Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 33, Number 2, 1 February 2016 — OHA offers $500,000 in scholarships [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA offers $500,000 in scholarships

ByTreenaShapiro The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has launched two scholarship programs to provide $500,000 in financial assistance to Native Hawaiians pursuing college degrees. In addition to the OHA Higher Education Scholarship for Native Hawaiian students at accredited two- and four-year schools, OHA has partnered with the University of Hawai'i to encourage more scholarship recipients to pursue higher education, as well as enter science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields within the UH system. Josh Ka'akua, director of the Native Hawaiian Science and Engineering Mentorship Programat UH, points out that many current students will use what they leam in college to

help find solutions to STEM issues like land use and global climate change in the future. "Hawaiians were excellent scientists by necessity and observation," but today few enter fields like environmental science, astronomy and marine biology, Ka'akua notes in a video interview. "There's a big gap when Native Hawaiians are not at the table for policy decisions. These are the decisions that affect our world." The UH scholarships aren't limited only to STEM students, however. "We certainly need more teachers and more lawyers and more students studying the Hawaiian language. That's important," Ka'akua says. For students attending schools outside of the UH system, there's the OHA Higher Education Scholarship, administered by the Hawai'i Community Foundation. This scholarship is for Native Hawai-

ians enrolled in accredited two- and four-year colleges and who have at least a 2.0 grade point average for undergraduate students and a 3.0 or higher for graduate students.

"The scholarship money that we award represents our commitment to helping strengthen the future path of Native Hawaiian students," says OHA Chairperson Robert K. Lindsey, Jr., "It is also our contribution to their hope for a life where they ean support a family and develop abilities they need for higher-skilled jobs." "Education is a great way for our Native Hawaiian students to uplift themselves and pursue higher-pay-ing careers," says Kamana'opono Crabbe, Ka Pouhana, CEO of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, who was the first person in his family to get a doctorate degree. "I was able to get where I am today thanks to my education and am able to use that background to bring about positive change for our community." Thomas Pali, 22, an information and computer science major at UHMānoa, received scholarships from OHA in 2013 and 2014. Without

them, he says he would have needed to take out loans. Pali graduates in May, and he's already been offered a full-time job in computer programming and data analysis. "I help manage the healthcare data for small Pacific Island nations," Pali says. "Through this job, I am able to gain experience that will allow me to be eeonomically self-sufficient in the future by managing data for agencies that serve Native Hawaiians." The scholarship application has several parts and ean be tedious, Pali notes, but he recommends that other Native Hawaiians put in the time to apply. "Plan, take your time and don't give up," he recommends. "Read instructions carefully." To apply, visit oha.org/scholar ships for links to the scholarship programs. Applying for these scholarships could also make additional funds from other scholarship programs available for students. Josh Ka'akua's video interview ean be watched at https://vimeo. eom/150967793. ■

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Josh Ka'akua, director of the Native Hawaiian Science and Engineering Mentorship Program. - 1 /ideo still: James Hall