KAILUA-KONA — It was a first for a row of students looking around the corner at their future — and a first for a new campus.
Hawaii Community College — Palamanui graduated its inaugural cohort on Saturday. Nearly 70 graduates did the walk and 130 in total were eligible to participate in the commencement ceremony.
Students earned associates degrees, certificates and some even earned a few advanced degrees through online learning.
Surrounded by her three kids, husband, and a proud, tearful mother, Sarah Chase of Kailua-Kona celebrated a huge milestone — an associate of science degree in nursing.
“We’re the first nursing class on this side to keep all 10 students,” Chase said.
She plans to begin courses for a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Hawaii at Hilo next spring.
Students all across the compact new campus above the Kona International Airport were celebrating similar achievements in culinary arts, business, tourism, Hawaiian studies and other fields.
This past academic year was a 75th anniversary for Hawaii Community College — a first year for Palamanui, which hustled last summer to get its facility moved over from leased space in Kealakekua in time to open in August.
Some 995 degrees and certificates were awarded between the island’s two Hawaii Community College campuses. Hilo’s commencement was held Friday.
Kelia Moreno earned an academic subject certificate in Hawaiian lifestyles. Moreno moved to Kona after growing up in Las Vegas.
“It was a big change,” she said. “I wanted to really embrace my culture and learn everything I could.”
Moreno said she will continue to take more courses and advance in any way she can while staying in Kona. She has a dream to one day starting her own naturopathic clinic and traveling to help bring wellness to indigenous people around the world.
The dream gets to the idea that keynote speaker Matthew Lynch said is foundational — service.
“Always be curious, never stop learning, and step into service,” Lynch, the first coordinator of the Sustainability Program for the university system, offered as guiding principals to the graduates and the crowd of some 500 who turned out to wish them well.
“Don’t take a job for what you can earn, but what you can learn from it,” he advised.
Riley Crawford, who grew up in South Kona near Milolii, was excited about the momentum he was building with his associate degree in liberal arts. He wants to go on to UH Hilo next semester and dig into as many science courses as he can.
“I want to give back to what helped make me what I am now,” he said. “Education can lead to anything. Everyone I respect has some kind of education; they went to college or had a trade or some level of learning.”
Palamanui’s current enrollment is 350 students, and Hawaii Community College — Palamanui officials hope to increase that number this fall.
“We’ve been working hard over the past year to make people aware of the new campus and our offerings and will continue to do so this summer,” HCC spokesman Thatcher Moats said. “We have a lot to offer and encourage people to apply as soon as possible so they have plenty of time to complete the enrollment process. We will be hosting an express admissions Day on June 18 from 9 am to 1 p.m., which is a great way for people to enroll.”
Student speaker Ian Shortridge said it would have been easy to leave halfway through his course of study. But something kept him at it. A member of the local chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society, Shortridge completed an associate degree in liberal arts last spring and on Saturday was celebrating the completion of his associate degree in Hawaiian studies.
“The greatest search in life is the search for acceptance, and that is what I have found here,” he said.
The Konawaena High School graduate will attend the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he plans to study secondary education and teach history either at the middle or high school level.