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The April 2015 Graduation featured Presiding Bishop Gary Stevenson, who told graduates, “Fortune favors the bold.” Graduate Homer Wolman said his dream was realized in this moment of graduation. Stevenson’s message was about overcoming fears that plague graduates, such as fear of marriage, starting a family, failure and ridicule. He quoted President Uchtdorf, who said, “Don’t take council from your fears.” Concerning fear of failure, he said, “If you don’t take the chance, you’ll never fulfill your destiny. With God as your Father, no failure will be final. The warm glow of service and selflessness can melt away doubts and fears.” Aaron Ka Yu Fong, a graduate in psychology, said he appreciated Stevenson’s talk. “There are a lot of fears about graduating. You don’t know where you are going or what you are going to do next. Put faith and courage in it and everything will be fine.” Concerning Fong’s personal plans, he said, “I’m actually still going to be here. I have classes till June and I’ll be an intern till august. Then I will look for grad school. I like this plan of staying here a little bit longer.” Kelly Stevens, a sophomore in computer science from Oregon, said, “I liked his talk because he talked about facing our fears and overcoming our trials with a good attitude.” She said she was proud of her graduating friends and they inspire her to work hard to graduate. Alexandria Hoth, a graduate in marine biology from Ohio, was cheered by her family. Her mother, Christine Hoth, said, “We probably would never have come [to Hawaii] if she wasn’t here. We saved for a long time so we all could come and support her.” Hoth got a personal congratulations from Stevenson; he knew her family because her dad used to babysit for him.Wolman, who graduated in communications, said “Once upon a time I dreamed a dream. I dreamed a dream that she would be here.” He looked to his wife, Noel, who said “That he’d find a wife and then he’d graduate and he did!” Wolman continued, “And the dream came true. And the dream is yours, BYU! Do it!” Hiu Wong, a graduate in international cultural studies from Hong Kong, said he is excited to “move on with life. No more homework and no more papers. I’m getting married and going back home to Hong Kong.” President Steven Wheelwright’s opening remarks stressed the importance for graduates to be lifelong learners. He referenced 10-year-old Mormon, who was “quick to observe,” a key trait for those who want to be lifelong learners.Peter Wasden, a graduate in accounting from Connecticut, was the featured student speaker. He referenced Hogwarts from Harry Potter in the first 30 seconds of his talk, earning a chuckle from the audience. “In all seriousness,” he said, “we are the gold vein and BYUH is the refinery.” He said graduates must be like gold —incorruptible, make connections, and malleable. His final words were an urge to action. “We must do or we are worthless. The appearance of doing is not enough. Let us go and do. Action will delineate and define you.”History professor Michael Murdock said Wasden’s speech was “particularly well-conceived, well-delivered, pertinent, and it created imagery and a metaphor that’s going to remain in the minds of people for a long, long time. Everyone else’s is going to be forgotten because it’s complicated, but his was a very simple image that will stay.”Mark B. Woodruff, assistant to the Commissioner of the Church Educational System, quoted Julie B. Beck, 15th general president of the Relief Society: “The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life.” He told the graduates that frequent fervent prayer, fasting and the study and application of scriptures are three principles that will help people receive revelation from the Holy Ghost. “You’ll need revelation for your own unique circumstances,” he said.Uploaded May 21, 2015

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake affected 8 million people in Kathmandu valley, Nepal, on Saturday, April 25, and relief efforts are still underway to reach all the damaged areas. The tremors left over 4,300 dead, 8,000 injured, and millions homeless. Humanitarian aid assisted the injured and recovered the bodies as a devastated Nepal mourns the destruction, according to AP. More than 90 percent of the houses were destroyed in the Gorkha district in Nepal, a small district where the epicenter of the earthquake was located, leaving thousands homeless. The houses had poor infrastructures, unlike some of the newly built concrete buildings that remain standing, reported AP. Those affected by the earthquake have a desperate need for food and clean water. Because of the disaster, citizens of Nepal have lost their livestock and homes and have no way of getting food without outside help. Most of the people were reported to be out of their homes working in the fields when the earthquake struck.Helicopters, soldiers, and humanitarian aid workers carried injured victims from Gorkha and other rural areas. Some were only reachable by helicopter because of jammed roads and landslides, according to AP. Weather problems such as rain, wind, and cloud cover have prevented some helicopters from landing in areas close to the epicenter. Soldiers have worked to send medical kits, water bottles, dehydrated food, sacks of rice and blankets to Gorkha, said AP. Nepal is famous for Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world. Eighteen people were confirmed dead from avalanches caused by the earthquake, which also damaged the base camp. Other unharmed climbers who desire to finish climbing the mountain are waiting for the government to allow them to proceed, said AP.Twenty-five people were found dead from the earthquake in Tibet, a neighboring country. According to AP, the Nepalese have nothing left, leaving this to be a long-term emergency requiring attention in the coming years.Deseret News reported that Bishnu Adhikari, a Nepalese Latter-day Saint featured in the film “Meet the Mormons,” is safe. He is coordinating a relief effort with the government.Jared McClellan, a sophomore from California studying political science, witnessed the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and said, “Japan is used to earthquakes. When an earthquake like this hits Nepal, more people are hurt.” He added, “I’ve met people from Nepal, and they are very kind and loving. They have a passion for helping the poor. I think this will cause people to band and stick together through these times of trial. It will give them a chance to show their love.”Social media has helped spread the awareness of the disaster and Facebook has started a fund-raiser to help those in Nepal. Bethany James, a freshman studying biology from New Zealand, was shocked when she first heard about the earthquake. She thought students should “donate money on Facebook” because fund-raisers would be able to help victims, who have lost their homes. James said, “I don’t think they have enough funds to make it more secure if they wanted to. If 90 percent of buildings collapsed, I don’t know if the funds provided would help.” Davisson Oliveira, a freshman studying computer science from Brazil, said, “I think we should be helping them through the church because the church has tools to help.” Students can help by donating through the LDS Church humanitarian aid fund, according to the humanitarian service website.May 21, 2015

Recently, the minister of culture in France, Fleur Pellerin, announced that France is giving up the battle to keep English words out of French language, reported The New York Times. Jinpin Yu, a junior majoring in accounting from China said, “I know a little bit that France is country that is kind of clannish. In English language, some vocabulary or structures are from other languages, like ‘long time no see’ was translated from Chinese, but many people say that. Also ‘kawaii’ is Japanese.”This issue suddenly overturns the French linguistic policy of all signs being in French that the country followed for four centuries. Pellerin declared that keeping English words out of French cannot protect the language, and may actually be harmful. She told in the opening of French Language and Francophonie Week in March, “French is not in danger, and my responsibility as minister is not to erect ineffective barriers against languages but to give all our citizens the means to make it live on,” reported The Guardian. Her assertion is a remarkable opinion in France, as the French subsidiary of General Electric Medical Systems was fined more than 500,000 euros for issuing software manuals in English in 2006. Also, the determination among the official that “keep French French” was originate from King Louis XIII and to now. There was a academy’s charter for Académie Française formed during that time which said “clean the language of all the filth it has caught,” focusing on taking out English. The large-scale resistance of English encroachment into French started in the pre-computer age. It formed a commission on terminology in 1970, and five years later, Maintenance of the Purity of the French Language announced that it would fine people for using anglicisms. In 1994, Toubon Law regulated all official government publications, commercial contracts, advertisements, workplaces, and public schools must use French language. But now, the rigorous French language protecting policy seems to become the past. Since the French government give up the fight of English, more English words will come to this country. You can see signs for “Wi-Fi” all over France.May 21,2015

For two years, Whitney Gustafson has both been the anchor and leader for the BYU-Hawaii Lady Seasiders softball team. The senior catcher and biology major from Utah transferred to BYUH last season from Salt Lake Community College. Immediately filling the starting catcher role, Gustafson quickly began making an impact on the softball team. “Whitney is a great leader with a lot of knowledge about the game,” said teammate Makeala Williamson, a sophomore in ICS from California. “She pushes us to play to the best of our abilities and truly believes in all of us.”Gustafson has been playing softball since she was 4. “I tried every other sport, and I felt that there was more involvement in softball, especially as a catcher,” said Gustafson. It was at the catcher position where Gustafson would find her success. “You get to see the whole field and where everyone is, and I love the feeling of throwing out a runner at second or making a sweet tag at the plate,” said Gustafson. Throughout her time at BYUH she has not only excelled at the defensive side of the game, but also on the offensive side. This year she is currently batting .355, with 3 RBI’s, and with a .387 slugging percent. Although her time here has not led to as much success as she would like in the win column, she has enjoyed being at BYUH. “Here, it is definitely about ohana. On other teams I have played on that was not always the case,” said Gustafson. “I love the family atmosphere here and that we are all friends. It is really that Hawaiian culture we feel, even though we are not all Hawaiian.” Gustafson has just a couple more weeks left in her softball career here, but she will be leaving a legacy for her teammates that will be missed. “Her character is what we will miss the most about Whitney,” said teammate Tiffany Smith, a sophomore exercise and science major from Torrance, Calif. “She raises the intensity of each game and makes sure that each teammate is ready to go.” Gustafson will graduate this Saturday, April 18, and after the softball season is over, she plans to move back to Utah with her husband. She hopes to continue to coach softball at her old high school, Bingham High School, as well as go on to pharmacy school at the University of Utah and start a family.May 21, 2015

Tupou Taufu‘i has found academic success by putting the Lord and her family first. “I can see when my life is spiritually strong, my academic life is way better,” said Taufu‘i, a graduating senior in TESOL from Tonga, “and if I’m not living the gospel, the opposite is true.”Putting the Lord first was not a new idea to Taufu‘i, who also went to Saineha High School, a LDS Church-run high school in Tonga. Her attendance there influenced Taufu‘i’s decision to attend BYU-Hawaii. “I wanted to come to BYUH because it is a church school, and I know I would do well here because it is church-oriented.”Her roommate of one year, Langiola Kioa, a sophomore from Tonga majoring in elementary education, said, “I admire her attitude. We always put church activities first. Even though we may be late sometimes, we never miss church.”Being a second-language speaker at BYUH was tough, but Taufu‘i said it helped her grow both spiritually and temporally. “Getting to know all these people from all around the world, going to classes and learning all these challenging things in class, and the gospel is everywhere. It has been a really great experience,” she said.The decision to major in TESOL came from her desire to teach English to middle school children in Tonga. “I loved English back in high school because I loved reading,” Taufu‘i said. Her teachers also had a good impact on Taufu‘i’s life, which has helped her want to positively impact the lives of other students.Before she can become a teacher, Taufu‘i needs to complete her student teaching in Tonga. “My plan is that I go back and do my student teaching. At the same time, I will put in my papers. I want to go on a mission. Then I’ll come back and further my education, and I can’t forget about temple marriage – whichever comes first,” she said.Eric Rackley, of the School of Education, was listed by Taufu‘i as one of her favorite professors. “His class was challenging, but it was worth it. He makes you think up to the point that you can’t think anymore. He made me realize I can do deep things.”Taufu‘i advised her fellow Tongan students to remember their parents and ”remember who you are and where you are from. Don’t let the life in Hawaii distract you from your purpose.” Taufu‘i said she and her parents made sacrifices for her to get a college education, like paying for school and getting a student visa.To the rest of the student body, Taufu‘i said attitude is everything. “Attitude towards your education is what matters. You may have all these assignments piling up, but what’s your attitude? Are you going to be positive, or are you going have a negative take on it?” She urged students to be spiritually minded. “When you are spiritually minded, the Lord helps things fall into place. Just put the Lord first.”Taufu‘i works as a tutor in the ELT Department. Her supervisor, Amanda Wallace, said, “She’s very positive. It’s really nice to have her as a tutor because she works to establish a good rapport with her tutees.”Uploaded May 21, 2015

Speaking at this year’s graduation ceremony is Peter Wasden, an accounting major and political science minor from Connecticut. Wasden first started at BYU-Hawaii in 2009, and since then has taken full advantage of getting to know the people around him. Cami Wasden, Peter’s wife, said, “Peter has always been a people person. He just enjoys learning and loves to help people. Being here at BYUH has only improved his capacity to interact with people and help them with what he knows.” Wasden said, “We all have our talents and we have to use those talents to serve others. We are supposed to serve others in the way we are meant to do it. We are here to specialize in a way tohelp people.” Wasden has really taken this philosophy to heart and worked to develop his talents at BYUH. Wasden started his own company, has participated in Enactus and BYUHSA, was part of the Gamers Association, worked as an accounting tutor and will graduate Summa Cum Laude. Wasden said BYUH is one of the best places to learn because of the close relationships you can create with your professors and classmates. He said, “It is incredibly unique to be able to go to your professor anytime and sit down with them in their office and get advice and be mentored. The professors here are actually your teachers and not just your lecturers.”Wasden said this has been a huge part of his success throughout his time here. “I really took the initiative to get to know my professors and look to them for help. They really do listen to you and are truly invested in you and your life,” said Wasden. Wade Che, a junior from China studying accounting, said, “For me, Peter has a passion to help people. He works hard to make sure that everyone understands the material and can be successful, even students that are not from his class.” Being around to help others and looking for opportunities to improve himself have become a fundamental part of Wasden’s life. Ben Errico, a senior from Nevada studying accounting, said, “One of Peter’s best traits is that he always is working to improve himself. Peter has great foresight that has translated into him reading good books, working hard and setting challenging goals.”Errico continued, “Peter had an easy job before he started as a T.A. for accounting. Professors and students always asked for Peter’s help and wanted him as a T.A., so he changed jobs so he could help more people. This job is more of a labor of love for Peter. He just loves to help others.”Wasden has a motto that happens to coincide with Nike’s: Just do it. He said, “You have to understand that you can do it. If I had a magic coin, I would wish everyone to just do. The world would be a better place and people would begin to realize all they can accomplish when they are doing.”Wasden will move to Idaho this summer to gain experience in the world of accounting and business. He will be working in system analysis and project management for a year to gain experience to prepare for graduate school. Uploaded May 21, 2015

Tell the people about yourselfA. “I’m from Seattle, Washington. I have 10 siblings. I am a senior graduating with a bachelor’s in arts and sciences. I majored in International Cultural Studies, with an emphasis in communications and peacebuilding. I came in with a business major, but when I got here, I felt like I needed to change. I don’t know why – just felt strongly.”Q. What do you see as the most positive things about yourself?A. “Oh now, this is the ‘conceited’ one. My top five is that I care; sometimes I care more about others than I do myself. I’m caring, friendly, inviting, I love a lot of people, and the hmm, I don’t know, we’ll just do four.”Q. What do you plan on doing after you graduate? A. “I’m not done with my education, that’s for sure. I will be here on campus till July then I am going to China to teach English till the end of the year. Then off to BYU Provo for my master’s in business, right back where I started.”Q. How has your journey been here at BYU-Hawaii, especially with the ICS major?A. “It’s taught me a lot about interpersonal communications, how to better interact with people. I feel like the peacebuilding focus has taught me how to view others as people not objects. It’s sneaky. I’ve done it before. Even treating people like they don’t matter in my life. Every person is just like me. We all have feelings and inherent value. It’s an ongoing process.”I agree. Growing is definitely a process of unlearning and checking yourself. A. “Definitely. It’s an ongoing process of relearning, and reinventing, reiterating, reliving.”Not forgetting the things we reinforce should be positive habits... A. “Yeah it’s easy to get comfortable because the campus is so small. We shouldn’t get too comfortable to the point where we are missing all the opportunities our surroundings have to offer. Again, it’s redoing, reliving, re… cycle, reuse, GO GREEN!”Q. What has been the highlight of your time at BYUH?A. “Definitely Culture Night. I had the amazing opportunity to host last year’s event and really became aware of the importance of your audience. You have no idea who they are, and yet you have to make them your main focus and make it alive. I met most of my friends at Culture Night. It’s such a big event for our campus and our community, and that’s a big thing with Envision La‘ie and all these things. It was great to be a part of that unifying event.”Q. What is your aspiration?A. “That’s a big question, and it’s always a process of rethinking – here we are back at the ‘re’ process. You have to become comfortable with yourself and say, ‘I accept the things that are going on around me, why I’m here, and what am I doing.’ Taking into consideration of where I come from and where I am now, I think I’m just going to say, my aspiration in life is to be happy.”Definitely.A. “Once you do that, once you are happy, you are happy for no reason but yourself. You are doing things for yourself. It’s not selfish or conceited though. It’s allowing yourself to be proud of where you have come from and where you are now and where you can go in the future, and recognizing the power you have to make things happen for yourself. No one’s going to do it for you. People think that if you’re proud of yourself and accepting of yourself, they look at it like you’re being conceited. No, that’s allowing yourself to be proud of the work you are doing for yourself. The main thing you need to worry about is your family and those close to you. You’re always going to have haters.”Q. When you leave BYUH, what do you want to leave behind?A. “My motto right now is #IWasHere. Let people know that you were here. People that I’m close with know they can call me at any time and I will come through for them no matter what.” Q. Do you have any shoutouts?A. “Well, shoutout to my friends, you, and all my home dawgs. It’s been great fun. I don’t know where I would be without my academic advisor, Rowena Reid. We need more people like her. Tammy Fonoimoana. All the people who helped me get to this point. Shoutout to all of you.”Q. Last question: How do you, Tonga, deal with the haters?A. “I don’t.”Uploaded May 21, 2015

Terainui Johnston found her love of serving people and rekindled her dancing talent in Hawaii. Johnston, a senior graduating with a degree in social work from Tahiti, said, “The more I learned about social work, the more I felt that this is for me because I love serving people. I just love it. It has kind of opened my vision and perception of my life.” Throughout the classes she has taken at BYU-Hawaii, the most influential ones for her have been all of her social work classes. She explained through experiencing them, “Life became larger. The fact that there are so many things that are given to us that we take for granted, and when I see people out there who don’t have what I have, I feel that I need to do something. It also helps me to be more grateful for what I have.” Her opportunities to do service at BYUH are among the highlights of her time here. Johnston shared, “A few of my favorite moments are probably the service projects that the school had or even New Student Orientation (NSO) where we have to be there for the new students.”After returning home from her mission on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, she said she was unsure about coming to BYUH in the beginning, aiming instead to go to Canada or New Zealand. “But for some reason, I had to come here, and I gave myself six months and if I don’t see why I am here, then I will just go home. But what truly helped me to find my place here is serving others.”Called as a Relief Society president, she said she would find someone to help in her free time because “I felt like I just needed to go do something for people. That stage of my life really helped me to be more humble and even though I don’t understand everything there is always something. I always tell myself, ‘You cannot do everything for everyone everywhere but you can do something for someone somewhere.’” Johnston said even if it is the smallest way of serving, like just listening to someone, she will do it.Johnston started learning Tahitian dance when she was 4 years old. “My parents, for some reason, saw that I had an interest for dancing. They signed me up in a group, but I had to stop because of health problems. I got back into it when I came here and it was hard.” Johnston has displayed her talent of Tahitian dancing at both the Polynesian Cultural Center and in BYUH’s Culture Night.Johnston said her heart is full of gratitude as she looks back on her years at BYUH. “What has truly made my college life the best and what has truly made me happy is service. I just want to encourage all of us to stop complaining. There’s always something to be grateful for, and one of them is the ability and opportunity to cheer someone up and make them smile.”Some of Johnston’s future plans are to volunteer at the Humanitarian Center in Asia and other non-profit organizations. She also hopes to work with a famous French baker in the next 10 to 15 years because she counts baking as one of her hobbies, along with photography. Her advice to the future graduates is to “always be grateful, and if you make the Lord your priority, he will make you His priority.”Uploaded on May 20, 2015