Ka'iulani Bento, a Native Hawaiian from the Big Island's Journey to USC

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TELL US ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND AND WHERE YOU GREW UP.

I was born in Hilo, Hawai’i, and raised in Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i. While I am from a small fishing town, I like to think that I grew up on both sides of the tracks.

After the 2008 Recession hit, my parents and I lost our home so we had to move to my Papa’s house, the Villages of La‘i‘ōpua Hawaiian Homelands, and during this time I got to live and experience first-hand what life was like without many things. As tsunami seasons approached, the ships stopped coming into the ports and we had to make ends meet with things like canned spam, canned corned beef hash, and canned corn.

During these seasons, I remember enjoying the simple things in life, like watching my baby cousins play street basketball outside. However, during these times I turned a blind eye to life’s hardships such as my cousins’ financial struggles. In between basketball games, my cousins would switch off slippers because their families could not afford to buy each of them basketball shoes. It is thanks to this era in my life that I am able to say my family are some of the few Native Hawaiians who made it.

We went from living in Hawaiian Homelands to living in an area code our people strive to work towards, Mauna Lani. Through my upbringing in different districts of Hawai’i Island, I learned how to handle life’s challenges.

Tell us about your educational experience.

Overall, I had a positive educational experience because I was fortunate enough to attend a prestigious high school on the Big Island, Hawai’i Preparatory Academy.

Attending this school was not only a privilege but an opportunity for me to get into a good college. Not only did my school provide me with counselors that ensured my college process ran smoothly, but I had multiple scheduled Zoom meetings set up for me to interact with college administrators from universities I wanted to attend.

While all of these opportunities provided me with the ability to access higher education, deep down, I knew I would be one of the only few who had this type of opportunity. I was both saddened and motivated when I came to terms with this fact because I wanted more for my people.

However, given that I was one of the few who got to leave my island, I knew I would make the most of every opportunity I was given.

Today, I am a rising sophomore at the University of Southern California. I am majoring in Business Administration with a minor in Legal Studies.

In the near future, I hope to return home to be a Guardian Ad Litem and or work in California for a law firm practicing International Law.

How is it navigating college as a first-generation college student?

As a first-generation college student, I felt lost at times and I was unsure of how to navigate my schooling at USC. I felt as if I couldn’t keep up with the fast-paced life of the mainland.

I remember Facetiming my Papa one day to ask for guidance and he told me in his thick Hawaiian pidgin accent, “Hell you alreadeh deah, just do the thing, our people voyaged the seas, you can easily surpass this class” (Papa Mike).

After that day I thought about the stories my Papa used to tell me about the Iwa bird. In Hawai’i, the Iwa bird is a sign of a coming storm, and I remember my Papa telling me to always hold my head high and walk into a classroom like the storm of our people. As a result of this principle, I believe it was easier for me to face college challenges because I knew I was an extension of our people.

With these thoughts in mind, I joined the Pacific Islanders Student Association (PISA), a Career Advancement Program (CAP), the Reformed University Fellowship Club (RUF), and the pre-law society. I am fortunate enough to sit here and write about these opportunities and challenges because of my parents. Aloha au iā ʻoe e ka makuahine a me ka makuakāne :)

What are your thoughts on Pasifika Representation?

While I have found a good amount of Polynesians at USC, we as a whole, only make up 0.29% of the school, and of this 0.29% only a fraction of them are Native Hawaiian.

Although I have a few Native Hawaiians alongside me, I am the only Native Hawaiian in USC’s undergraduate program from Hawai’i Island (the Big Island). While I have always known that O’ahu kids get more exposure than the outer islands, I did not come to terms with this knowledge until I was the only one in the room.

Oftentimes, I try to be optimistic because I started to think to myself “Hey, at least some of us are here” but as time went on, I realized there are so many kids on the islands who are brilliant, but they do not have the opportunity to stand where we are. Regarding my career, the number of Native Hawaiians attending the USC Gould School of Law remains constant at zero.

In the near future, I hope to change that statistic, I hope to pursue a law degree at the USC Gould School of Law or Stanford Law. Through this program, I hope to reach out to more kids not just from the islands but from every island across all of our Polynesian archipelagos.

Any achivements you would like to share?

I am humbled and honored to say I am a current Native Leadership Scholar at the University of Southern California, a Lau Mai’a Scholarship Recipient, a Hele Imua Intern, and a member of an NGO for Autistic Awareness of Children in Lebanon.

ANY TIPS FOR students applying to college?

I know this sounds a little cliche, given that we are people of the ocean, but my advice would be to “dive in”. Dive into every opportunity you can because you never know where saying yes could lead you.

Oftentimes, as islanders, I believe we were taught to remain humble and respectful which leads us to be quieter at times because we never want to feel like we are overstepping, overspeaking, or bragging about an accomplishment. However, this past year in the States has taught me that there is a difference between confidently speaking with Native humility and speaking with arrogance.

I’ve learned to speak up more about my college experiences because I want kids from the islands to believe there is a way out, and I want people on the outside to recognize our existence.

Any last words to students?

Just because you are the only one in the room, does not mean you do not deserve to be there. Push through and believe that you are capable of becoming what your ancestors dreamed you would be: a powerhouse within society.

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Ka'iulani Bento, a Native Hawaiian from the Big Island's Journey to USC