Kai Phung, the summa cum laude Spring 2021 Graduation speaker, said something he couldn’t include in his speech is the picture that inspired it.
He said Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, a Hawaiian singer who sang “Somewhere over the Rainbow,” had an album in 1993 called “Facing Future.” Despite the title of the album, the cover is of Kamakawiwo'ole with his back towards the camera.
Phung said in one of his Hawaiian history classes, he was taught a Hawaiian proverb that he believes inspired the album cover. “We can only move into the future, by looking to the past.”
He elaborated, “As graduates, we are moving into the future, but we have to look back and reflect on our BYU–Hawaii experience.”
Ultimately, he said, “BYUH is my dream. I would love to be a professor here because the mission of this University is to educate people to become leaders in other countries. That's beautiful. I don't know if many other universities have that.”
Finding inspiration
Kai Phung, a senior from Ko'olauloa majoring in history education, said he received an email asking him to come to Academic Vice President John Bell’s office. He said he was told by the people at the office to not worry because he is not in trouble, which he joked made him “feel a little better at least.” Meeting with Bell was to ask him to be the student graduation speaker.
He said he asked Bell what he should aim for in his speech. “I specifically asked if it should be more of a counsel and advising speech or should it be more of a reflection. Bell said it can be both.” His conversation with Bell is where he said he came up with a theme for his talk.
“I think at first, the assignment was really daunting and scary,” he commented. Phung said he felt better after meeting with Bell because he gave him a lot of helpful directions, such as giving him example speeches. The week he received the call was also fast Sunday, so he fasted about it, which he said made him feel a lot better.
During his fast, he said parts of his talk started to come to his mind. “It was a bunch of experiences I had at BYUH, which were really precious to me, [such as] things which helped me grow my character, grow my education and grow my spirituality.” He said he wrote down experiences like religion classes, working in the temple and receiving help from professors.
He said he realized “reflecting on these experiences helped me see what I should do as I move forward after graduation and how I can keep growing myself spiritually, culturally and academically.”
A sincere student
Kai Phung said his No. 1 inspiration is his wife, Cari Phung. “My wife is a really good example to me of a person who doesn't learn for grades. She learns for learning, and I think it's something I didn't do when I first came to BYUH.”
He explained he started to tell other students to “soak up all the knowledge and experiences” they can while at BYUH.
“Sometimes I think we focus so much on grades. … What are we actually learning? How are we changing as a person? What do we remember from our classes?”
During his anthropology class, he said he learned about topics such as culture and activism. He had a special experience applying what he was learning to the windmills being built in Kahuku by standing up for what he believes in.
“I graduated from Kahuku and I feel like the community helped raise me. … The community there in Kahuku was almost completely united in saying, ‘No, we don't want the windmills,’ and so I supported that.” He said he went to one of the protests, Ku Kia’i Kahuku, with his father because they felt the need to stand up for the community.
Rena Phung, Kai Phung’s mother, said she and her husband are very proud of Kai Phung because he is their first college graduate. “He's a very sincere student. ... He's not just doing the work to get the grade. He actually cares about what he's learning.”
A man of God
Kai Phung said he sees doing virtual classes last year as a blessing because his daughter was born last July and he and his wife would switch taking care of her. “It was so much easier [being at home] than having to be on campus because we could be relaxed.”
They were staying in Arizona at the time and his wife's family also helped take care of their baby when both of them had classes or were working, he explained.
He said in Hawaii, they live near his parents. “My mom and dad helped a lot with the baby, so that's been a blessing,” he said. “Now my wife and I will both be finished with school it'll be easier for us to take care of the baby.”
Rena Phung said, “He's pretty much a perfect father ... I've never seen him get upset. He's always calm. As soon as he comes home, he takes the baby to let his wife have a rest. He's been like this since he was about 10. He's very mindful of other people. He's aware of their needs and he always wants to help.”
Cari Phung, a BYUH alumna, said she is excited for her husband to participate in the unique experience of giving the student address at graduation.
She said she thinks one of the reasons he was chosen is he's very dependable and reliable. “If someone gives him a job or a task, he's going to try his best and do all he can to do a good job.”
She described her husband as “very considerate” because “he always is thinking of other people.” She explained he shows his humility by not showing off or bragging about his talents. She said when he first met him, he told her he liked to surf, but she found out from Phung’s loved ones just how talented he is at surfing.
“It's never about him. … He's very humble about things, and he's very private and shy about a lot of his talents that he has.”
She said she admires her husband’s strong connection with God. It stands out to her when he prays easily for small things she didn’t even think to pray for. “It is so easy for him to pray to God, to rely on God.”
Her husband’s relationship with God, she shared, makes her want to have a stronger relationship with God.
She said Kai Phung is a “very fun father” because he likes to play with and read books to their daughter. “He's taken her surfing a couple times, which scares me, but he enjoys it and she loves the water. She's definitely a swimmer like her dad,” she said.
Isaiah Walker, newly appointed academic vice president, was Kai Phung’s professor and saw him grow up in the community. He said he has a son the same age as Kai Phung. He said, “I used to run a surf club for kids. That's when I first started interacting with him.”
Walker said they would travel to the outer islands in the surfing club and he always noticed how respectful Kai Phung was of other cultures and people. “He’s always been a very polite and courteous, very well-behaved young man,” he shared. He said he remembers seeing Kai Phung being very polite at youth dances because he always invited different young women to dance.
Make do with what you got
Kai Phung said in Fall 2020 he was supposed to start an internship for education students that is a participation practicum to get his teaching license. Traditionally, the experience included watching a teacher, getting to know students and having a hands-on experience in the classroom three days per week.
However, because of the pandemic, he said it was completely online. “Instead, we watched videos and did readings, which was still good.”
Because of the experience, he said when he started student teaching in-person, he had to adjust by focusing on noticing the students. “I learned getting to know the students is important,” he explained, emphasizing although he didn’t get to spend time with students during his internship, he could now.
“I learned you can make do with what you got. Even though I didn't get the first part [of the internship], it still turned out okay.”
Following his dreams
Kai Phung said he has been working at Waialua Intermediate teaching Hawaiian and Pacific Island history. Next year, he said he will teach 8th grade U.S. history at Highlands Intermediate School.
He said he got hired there before graduation and was able to see his classroom and meet the administrators. “My wife and I will probably move closer over there, We’re thinking of Mililani,” he added.
He said while teaching there, he hopes to earn a master’s in education from the University of Hawaii and then get a doctorate from a West Coast university, such as one in California, Utah or Arizona. “After I get a PhD, I would love to come back here to BYUH and teach.”
Before his mission to Vietnam, he attended BYUH for a short time where he studied business management, he said.
During his mission, he taught free English classes every week besides preaching the message of Jesus Christ, he shared. One of the factors that helped him in discovering his passion for teaching, was doing both things.
His wife served her mission in Korea, so he said they have ties to Vietnam, Korea and Hawaii. “It makes us want to be a part of this community because it gives back to those areas.” He said there are currently only about eight Vietnamese students at BYUH, and he would love to see that number grow.
“I love BYU–Hawaii. I love this place, this faculty and the students. I think I would recommend this place to anybody,” he added.
Rena Phung said she is proud of her son for picking the profession he did. Before his mission, she said he was trying to decide between going into business or education. She said he learned more about himself while serving in Vietnam. She said he “realized his personality wasn't going to be very good at being a ruthless businessman. I just admire he chose education because he wants to help people.”