentioned the cultural implications of this reserve. She said, “From a Hawaiian studies perspective, I know that taking care of the ocean and land is important because the ocean will in turn take care of us.”“I also think that we should be making more of an effort to preserve Native Hawaiian culture,” said Ostergard. “Western society has taken up too much of the Hawaiian islands. I like how this monument represents a desire to protect culture.”Shelby Kitchen, a sophomore from Utah studying psychology, said, “I think it’s important because this is the earth that God gave us, so we should take care of it. But we should also be taking care of it for our own benefit. If we don’t take care of the ocean, then we won’t be able to benefit from it as well.”Obama commented on the future of the marine preserve while visiting Midway Atoll. He said, “I look forward to knowing that 20 years from now, 40 years from now, 100 years from now, this is a place where people can still come to and see what a place like this looks like when it's not overcrowded and destroyed by human populations.”

The BYU-Hawaii Men’s Golf Team enjoyed one of its best seasons since the late 1980s, which concluded with the team going to the NCAA Division II championships in Denver, Colo., from May 17-21. The team tied for 12th place with Tiffin University, according to a BYUH Sports Information press release. The head coach, Bob Owan, said he was very proud of his team’s performance this semester. “Our main goal was to win the PacWest. We were in second place, and that’s great, but we qualified for the regional, which is one of the biggest things we wanted to do to get into post season play.” Earlier in May, the team competed in the regional championships in New Mexico, making fifth place out of the 20 teams present, just enough to qualify the team for nationals. “We’re playing against Chico State, which won five times already this year, and our biggest obstacle was that regional [match], just hanging in there,” described Dalton Stanger, a sophomore from Utah studying psychology. “We qualified by one shot.” This is Stanger’s first semester at BYUH, and according to him, improvement is the theme of the team’s season. “The team was ranked 130th when we got here. Now we’re up to 12th.” Looking forward to the finals, many of the team members were apprehensive about what was to come. “I have a little anxiety,” remarked Inoka Kahawaii, a senior form Laie studying interdisciplinary studies. “I’m excited to compete again and see how far we can go in the national championship. That’s really the goal every year once you start the season: to try to get there.” Despite the individual nature of golf as a sport, the Seasiders make it very much a team effort. “We pick up on each other’s vibes when we play, and we always have each other’s backs when we’re out there,” commented Kahawaii. “We can compete with anybody. We’re fighters.” Brent Grant, a sophomore from Hawaii majoring in marketing, noted that “Golf is interesting because it starts off as an individual sport. It’s pretty difficult to pinpoint one thing that the team does to hold itself together. In between rounds we are really supportive of each other; we are honest with each other about what the course is doing for us and what it isn’t.” Playing golf for the school is a huge commitment, they say. “This semester we’ve travelled every other week, so we’ve been gone for 5-6 days at a time, then we’ll be home for 5-6 days at a time, and then we’ll leave again. This will be our eighth trip,” said Kahawaii. Stanger said it is vital to maintain a positive attitude. “It’s really easy to get down on yourself out there, but the truth of it is that no one really cares.If you make a bogey on one hole, you gotta come back and make a birdie on the next hole. Our team leads the field almost every tournament in birdies.” In the concluding championships, BYUH Sports Information reported, “Herrera recorded birdies on three of the back nine to tie for 27th on the individual scoreboard with a final score of even par. Grant started the round with three consecutive birdies, but a double-bogey on hole eight slowed him down. His 2-over 218 was tied for 41st on the leaderboard.” Throughout the semester, the team underwent extensive training and practice with Coaches Bob Owan and Ryan Acosta. “We’ve done some homework on the course already, and we kind of know what the course is asking for,” said Acosta about the championship course. “I’m here to oversee their practice routines and help each player individually improve certain aspects of their games to be ready for the national championship.” After celebrating one of their best seasons in years, the sports program will be closing down next year. To Coach Owan and much of the team, this comes across as rather disappointing. “It is what it is,” Owan said. “A lot of people are disappointed. I am somewhat disappointed, but I think that decisions have been made and we just gotta move on.” Owan continued, “ We have one more year to plan and think about the team and what they are going to do. I’m excited for the ending of this season and for next year too. We’ll finish out with a big bang, but I’ve accepted that we are going to close.” BYUH’s sports program was an excellent way to spread awareness about the school and the church, according to Stanger. “I think the sports program is a great beacon to go out and reach communities that have never heard about BYUH. With golf especially, I talk the gospel with every guy that I play with, and they ask me questions. I’ve had some great opportunities as a BYUH player to share the gospel, and take the BYUH spirit into a bunch of communities that wouldn’t have it if it weren’t for the sports program.”

President Trump signed a controversial executive order on Jan. 27, which was later blocked by a federal judge, banning people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, and Somalia from traveling to the U.S., according to CNN.

Participants and judges gave thanks for the ability to hold the 2020 BYU–Hawaii Music Scholarship Competition virtually and shared their deep love in music’s power to find peace throughout troubling times.

The 2014-2015 NBA season started two weeks ago and promises to be an exciting and interesting season. Here are the top stories going into this year’s NBA season.LeBron James and Kevin Love move to Cleveland.After his controversial move to Miami in 2010 from Cleveland, LeBron James has once again returned to Cleveland. In what was probably the biggest free-agent decision all summer LeBron James decided to forego a contract extension with the Miami Heat and decided to return to play in his hometown of Cleveland. Following their acquisition of LeBron James the Cleveland Cavaliers made another impressive roster change with the acquisition of Kevin Love. James and Love join Kyle Irving in the NBA’s newest “big three lineups”. Despite their highly touted summer acquisitions, the team has had some struggles in the first two weeks of the season going 2-3. “James going back to Cleveland will take some time to find the same chemistry he had with his Heat teammates. This is more than just about basketball, its about an entire city. Even though it will take time to bring it all together, the Cavaliers just landed the best player in the world for the second time,” said David Urbina, a senior business major from Gilbert, Arizona.Spurs go for repeatThe San Antonio Spurs capped off an impressive season last year beating the Miami Heat and winning the NBA Championship. After the championship fans began to speculate if the veteran line-up of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Mano Ganobli, would be back for another season. To the joy of Spur fans all three decided to continue their careers for another year. Though they will be returning the same lineup as last year’s championship team, the question remains if this veteran group can once again make a run for the championship. The Spurs have had a similar struggling start as the Cavaliers with an identical 2-3 record.Kobe backLast year there was the same hype surrounding Kobe Bryant’s return after injury, however, after playing in six games Bryant injured his Achilles once again. Now, once again back from injury, the 36-year-old Lakers’ great will try to lead the Los Angeles Lakers back to the playoffs. It will not be easy for him as the Lakers lost free agent Pau Gasol and Steve Nash to injury. The Lakers are hoping that rookie Julius Randle and Carlos Boozer will provide enough support for Kobe to take the team to the playoffs. Jabari Parker’s rookie seasonLast year LDS Duke freshman basketball player Jabari Parker captured the nation’s attention with his impressive play and unique faith. Parker was named a first-team All-American, won the USBWA National Freshman of the Year, and was the runner-up for the John R. Wooden Award. After deciding another year at Duke, Parker opted to enter the NBA Draft. The Milwaukee Bucks selected Parker as the number two overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. Basketball fans in the LDS community are interested in seeing how Parker performs on the professional level. “It should be interesting to see another LDS pro basketball player in arguably the best basketball league in the world. Being the number two overall pick should also be interesting because with all the hype coming in,” said Brando Barron, a freshman EXS major from Los Angeles, California. Parker has started the 2014-2015 season with two double-doubles, and an average of 11.6 points per game.