Author: Jazmyne Pennington

Laʻa Aliʻifua is a second year student attending KCC majoring in Engineering. From Waimānalo, HI, the 19 year old entered KCC as a 2016 Lunalilo Scholar with the intention of studying in the hospitality industry to become a flight attendant. However, during the summer of this year, Aliʻifua was in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) Summer Bridge Program, which lead him to change his major to engineering. The summer bridge program taught him about water conservation through activities involving the ʻāina, which have brought him closer to his roots as a Hawaiian. With a new goal in mind, Aliʻifua hopes to become a mechanical engineer in either airplane design or building, and plans to transfer to a university possibly in Utah, University of Las Vegas (UNLV), or to UH Mānoa within two years.