KAPAIA — Ryleigh Hernando, a Kaua‘i High School graduate, was named the recipient of the 2021 Kapaia Foundation scholarship of $1,000.
Hernando, also a recipient of the Kiwanis scholarship and others, will be utilizing the funds when she leaves Kaua‘i for Japan to attend Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University with not only the financial aid, but the spirit of the scholarships.
“It is an honor to receive the Kapaia Scholarship to further my education,” Hernando said in an essay needed to be eligible for the scholarship. “This Kapaia Scholarship offered me an opportunity to research my family roots. The information that I found was amazing, incredible and different, but yet the same — the difference being a different time, different era and different from the world I live in today,” she wrote.
“Though my ancestors are not physically here beside me, I feel their spiritual essence within me during these final months of my senior year in high school,” Hernando said. “I am humbled in knowing my educational goals will continue because of my ancestors’ strong beliefs in the significance of receiving an education beyond high school occurs simultaneously with the pursuit of happiness and making everything in life better.”
Hernando said Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Japan is closer to her roots in the Philippines. She hopes to interact with many cultures around the world in learning the fundamentals of business and return home with that knowledge to help the community.
“As my ancestors traveled many miles across the world, I too, will travel in pursuit of my educational dreams for a better tomorrow,” Hernando said.
The Kapaia Foundation Scholarship is presented “to recognize the dreams of our forefathers for the success of their descendants,” states the Kapaia Foundation website.
“We wish to instill in young people an appreciation for the rich history of the sugar-plantation era in Hawai‘i,” the website continues. “The sugar-plantation laborers’ work ethic set the foundation for success enjoyed by their children, grandchildren and generations thereafter.”
Larraine Moriguchi of the Kapaia Foundation said the full context of Hernando’s essay, including her research on her roots, will be published in the foundation’s next newsletter.
The Kapaia Foundation was born of efforts to restore the historic swinging bridge over the Kapaia Stream that was built in 1948 and closed in 2006 due to maintenance neglect. The foundation has grown to pursue other projects relating to the history of Kapaia Valley and the broader historical and cultural interests related to Kaua‘i during the sugar-plantation era.
Wow. Japan. I’ve never been to Japan. How’d you get accepted into a foreign country being Hawai’i born?
And when does this school start? I went to Kapa’a high school too. 1993-1996. Hanalei is where I was from.