Cecilia Soliz is a 21-year-old student from Fresno, California. She originally moved to Hawaiʻi to attend the University of Hawaiʻi, but she dropped out to attend Kapiʻolani Community College due to preferring lower tuition and smaller class sizes.

Her goal is to be a dentist, and she’s currently majoring in Biology for her prerequisites to get into dental school.

Soliz has wanted to be a dentist since she was 4 years old. She has a picture on the refrigerator back in California of a drawing she drew as a child of a dentist, as a response to the question of what she wanted to be when she grew up. Specifically, Soliz wishes to be an orthodontist.

“It’s always stood out to me,” said Soliz. “I love looking at people smiling and want to help them have a prettier, better smile.

She loves living in Hawaiʻi and enjoys the community here. Soliz wants to learn as much about the islands as she can while here in order to respect the people here.

“I want to give back to the community as much as I can,” said Soliz. “They’re accepting me, so I want to give back as much as I can.”

During her free time, she enjoys going to the beach, hanging out with her roommate, and playing Pokémon on her Nintendo Switch.