Raphaela Che didn’t tell anyone that her life was “falling apart,” but when the 4.0 Kapi‘olani Community College student struggled with her classes, a professor sat down with her to discuss her situation. The professor led her immediately to the office of Kapi‘olani’s Single Parents Program, and “from that moment, I got the help I needed, and things were never the same,” she says. “I give them credit for holding me together.”
Scholarships were the fuel behind her journey and the foundation for her educational pursuits at UH Mānoa, where she works on bachelor’s degrees in nursing and molecular biology. She says the scholarships are “the motivation I need. I don’t want them to stop believing in me; I want them to know their support is well used. I can’t wait to graduate because it will be the biggest thank-you. I’m going to graduate. I’m going to make them proud.”
