While having a multicultural university experience on the sunny shores of Hawaii is one reason people said they came to BYU-Hawaii, 12 students shared deeper, individual stories of how they came to Laie on the second day of Fall Semester. Reasons included wanting to major in the university’s international cultural studies program, personal inspiration they needed to come to BYUH, the opportunity to study at a LDS Church school, a convert’s desire to learn more about the LDS Church, and more. The interviews were conducted by students in the Communications 211 Media Writing class.
BYUH was Filipino convert’s dream school
Elvin Laceda, a freshman in general biology from Pampanga, Philippines, said ever since he joined the LDS Church at age 11, he knew about the university. “So BYUH became my first option,” Laceda said, “became a dream.”
Somewhere along the way, he lost sight of that dream and started school in the Philippines. However, he said when “I lost my scholarship back home, I remembered my goal of coming here to BYUH. Kind of like it’s my destiny to be here.” He added, “destiny happened because of my choices.”
Getting to BYUH took effort, Laceda said. “My goal was to get into BYUH by myself. So I learned sign language and got a job. I also worked for the government, but that still wasn’t enough.” He ended up needing assistance to come to BYUH. “I was helped financially by one of the church leaders I met in my mission,” he said. Laceda said going to school here is helping him achieve his objectives. “One of my eternal goals is to gain excellent education and skills that I can use to serve my home country.”
Senior softball player is finishing up her degree as sports are phased out
Makaela Williamson, a senior ICS major from California, said receiving a scholarship to play for the women’s softball team was her main reason for coming to BYUH.
She also attributed much of her decision to Hawaii’s weather. She said, “I chose this school over Provo or Idaho because I don’t like the cold. I’m a California girl, and I love the beach and would love to spend more time at the beach than at the school.”
Williamson expressed her displeasure with the school’s decision to cut sports at the end of the 2016-17 academic year, but said she isn’t too heartbroken since she will be graduating before the program’s demise. While Williamson said she will get to enjoy the benefits of her scholarship for the remainder of her education, her younger sister, Taiana Williamson, who started as a freshman at BYUH this year, will not.
Williamson will be graduating in three semesters, which she said is one semester later than it could have been because she only decided on her major last year.
ICS major lures freshman from rainy Seattle to balmy Laie
Holly Lazelle, a freshman in cultural anthropology from Washington, said she knew since the eighth grade she wanted to study cultures and people around the world. Going to a LDS Church college was also in Lazelle’s plan, but she said she always pictured herself “in a big puffy coat” in college because she loves “Seattle-like weather” where it rains frequently and the temperature hovers in between 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, according to U.S. Climate Data website.
However, when it came time for her to apply to colleges, she said she applied to BYU-Idaho and BYUH. “I never thought I would get into Hawaii when I didn’t hear back from it right away,” she said. When she got accepted, Lazelle said all her plans changed. She said she was overjoyed to be accepted to BYUH because of its excellent international cultural studies programs. This made the choice between the BYUs a little easier, she said.
Lazelle did sacrifice her big coat for flip flops, but said she is liking the climate in Hawaii. “It has been a struggle, but worth it,” she said of her decision to come to BYUH, and added that the university experience has exceeded her expectations.
Freshman Prepares to serve LDS mission
Michael McFarland, a freshman in business from Riverside, Calif., said his first semester of college at BYUH will be his last for two years because he plans on serving a mission in the upcoming months.
This is McFarland’s first time in Hawaii, he said, and while he doesn’t know anyone yet but his sister, he said he is enjoying the peaceful, laid-back lifestyle Hawaii has to offer. In fact, he said the lifestyle in Hawaii is what led him to coming here in the first place. Plus, his father suggested he come here before his mission. McFarland said he hopes to get a feel for college during the semester and gain real-world experience that will be valuable to him as he enters the mission field.
He said he would like to go somewhere cold on his mission. While McFarland is studying business, he said he would like to pursue a career as a homicide detective. He was told by a friend that criminal justice degrees are a dime a dozen. If he does not succeed in finding a law enforcement career, McFarland added, he will at least have something good to fall back on with a business degree.
Sophomore Native American Scholar comes for culturally rich experience
Christian Secovy is a sophomore studying social work from Phoenix, Ariz., and is a member of the Navajo tribe attending BYUH through the Native American Scholar program. Secovy said she wants everyone to know, “My name is pronounced like Kristine, but I go by Cody.”
Before coming to Laie, Secovy played basketball for four years and went to high school in Oregon for her last two years. She not only received the chance to participate in the Native American Scholar program here but also was awarded a scholarship to Michigan State to play basketball. She said she choose BYUH over Michigan State because of her family. Growing up in a house with six sisters and one brother, she said her family encouraged her to go to BYUH to experience the culturally rich environment Laie has to offer.
Even though Secovy does not play basketball at BYUH, she said she may try out intramurals because she likes to try new things.
She said she is looking forward to this year at BYUH and is especially excited for her social welfare class. She said she chose to major in social work because “I’m interested in helping. I have met people who have been through a lot.”
Laie junior returns home from Provo
Anne McCarrey,a junior in political science and ICS from Laie, said she literally grew up on campus because her parents are pianists and music faculty at BYUH. During her senior year of high school, she said she attended concurrent classes at BYUH and earned college credit.
McCarrey just transferred back to BYUH from BYU in Provo. She said she made the decision to attend BYUH because she really missed the atmosphere and environment of the campus. “There was nothing wrong with the people at BYU, but I just love that here you can pass by strangers and they’re friendly. You can always expect a smile or a wave from someone,” she said.
McCarrey said she is starting her first semester here as a full-time student. This semester she wants to meet new people and make memories. “I’m looking forward to taking my mission prep class because I’m going to put my papers in when I turn 19 in November,” she added.
Freshman seeks opportunity to learn and improve language skills
Hannah Fullerton, a freshman in Pacific Island Studies from Arizona, said she came to BYUH even though most of her family went to BYU in Provo because Laie gave her a better opportunity to learn more languages and grow personally. “Overall, it fit every need I had and it was more laid -back than Provo,” she said.
Fullerton’s second language is Japanese because her mother served a mission in Japan and taught her Japanese at home since she was young. She also speaks Korean, Chinese and is learning Polynesian languages. In Laie, “I got to speak all these languages all in one week,” Fullerton said.
Over the years, she said she has made friends with people from other countries and started learning their languages.
Fullerton said in her junior year of high school, she met a Samoan guy and they ended up being the best of friends. She said she wants to learn to speak Samoan well and gain practical experience speaking other languages too. Fullerton said she is also looking forward to working at the Polynesian Cultural Center and understanding the stories and cultures there. Additionally, she has an interest in the Indian culture and just started learning Hindi last week.
Ultimately, Fullerton said she would like to become educated enough to become a travel writer in the future. Besides her interest in languages and cultures, she said she is an artist and loves to paint and draw tribal prints.
Fullerton’s LDS Church ancestors have connections to Laie and the Pacific as well. Her great great grandfather was one of the people who built the temple in Laie, she said, and his son was a mission president in Papeete, Tahiti, who spoke fluent Tahitian. He left behind journals and books in Tahitian, and Fullerton said she has been trying to translate them. Because language has changed so much between 1950 and today, it is impossible for her, she said. However, he wrote a language guide and Fullerton has been using that to learn Tahitian and translate her family history.
Samoan freshman seeks 4.0 GPA for family pride and tuition benefit Dalvin Kyle, a freshman majoring in biochemistry, said he came to BYUH from Samoa to start a new life for himself. “I wanted to be in a better environment than what I was in at the university in Samoa,” he said about his decision to come to Laie.
With all of the different religions and thinking in Samoa, Kyle said, it is easy to become distracted and swayed by the “winds of doctrine” talked about in Ephesians 4:14. He said he felt coming to a school where not only there were good moral standards but also correct gospel principles would be a better place for him to do his secular learning.
Now on campus, he said he is looking forward to “getting a good GPA and making my mother proud.” Kyle said he comes from a family where going on to receive additional education after high school is not common, and as the oldest of four siblings, he said he feels an obligation to perform well in school. Adding pressure to his life this semester, Kyle will be pursuing of a 4.0 GPA to reap the rewarded of earning free tuition at BYUH.
His advice to seniors in high school is to “pursue goals, study hard and have fun, but not too much fun.” Kyle said his grandfather, whom he looks up to, gave him wise counsel over the years including: “Don’t study hard. Study smart.”
California convert came to learn more about the church
Alexis Bowles, a junior in social work from Fresno, Calif., said she was in the process of joining the church when she decided to come to BYUH. She said she thinks “BYUH is a perfect place to learn more of the church’s morals and values.”
She got baptized on June 12, 2014, the summer before she came to BYUH. She said being here has been very different and confusing, especially the religion classes that have made her question a lot. However, she said she stayed and has learned a lot not only about secular learning but also spiritual topics. Throughout her stay here, she said she learned to love the people and the teachers and most specially the Aloha spirit. Bowles said while she has enjoyed the beauty of Hawaii through hikes and various activities, this semester she wants to focus on her career. “I want to figure out what to do after school,” she said.
Freshman bio-med major comes to Laie for U.S. and LDS college experience Falaseki Puta, a freshman majoring in bio-medicine from Tonga, said he came to BYUH because he wanted to go to college in the United States, BYUH is financially affordable, and it was an LDS university.
His parents helped him make the decision to come to BYUH, he said, telling him it “would be a great opportunity and it was not too expensive.”
Puta said he is looking forward to exploring Hawaii and getting straight As this semester.
Writer: Fall 2016 COMM 211 Media Writing Class