KAILUA-KONA — Students of Hawaii Community College-Palamanui and their families celebrated their achievements Saturday when more than five dozen students received associate degrees. ADVERTISING KAILUA-KONA — Students of Hawaii Community College-Palamanui and their families celebrated their achievements Saturday when more
KAILUA-KONA — Students of Hawaii Community College-Palamanui and their families celebrated their achievements Saturday when more than five dozen students received associate degrees.
Among those graduating was Jason Roberson, a student who told his fellow graduates that two years ago, he never would have thought he’d be standing before a group of his peers at graduation.
Roberson, who graduated high school in California, spent 20 years in the construction industry, eventually bringing him to Kona in 2000.
“Once I thought I had it all figured out,” he said, “a loving wife, three beautiful children and a great career.”
But after a back injury ended his career, he said, he “really felt stuck.”
That led him to start classes at Palamanui in 2015, culminating in receiving his associate of arts degree in liberal arts and being selected to give the student address at the ceremony. Roberson was accepted to the University of Hawaii-West Oahu, where he will pursue a bachelor’s degree.
“Going back to school to study a profession is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he said. “And just like some of my classmates, I owe my success as a student to the support given to me by my family.”
That theme of perseverance, as well as finding and pursuing a passion, continued throughout the evening’s ceremony.
Commencement speaker Jamie Borromeo, a writer and entrepreneur, encouraged graduates to push through uncertainty and turn anxieties into action
By the age of 23, right out of college and determined to change the world, Borromeo said, she was leading the country’s largest coalition of Asian-American and Pacific Islander business organizations. She also started a contracting firm to connect small businesses and the federal government and contributed her time to political causes.
“With this opportunity to be among the educated elite, it is your duty to do the best you can with this life,” she said, “to be of service to your island, to use your degree in service of others and to be of use to your fellow countrymen and women.”
Another graduate was Lei Arai, who received an academic certificate in Hawaii lifestyles and is a high school early college student.
Arai graduates next week from Ke Kula o Ehunuikaimalino and her work the past two years has earned her 19 credits for college.
“It’s really exciting, but it’s still nerve-wracking to go away to college,” she said.
Arai will attend Creighton University in Nebraska, where she plans to major in pre-pharmacy.
“I definitely focus on Hawaiian studies and I hope to kind of bring awareness to Hawaii because we’re often forgotten or overlooked,” she said. “But I just want to bring awareness to over in Nebraska.”
Email Cameron Miculka at cmiculka@westhawaiitoday.com.
