Aloha from the Hawai’i Spring Semester Students

group and drawing outside gathering
The group (+Abby) at Keahole

Written by Hawaii Semester Students, Kayla, Emma, Nick, and Jaidan

In the past two weeks we got to enjoy our last few moments as a group.

We have gotten the chance to work with a local native Hawaiian named Alohi. She talked about her Kalo restoration efforts. Emma and Kayla lead in the group in mini Olympic games which lasted 2 days. We also go to go to Hawai’i Volcano National Park and bowl at an old military camp bowling alley.

We stayed at one village which had beautiful sunsets and a great place for some of us to put our hammocks back up. On the 28th, we transitioned through Hilo and to our final location at a hostel! Best mattresses yet! We have had a lot of fun these past few days. Even though the Olympics died down we have watched many movies which lead to many many laughs. OOoo and they have hammocks there too which is a hit for our peeps.

Our Top Three Highlights of the Week: 

🌋 Hawai’i Volcano National Park hike

🍠 Getting to restore Taro that was destroyed by a diesel fuel leak

👋 Saying our final goodbyes at the airport

But transformation always comes with opportunities for growth: What were our main challenges this week? 

Tomorrow will be the day we all say “bye” to each other. After living together for 10 weeks, sharing memories, and going through the ups and downs it will be so difficult to part ways. Even though we have plans to hang out in the future, it’s sad to be leaving now.

In what ways have you grown since the start of the semester? 

Golly, we have grown soooo much. It hard to pinpoint just one thing because we have been in Hawaii now for 10 weeks. We cant speak for everyone but this program has been definitely been a great place for self growth.

This is Emma – and I know I cant speak for everyone but I have learned so much about myself and I am so thankful for that. It has been really refreshing to be here in Hawaii surrounded by plants and the ocean and just be able to revisit your morals, what you care about, and what you are passionate about.

Shout out fam, see you all soon!!! 👋 The Aloha Semester