Author: Lexus Yamashiro

Keopuʻu Napolean-Ahn is wrapping up her first-year of taking prerequisite courses at KCC. The 18-year-old has goals of becoming a licensed practical nurse (LPN) and is hoping to fulfill this by getting into the Long Term Care Nurse Aide (CNA) and Practical Nursing (PRCN) program, which Napolean-Ahn said are considered the lowest programs to begin with on the nursing career ladder.

Napolean-Ahn’s decision in attending KCC was due to financial barriers and because of her belief that starting at a community college first rather than a university would result in more one-on-one support from those on campus. Napolean-Ahn does plan on transferring to UH Mānoa in the future and will determine if she will continue to pursue her nursing goals dependant upon how her experience turns out in the CNA and PRCN programs at KCC.

With some finals already handed out by professors on campus, Napolean-Ahn said that her finals so far are going well. She was delighted to see that she passed her finals for her Math 103, English 98 and English 100 class; she is now waiting to see her final grade for her History class.

Ana White is a third-year student majoring in Pastry Arts. White’s decision in making Pastry Arts her major resulted from an experience that she had while on a trip to Chicago three years ago. While spending the Thanksgiving weekend with a few friends in Chicago, she decided to go Black Friday shopping with them primarily to buy desserts for her family. White impulsively bought chocolate covered almonds during her shopping spree but was unsure who she would give it to later on.

Eventually, White and her friends stumbled upon a homeless man after they left the dessert shop. Feeling terrible for not having any money to give, White then remembered the chocolate covered almonds that she had bought, handing it to the homeless man as a gift. While her friends gave him money, he asked them to pass on his gratitude to White and that chocolate covered almonds were her favorite.

“That just made me, like, want to work with pastries because I was actually considering either going into culinary or something as I saw as more practical, so I almost didn’t come here for pastry arts,” White said. “After that [experience], that solidified my decision and I’m going to graduate [in Fall 2018].”

Octavia Boozier is a first-year student looking to get into the Physical Therapy Assistance (PTA) program at KCC. In 2008, she received a bachelor’s degree at Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, OH. Following this, Boozier enlisted in the Army and was stationed at Fort Stewart in Hinesville, GA for three years. It was through the Army that she met her husband, who is currently stationed on Oʻahu as Boozier attends school.

Boozier’s decision of her major was influenced by her time spent in the military. As a former Army medic, Boozier was constantly surrounded by doctors and enjoyed living a healthy lifestyle. Boozier is hopeful that she will be able to get into the PTA program to become a physical therapy assistant in the near future.