Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 8, 1 August 2013 — Words of wisdom for Hāna graduates [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Words of wisdom for Hāna graduates

Trustee's note: Maheaīani Wendt, a poet, writer andformer Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. executive director, gave a eommencement speech at Hāna High School in May. Here is an excerpt. Promoting peaee in the world today is the greatest, most important work we ean undertake. That work begins within eaeh one of us. It begins with you. It begins by not wasting the gift of your life. It begins by recognizing that your life is sacred, and it is your sacred obligation, to make the most of it. Eaeh one of you is unique. Eaeh one of you is like no other being on this earth. Eaeh of you has something special to give the world that is a gift like no other. And only you ean know what that gift is. Truly knowing what that gift is may be the most difficult work, but onee you discover it, it will be the source of your greatest joy. It will be a source of strength in all that you do. And because it brings joy, the work that follows will not seem like work. Work is not hard when you are filled with joy and have a song in your heart. Your special gift may be a gift of music. It may be a gift of

storytelling. It may be a gift of artistry, of mathematics, of working with your hands, of building things, of growing things. Whatever Akua has bestowed as His gift to you, it is your sacred duty to bring it into the light, to develop it to the utmost of your ability. When you take this sacred gift and develop it to the utmost of your ability, then you will find true peaee within yourself. It is your greatest work. It is not selfish to do this for yourself, for only when we have peaee within ourselves ean we truly make peaee with others. It is how we find the light within us and what makes us stand tall. When you are at peaee with yourself, you are a sharing, caring human being. You have the confidence to humhle yourself and serve others. You heeome a person who seeks harmony and halanee in the world. You are happy in life and continue the legacy of your kūpuna.

It is not my job here today to tell you to go to college, unless that is your greatest desire. Neither am I here to urge you to culinary school, or to heeome a journeyman carpenter, or to join the military, or to heeome a poliee officer, or a wrestler, or to just stay home here in Hāna and be the best family member that you ean be. Who you are, what gift you ean offer up, only you ean know. Do not cheat yourself by being

half-hearted about this - whatever you do, go all the way, give it everything you have. I promise you if you do that, that is where your greatest joy and happiness will be. And as you go forth on life's great journey, remember that everything you experience, good or bad, teaches you something. It is a lesson. Whatever obstacles you encounter, whenever you fall down, learn from it, wash off the lepo and get going ! There is a wise old saying that your enemy is your greatest teacher. Learn from your enemies. Be grateful for his lessons. Learn from them. And move on. Here is another one of my favorite quotes from the Rev. Martin Luther King. He said: "Everybody ean be great ... because anybody ean serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." 8/48 ■

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Haunani Apnlinna, MSW Trustee, At-large

Happy graduates from Hāna High School in Maui. - Courtesy: Kaualani Woessner