The Scholarship Motivated Me

I received the Helen Hites Scholarship for Student Success twice. The first time, I cried for two days, like I was being blessed. I wanted immediately to reach out and thank the donor.

Helen Hites and I were both single moms; our children were both in preschool. I wanted to make a life for me and my daughter, but I had no education and no work history, and I knew I needed to do something. Helen had gone back to school, and I thought if she could do it, maybe I could do it too.

I was at Helen’s graduation when she was the valedictorian. When she passed away, I decided that in memory of her, I would join Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society where she had been president. I told everyone, when I was still taking sub-100 classes like English 21 and 22, I was going to be valedictorian.

At first, my biggest obstacles were study habits and my low self-esteem. The students are so young there, and I didn’t think I knew anything. All my insecurities made it difficult, so I just got into the habit of studying extra hard. I studied six to nine hours a night because I needed to learn the material, and sometimes reading things was difficult.

Every time I had a hard semester, I got the motivation to go on because I received a scholarship and I’d be so grateful! Helen’s scholarship helped me with financial burdens, but she inspired me most because of who she was. She was doing it: single mom, going to school, getting good grades. I knew it was possible. I can do it because I watched her do it.

My advice for anyone walking my path is to put in the work. Never give up. Believe in yourself. In English 21-22, we had to memorize words and definitions. “I know nothing,” I said. “My education stopped in ninth grade.”  I got index cards, and I just studied them over and over and over. That’s how I built my study habits, and later, when I was taking other classes, after my mommy duties, I would sit there and study no matter what, and it became a habit.

Today, I’m in my second semester at UH Mānoa in the human development and family studies program. I just started in June; I had to drop down to half time again because of my new job. I don’t want to stop my education, so I have to do what I have to do for now.

I work for the Hawaii Health & Harm Reduction Center, doing homeless outreach. I connect homeless people to housing, or I take them to a treatment center. Two weeks ago, we put 17 people into shelters.

I love this work. I would like to start my own nonprofit organization someday, working with homeless women and children to get them off the street. I would love to get my Ph.D.

When Kapi‘olani CC asked me to deliver the valedictorian’s speech for commencement last May, I knew I had to do it.  For me and for my family, but for Helen too, to say, “Hey, Helen. I did it.”

By Tina Oh, Kapi‘olani Community College 2018 valedictorian