Making new friends is a priority for BYU–Hawaii students. Eleven students were interviewed in the Aloha Center on Aug. 4 and six said gaining new friends was on the top of their list.
Madelyn Giron, a freshman majoring in biology originally from the Dominican Republic, said, “I’m looking forward to meeting people and making new friends. I’ve always loved and lived by a variety of cultures.” Giron hopes to become a nurse anesthetist, get married “whenever that happens,” and “once my kids are grown up, I will go back and become an anesthesiologist.”
Anna Hudson, a junior studying social work from Washington, said, “I am a transfer student, so here is pretty different compared to other universities. I am looking forward to getting to know the school, various cultures and environment.” Hudson said her sister is a BYU–Hawaii women’s softball coach and is happy that they can support each other here.
A junior majoring in English from Salt Lake City, Utah, Rachel Reed said she too is looking forward to getting to know more people and also learning new things.
With the same goals as Reed, Kailia Ieremia, a sophomore in social work from Highland, Utah, said, “I’m looking forward to developing my talents. I just got hired as a dancer at PCC and I’ve been looking forward to it for a while.” She continued, “I’m looking forward to getting to know new people and serving them and loving them.”
Joon Kim, a sophomore in finance from South Korea, commented on learning new things and doing well in school. Kim said, “The challenge of maintaining good grades throughout the semester should be pretty interesting." Kim added, “Meeting new classmates is always exciting because BYU-Hawaii has so many people from so many different places.”
Jose Samuel Peralta, a junior majoring in accounting from the Philippines, said, “I am looking forward to learning about SAP.” SAP is “a German multinational software corporation that makes enterprise software to manage business operations and customer relations,” said Dean of the College of Business, Computing & Government James Lee, who offers a training course to students each summer to help them pass the SAP exam and gain the highly regarded certification on the software. Peralta said, “I need that knowledge to get a job and provide for myself and my family.”
Making new friends and improving her English skills were what Chloe (Jinyong) Jung, a freshman majoring in music from South Korea, said, “I want to make new friends. If I make a friend from another country, I think I can learn English well and learn about new cultures.”
Increasing her English skills was also mentioned by Coco Qi, a freshman majoring in TESOL from China, said, “I hope to improve my academic English. … I am planning to major in TESOL so I want to have better English skills. Also, I want to have a date as soon as possible."
Commenting on the single scene at BYUH, Cecilia Fisk, a senior majoring in psychology from Utah, said, “I’m excited for all the new guys at school this semester. Just kidding. I have a boyfriend.”
Two students who were interviewed talked about the unique mix of spiritual and academic learning here at BYUH.
Jana McQueen, a freshman majoring in business management’s organizational behavior track from New Zealand, said she is excited to be immersed in a spiritual learning environment and be around good supporting groups. She said she wants to “use the Atonement to help me learn” in all her courses.
Brittany Liu, a junior majoring in intercultural peacebuilding from Utah, said she is looking forward to becoming independent and keeping her “standards high, even when I am away from home.” Liu said she was born in the Church and she loves the gospel of Jesus Christ. She said she choose the intercultural peacebuilding major because she said she wants to help people.