PUHI — Albert Genovia was excited Monday about the first day of class for the spring semester at the Kauai Community College.
“You gotta learn,” Genovia said. “Things are always changing, and you need to evolve with all of the new things that are invading the island.”
Genovia is one of the 1,277 students in the unofficial first day census at the Puhi campus.
“We’re looking pretty good,” said Margaret Sanchez, KCC vice chancellor for student affairs. “The opening day census shows us at a 4.8 percent increase over the previous spring semester.”
Registration continues through Friday afternoon, with late registration still to come.
The KCC enrollment compares to the University of Hawaii Community College System that shows an overall decrease of 6.7 percent. Semester hours are down by 0.4 percent compared with the overall decrease of 8.6 percent for the Hawaii Community College System.
Sanchez attributes the KCC increase to the Early College program in the island’s high schools, and an increased outreach program.
“This is very exciting,” said John Constantino, a KCC counselor. “We have the Ho‘opili Hou student leadership program returning this year. The students get here on Jan. 24 where they will spend time at the Kauai Museum. They’re on campus all day, Jan. 25, and on Jan. 26, they’ll be bussed to the Kauai Habitat Eleele Iluna project where they will be building homes for the entire day.”
The visit by the Ho‘opili Hou program also coincides with the “Find Your Future” event where the senior class from Kauai High School will be spending the day on campus to discover the opportunities of colleges.
Christy Numazawa, a second-year, full-time KCC student, is studying for a business technology degree.
She said she started attending college to “try it out and see if she could make it.”
She found that she could.
“I’m also trying to earn a certificate in virtual office where you are able to do a lot of work from home,” she said.
Genovia mentioned another reason he was enjoying college.
“They have ulu, or breadfruit, in a box right outside of the classroom,” he said. “You just help yourself to what you need. And, they even tell you how to prepare them.”
