Eleven members of the BYU–Hawaii ohana were recognized in January for working more than 20 years at the university with two working more than 40 years: Hilda Kajiyama, 45, and Phillip Bruner, 40.
Commenting on their experiences working on campus, they said being mentored by great teachers, bosses and coworkers, along with helping faithful students to reach their potentials, were among their favorite memories. They also said working at BYUH has strengthened their testimonies of the gospel and the knowledge that God has a plan for every person.
English Professor Randal Allred, who has worked at BYUH for 25 years, said, “When I came to do my interview and teaching demonstration, the students seemed on the edge of their seats, hungry to learn. The students here at BYUH make teaching exciting. I see some students who take for granted their experience here—but I have seen other students who have immense courage and faith, and who accomplish great things in the face of incredible adversity.”
Wanza Falevai, the administrative assistant for the Exercise and Sports Science Department who has also worked at BYUH for 25 years, said her favorite memory was working with her former boss, Norman Kaluhiokalani. “In his wisdom, he gave me the space and opportunity to learn and grow from my mistakes. He has helped me find confidence and strength in myself. He is a great exemplar to me.”
She recalled listening to Kaluhiokalani counseling students who felt college was too hard. “He would tell them, ‘If it was easy, you wouldn’t learn anything. It supposed to be hard.’ He loved helping the students.”
Another of her favorite memories, Falevai said, was working with the other great department administrative assistants on campus. “We all helped each other in our type of work,” she said. “They are a bunch of strong women.”
Kamaile Nihipali, the account specialist with the Office of Information Technology who has worked at BYUH for 20 years, said one of her favorite memories has been “watching the students grow into adults and parents and seeing them receive good jobs to care for their families, and for most of them, return home and contribute to their communities. These things are still going on today, and it so wonderful to see that ‘bigger picture’ moving forward.”
Mark James, a professor in the English as an International Language Department who has worked at BYUH for 35 years, said his favorite memories of campus often include nature.
“Most of us travel from one class or building to another without noticing that this campus has an amazing diversity of flora and fauna,” he said. “For example, there are one or two pairs of saffron finches who frequent the campus. They’re just beautiful. I have a fond memory of the huge paper bark tree that stood in the courtyard by the biology labs. One day, when its blossoms were all out, it was surrounded by thousands of honeybees. I walked over and was transfixed for about five minutes, just enjoying the awe-inspiring display of nature in full force–complete with amazing sound effects.”
Another of his favorite memories involves BYUH sports teams. “I still remember like it was yesterday, the evening when our women’s volleyball team beat the University of Hawaii’s team here at home,” he said. “Talk about David and Goliath!”
“I’ve also enjoyed moments sitting down with colleagues who needed support; likewise with students who needed a bit of direction, understanding, clarity of thought, or advice. Opportunities to assist others in moving forward with their lives have been very rewarding. Oftentimes, it has simply been a matter of giving a listening ear … giving them the time and place to express themselves and talk it through.”
Another favorite memory for James happened one semester when he was teaching an advanced writing class in the EIL program. “One of my students, a devout Catholic from Mexico, came up to me in the snack bar and was feeling somewhat anxious about the upcoming final exams. This was her last EIL class and she was hoping to exit the program,” he recalled.
She told him earlier that morning she and her younger brother, who was in his first semester in EIL, had walked to Kahuku to the Catholic Church, “hoping to offer prayers and light a candle, seeking God's help on their exams. Unfortunately, they arrived to find the chapel locked and returned to Laie feeling disappointed. As she told the story, my heart was touched. Her faith and example to her younger brother were inspiring.
“I said to her with complete confidence, ‘You are known and loved of God, and surely he has seen your faith and knows the prayers of your heart and will help you as you prepare for the exam.’ A week later, she learned she had successfully passed the last exam she would ever take in EIL, and her brother had also advanced in his studies.”
James added, “Whenever I recall this memory, I think to myself, ‘How many of our LDS students go to the temple before final exams to put their names on the prayer roll?’”
Phillip Bruner, a professor of biology who graduated with his bachelor’s from BYUH, says in a video produced for the January Employee Appreciation dinner and awards on Jan. 31, when he started working here fulltime in 1978, his fellow faculty members where his former teachers. He said he learned a lot from them and appreciated their friendship. Bruner said his teachers and others made it possible for him to be where he is now.
People have events happen in their lives, he continues, they didn’t plan for but change their lives.
“When you look back, you see those things,” he says. For example, going to school here as an undergraduate, he said he met his wife. He said he wouldn’t have gone to graduate school at Louisiana State University and graduated from here, too. “Little things change your whole life, and in the context of our views of eternity, our whole eternity is affected by lots of little things in our lives and how we handle it,” he says.
Yvonne Marasco-Mapu, the secretary at the Health Center who has worked at BYUH for 20 years, said her favorite memories are of the love people have for each other at BYUH.
“Since working here at the BYUH Health Center, I have learned so much from all the people I work with and especially my supervisor, Laurie Abregano.” Marasco-Mapu said Abregano “has such a big heart on the job and off the job. She has made me feel so comfortable since day one and was always willing to help even if it wasn't related to work. She is the reason I been here so long.”
Talking about their long-time co-worker, Hilda Kajiyama, three Food Services leaders shared their insights about her in a video also made for the employee recognition night. Food Services Director David Keala says, “When I came as a student back in ‘82, Hilda was working here, and I have known her since then.” He says she has survived working for eight directors, including him. “I depend on her. She is my right hand.” He adds she is very personable, wonderful, and everyone loves her. “We are grateful to have her.”
Chef Spencer Tan said Hilda was working in the Food Services accounting office when he was a student going to school at BYUH. “It seems like she hasn’t aged at all,” he says. If anyone is looking for something from 10 or 20 years ago, he said she can find it for them. “She is a very organized person. You know, sometimes you think there’s no way she can find it, but she will get it for you,” he said.
“People say the kitchen is the heart of the restaurant business,” he says, “then she is the blood of this restaurant business … We hope she keeps on working here and never retires.”
Seasider Manager President Galea’i says, “The first time I saw Hilda, I thought she was a student worker.” Besides looking young, he says she is kind and helpful. “She has helped me a lot throughout my years here. So I appreciate her a lot,” he says.
Also recognized at the Jan. 31 event in the Cannon Activities Center was Jared Anderson, a senior enterprise systems developer in the Enterprise Information Systems Department. He has worked at the university for 20 years. Irene Lesuma, the administrative assistant to Vice President of Academics John Bell, has worked at BYUH for 25 years. And both Mario Gancinia, another senior enterprise systems developer in the Enterprise Information Systems Department, and Carl Yamagata, a coordinator for Information Technology Operations, have worked for BYUH for 30 years.
These longtime employees shared working at the university has strengthened their testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Allred said, “Teaching here has taught me to see life from multiple perspectives. It has also reinforced the notion that learning is in the hands of the learner: A student must hunger and thirst after knowledge the same way we should hunger and thirst after righteousness. In fact, I think they are the same quest. A learner must hunger for it, own it, and make it happen. Teachers and libraries are just tools. The student needs to have the desire, and approach learning with the attitude that all principles are interconnected, and all knowledge is one great whole.
He continued, “I have learned that God moves in many ways, and He is directly influencing the progression and growth of His young people in the Church schools. He is shaping them for their purposes. I have felt His influence in my teaching and have seen it in the teaching of the other faculty—being temple-endowed disciples of Christ, full of passion about their subjects and love for the students.
“Also, I have seen up close the workings of His kingdom in this part of the globe. BYUH represents the cutting edge of the global Church, and I have seen young people prepare to build up Zion all over the planet.” He added, “There is no better place than BYUH for an undergraduate education. I have taught for five other colleges, and I have some perspective.”
James said, “The opportunity to teach within the light of the gospel, and with the invitation of the Holy Ghost, has had a profound effect on how I teach and what I am allowed to teach. This kind of experience would not have been mine had I followed ‘Plan A,’ which was to teach in a variety of countries around the world, pursuing the study of other peoples, languages and cultures.
“Secondly, it has brought me into contact with thousands of young members of the Church—our Church’s next generation of leaders. Looking back, I have had the privilege to teach students who are now community and professional leaders, as well as currently sitting general authorities, current and former mission presidents, and numerous, ward, stake, and district leaders. In their presence, knowing their potential, one cannot but feel, on a regular basis, the desire to be and do better.
“As an example, a couple years ago, I received an email from an alumna who marveled at the journey her life had taken … ‘Three years ago, I was a care-free, sun-tanned, single student, enjoying all the opportunities at BYU–Hawaii. Now I am employed, married, and the Young Women’s President of our stake!’ I wasn’t surprised. She was, before graduation, everything you’d want in a church leader who could inspire the next generation.
James said his testimony of “President McKay’s clear vision for this institution and what its mission would be has grown with each passing year.” He continued, “My testimony of the rising generation in the Church has also grown tremendously. Both here on campus and in my travels throughout the Pacific Hemisphere, I have seen and been inspired by great souls. Likewise, seeing and working with students at the temple has been a delight.
“I have witnessed the arrival of ‘first generation’ students from a variety of countries as the Church continues to expand into one country after another and who have gone home to be leaders. I knew the first generation of students from Singapore and Malaysia, and greeted the first pioneer students from Kiribati, Tuvalu, Vietnam, Mongolia, Vanuatu and Mainland China, to name a few. To see their first tentative steps as new students without a ‘club’ or ‘chapter’ yet on campus to soften their landing, and their subsequent growth and leadership has been inspiring.
“Thinking along these lines brings back a funny memory … I remember when the first Kiribati students arrived,” he said with a laugh. “On their first ‘fieldtrip,’ they found themselves frozen at the bottom of the escalator at Windward Mall. We take it for granted, but stepping onto an escalator or moving sidewalk requires one crucial piece of knowledge … otherwise you find yourself flat on your back. If you approach it tentatively, you’re doomed.”
Marasco-Mapu said working on campus has made her stronger and closer to Heavenly Father, and being around her coworkers has increased her testimony of the gospel.
Falevia said her former boss Kaluhiokalani “was a great exemplar, like our elder brother, Jesus Christ. He doesn’t know it, but he played a great part in my life. My testimony has grown because of that man.” She urged members of the BYUH ohana to also “find an exemplar in your life” like she did. “Follow their good works and always try to help others,” she said.
Nihipali said her employment at BYUH “has strengthened my testimony by showing me that God is at the helm. He is at the helm in everything we do, whether it is on campus or off campus.” She said to be happy and successful, follow these simple rules: “Be prepared. Serve, serve, serve. No waste time, and take care of your business.”
James added, “I would like to pay homage to those on the faculty and staff who gave ‘the last full measure of devotion.’ We have had over the years a number of individuals who contributed to the institution right up to their dying day or to the point where they could no longer stand upright because of the pain.
“One example was Ralph. He was one of the early labor missionaries who then took full-time employment working on our grounds. He was a man of limited physical and intellectual abilities; someone easy to dismiss or ignore. I’m glad I got to know him. He was a faithful worker, day after day, year after year, making sure our McKay courtyard areas were kept clean and trimmed. I am reminded of the scripture, ‘Well done thou good and faithful servant …’ His reward is sure. His brother came from the mainland to speak at the funeral and expressed his deep gratitude to the university and to all who had befriended him. He never married, but had an ohana nevertheless.”
Also talking about the devotion of those who have worked at the university over the years, Bruner says in his video, when he was going to school as undergraduate, there were about 600 students. Owen Cook was the president of the university at that time and knew every student’s name. He had a picture of every student in his office and memorized their faces and names. “Nobody’s ever done that since. Nobody could do that since then, you know. That’s how close it was in those days.”
Bruner adds in the video while changes have happened during the years he worked and went to school here, he says the university is still small and he said he likes it that way. “You have a feeling you’re in a family here much more so than in other places.”
Writer: LeeAnn Lambert