Hailing from U.S. mainland, two BYUH students share how the culture and challenges from adapting to the island life lead to personal growth
Aaron Barclay and Isabel Contreras-Spencer, students from the U.S. mainland, said choosing BYU–Hawaii was a decision they were grateful to make because of the friends and lessons they have gained.“By coming to BYUH, I was pushing myself out of my own perspective of the world which taught me more about how the world works,” said Barclay.
As the home of many cultures, BYU–Hawaii website says the university caters to over 2,906 students from more than 60 countries. According to the site and Niche, the university is ranked as the fourth most diverse university in Hawaii.
The most enrolled students at BYUH are Americans which is 20.5 percent of the population of the university, the Data USA website says, while the rest are Asian, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian, other Pacific Islander and Black or African American. The website says the most common race recipients of a degree at BYUH were white, which is 34 percent of the population as of 2023.
Learning from other people and their culture
Being a military kid, Barlcay, a health and human science senior from Alabama, said learning from other people and their culture was as important as gaining education.
Coming to BYUH was never in his plan, said Barclay. He said before looking at BYUH, he already applied to other universities such as BYU and BYU-Idaho. Initially, Barclay thought the environment at BYUH was not his preference. “My mother and I were talking to a friend of mine who suggested that we look at BYUH, and I had a spiritual moment of ‘Huh, maybe I should look into it,’”he said.
After submitting his application to BYUH, Barclay said he still had his doubts. He recalled a time from his mission when a BYU-Pathway representative gave a talk. “He was talking about Pathway then two seconds after, he goes, ‘I then went to BYUH,’ which made me feel that the Lord kept lovingly pushing me to BYUH,” Barclay shared.
One of the things that solidified his decision to study at BYUH was the Holokai structure, Barclay said. “Seeing that I could study a major and two minors from different areas was really cool and then recognizing that I would meet people from all over the world pushed me towards BYUH,” he said.
Comparing life on the island from the mainland, Barclay said, he experienced some adjustments. “Here on the island, there is just so much love and connection everyone shares. Where I came from, it is very individualistic,” he shared. Barclay said it felt weird for him to see the difference because it was not what he was used to.
Another adjustment Barclay experienced was the language barrier between cultures, he said. “Yes, everyone speaks English, but because there’s so many people from all over the world, they tend to stick to their own group and community,” he explained. Barclay said it was much easier to talk to people from the mainland because that is where he is from. However, to start getting out of his shell, he said he started talking to people randomly. “It was hard for me especially when I was a freshman because I don’t have a friend group. But when I started talking to people, I started making friends, which also made me adapt how I talk and interact with them now,” he said.
One of the things he enjoyed the most about living on the island, Barclay said, was eating spam musubi from 7/11 and poke from Foodland. “Those are my favorite things ever, my top favorites I would say. I’m sure when I go back to the mainland, I’m going to hate life because they don’t have anything like that there,” he expressed. Barclay also said he enjoys hiking rather than going to the beach. “I’m a big mountain guy, I love mountains, especially here because they look alive,” he shared.
Although he enjoys being on the island, Barclay said there are some things he misses from the mainland. “It’s that bit of independence that I miss because having a car on the island is expensive. You can’t really go anywhere without it so you’re limited in the activities you can do,” he explained. He also said he misses his family. “People here are amazing and my family back home too. It’s just sad that they’re in different places, I can’t go back home and have both,” he said.
Here on the island, there is just so much love and connection everyone shares. where i came from, it is very individualistic.
Being challenged and growth
Isabel Contreras-Spencer, a communications, media and culture, and political science senior from Michigan, chose BYUH because she wants to be challenged, she shared. She said she wanted to see how the world works. “I know being here is better than being anywhere else because I’m surrounded by international students,” she explained. She said if she stayed in her comfort zone like BYU or BYU-Idaho, she would be comfortable but not growing because it has the same people and culture she shares with.
Coming from a small town called Grass Lake, Contreras-Spencer said her first impression of Honolulu was that it’s crowded. She said it felt scary for her because she’s not used to crowded places. However, to prepare herself more before coming to Hawaii, Contreras-Spencer said she tried to watch as many YouTube videos as she could, especially about BYUH. “[Unfortunately, there were not many videos back in 2021.” BYUH became more mysterious for her at that point, she said.
Contreras-Spencer also compared her hometown to Laie. She said it is small and located in the countryside where everyone knows everybody. “It could be good because everyone knows everybody. But it could also be bad because if there is something you don’t want people to know, they will know,” she explained.
Now living on the island, Contreras-Spencer said, it taught her the importance of sacredness or respect in general. “Everyone should learn how to respect each other regardless of their differences in views, opinions and culture especially those who are not from the area.” She said she sees many people from the U.S. mainland who come to Hawaii and think that they can do whatever they want. She said no culture is better than the other.
Being one of the recipients of the Hukilau scholarship, a work-study program sponsored by BYUH, Contretras-Spencer said many families in Hawaii, especially locals, are working more than two jobs to meet their basic needs. “It made me realize that I am in a school where they provide everything for me, so I can be better myself and help improve other’s situations too,” she expressed.
Cheap groceries is one of the many things she missed the most from the mainland, said Contreras-Spencer. “I miss being able to go to the grocery store and get a week’s worth of groceries in a day’s pay but here it costs more like a week’s worth,” she expressed.•