KAILUA-KONA — Students of Hawaii Community College — Palamanui and their families celebrated their achievements on Saturday when more than five dozen students received associate degrees.
Many other students at the ceremony received degrees granted by other institutions such as the University of Hawaii at Manoa and the University of Hawaii – West Oahu.
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 in arts degree in liberal arts on Saturday and being selected to give the student address at the ceremony. Roberson has been 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 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 running the country’s largest coalition of Asian American and Pacific Islander business organizations. She had also started a contracting firm to connect small businesses and the federal government and contributed her time to political causes.
Her work connected her with celebrities, enabled her to travel the world and helped her build a network of leaders in businesses and communities.
“But as I started to deeply reflect on whether these things were adding meaning to my life,” she said, “I realized that it wasn’t money, it wasn’t prestige and it wasn’t the accolades that were going to help change the world necessarily.”
Ultimately, she said, she realized that change needed to start with “changing what was inside of me.”
And while making that change is hard, she encouraged graduates to meet the responsibility of using the education they’ve received, especially given that education can be so out of reach for many across the world.
“With this opportunity to 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.”
And while many students at Saturday’s ceremony were preparing to start their careers in the community, many others were celebrating the day as a stepping stone to the future of their education.
Among them was Lei Arai, who received an academic certificate in Hawaii Life Styles and a high school early college student.
Arai is graduating next week from Ke Kula o Ehunuikaimalino and her work over 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 be attending 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.”