New Student Experience welcomes over 200 students for Winter 2025
More than 200 BYU-Hawaii students were welcomed by the New Student Experience program with several activities to help new students connect, engage and excel in their chosen majors.
With the aim of helping students navigate through university life, rotating workshops given by various offices were held at the Heber J. Grant Building on Jan. 3.
Rotating workshops are recent improvements in making the new student experience more intimate and purposeful, said NSE lead Ameleya Angilau, a junior majoring in business management from Utah. Angilau said the departments at the workshop are ones they felt have the vital information for new students to get started at BYUH and also find success.
Victoria Histed, a freshman majoring in biology from California, said she was nervous and excited about being away from her family. However, she said she is grateful for the resources available to help her feel she is not alone.
Histed said she looks forward to participating in networking events, finding people with the same passion for biology and scuba diving as her, and having those relationships throughout her life. “Having rotational workshops is much more interactive and feels more interactive,” she added.
Roberto Ontiveros, a senior majoring in social work from Mexico, said every event and activity NSE organized was to help local and international students become friends and be well-adjusted to BYUH. “We work together as a team. Every team member has their responsibility and details to tend to,” he said.
Katarina Hawea, a freshman from Fiji majoring in business management, said she felt the aloha spirit since arriving in Hawaii. “We all know aloha means hello or it is a way to welcome someone. I want to share that with everyone I come across.” She also said sharing the aloha spirit is similar to the gospel of Jesus Christ. “Like what Dieter F. Uchtdorf said, ‘If you come to this school, you will feel you belong,’” she explained. “This is the place for me,” Hawea continued.
Michael Gardner, a freshman from Utah majoring in anthropology, said he looks forward to meeting new people and making connections. “That is how Christ spreads His love. Through the people we talk to and interact with,” he said.
Lykrong Pav, a freshman from Cambodia majoring in accounting, also said keeping himself close to the Lord is one of his preparations as he pursues his major. He said it helps him have the guidance of the spirit. “I will take care of myself mentally and physically,” he added.
Pav said he looks forward to learning the basics of accounting. He also shared his desire to take information technology and music as his minors. “I also hope I make many new friends,” he added.
Hawea, a freshman from Fiji majoring in business management, shared she looks forward to her journey at BYUH. She said, “I want to experience what everyone has been talking about [BYUH]… get the highest degree possible, get involved in [activities] and also find an eternal companion if that ever comes along.”