Keaukaha General Store wants to encourage young leaders to look at issues in the community and prompt them to think of ways to help and improve where they come from. In that effort, the store recently announced two scholarships awarded to Big Island high school seniors.
Kiara Cuyo is the recipient of the 2019 Holomua Scholarship of $1,000. She was awarded in recognition of her commitment to “holomua,” or to improve, progress and move forward.
Cuyo is a graduate of Kamehameha Schools Hawaii and will attend the University of Hawaii at Hilo to pursue a nursing degree. The essay question she answered asked her to describe the community she is from and what would be one positive change she would make to help her community. Cuyo wrote about the problem of bullying and how her dream is to help touch the hearts of others and improve self confidence with her future career as a dermatology nurse practitioner, opening a skin care clinic in Hilo.
She hopes to “reach out to those who struggle with being confident in their own skin. I believe that it is my kuleana, my responsibility to be an active member in my community and touch hearts so that we can holomua and move forward as a lahui.”
The $1,000 2019 Rachel Leilani Gangwes Scholarship, given in memory of Gangwes who was born with Edwards Syndrome and beat the odds to bless her family and community with 19 years of love and joy, is awarded by community partner and nonprofit Hawaii Rise Foundation. This year’s scholarship was given to Jolene Hirata, a graduate of Waiakea High School who will attend St. Martin’s University in Washington. She aspires to become a registered nurse. The essay question she answered asked her to describe someone who inspired her and how they helped her to be a better person.
Hirata shared about her time spent volunteering at the Hawaii Pacific Oncology Center and how the nurses there sparked a flame of inspiration in her life. She was most inspired, however, by a patient there who helped her realize that “even through rough patches in life, there is always a reason to fight back. When life builds obstacles for you, remember the person that inspired you, and use that as your motivation to conquer those things because there is always a brighter side to life even of you don’t think there is.”
Both of these young women were selected because of their outstanding academic achievements and passion for service to others in the community.