By Juri Dagio | Staff Writer

Andrés Jojoa is a 26-year-old Marine Biology major who is from Belén, Colombia in South America. Jojoa was one of the 25 students who attended the grand opening of the International Cafe this semester at Kapi’olani Community College.

Jojoa lived in San Francisco, California for eight years before moving to Hawai’i a couple of months ago. Jojoa, who is a scuba enthusiast, chose to move to the island in hopes to study about coral reefs and their ecosystems.

“It’s like exploring other worlds,” he said. “In this world, there are many other worlds.”

Jojoa expressed a fascination with coral reefs. According to him, they are crucial to maintaining a healthy sea life for aquatic animals. It is his goal to preserve them.

“It’s always good to understand how life is happening in other places,” he said. “We can analyze how fishes and animals live, and by looking at multiple ecosystems, you can see what’s dying and what’s healthy.”

Jojoa dreams of going to places such as Japan, the Philippines, the Carribean, New Zealand, and the Red Sea to study the coral reef ecosystems there.

Since moving to O’ahu, he has enjoyed learning Japanese with fellow schoolmates at KCC. He had been wanting to fluently speak the language, and he was drawn to KCC for that reason.