‘We worked hard to earn this’

Not settling for the mediocre or the bare minimum was the message Kapaa High School graduates heard Friday night during their graduation ceremony at the Bryan J. Baptiste Sports Complex.

About 500 people gathered to watch the Class of 2018 graduate. There were 273 students, earning just under $3 million in grants and scholarships.

“We had a dream, but to get to this dream it took courage, discipline, sweat and determination and persistence. We worked hard to earn this. We did what we had to do to get where we are today and hard work works,” said Larissa Tsai, class valedictorian.

In her success, Tsai said she has had many failures.

“Don’t be afraid to take a chance and strive for more than what is required,” she said in her address.

“Strive for progress. Don’t confuse work for progress, because you can run all day in place but not move anywhere.”

The surest way to make your dreams come true is to live them, she said, and to have the courage to believe you can succeed and to do it with confidence, discipline and consistency.

“It is not the mountains we conquer, but ourselves. We may have started this journey together, but this is where we part,” Tsai said.

One of the life skills Colby Barretto, 18, learned at the school was not to care about everything that’s said about you, but rather, focus on your family and friends.

The first of her siblings to graduate from high school, Barretto said it was a proud moment.

“If you set your heart on something, then you can do it,” said Barretto, who’ll be attending Kauai Community College in the fall.

For Elijah Kaauwai, graduation is a milestone.

“It means everything. I made it this far and I’m proud of everything and everyone,” he said.

High school, he said, taught him to never to give up.

“I’m super-excited to graduate. I’ve waited my whole life for this,” said Princess Mones, who was graduating with honors. “I feel really accomplished.”

One thing she said she learned at Kapaa High School was to try your hardest and to make the best of the past four years.

“I’m definitely making my parents proud. They wanted me to be honors in something and I made summa cum laude,” she said.

For one student, graduating from high school was bittersweet.

“I’m excited, kind of nervous to be entering the real world. I’m not ready to be finishing school,” said Rex Oshiro.

Over the past four years, Principal Daniel Hamada said he’s gotten to know the students well.

“I’ve gotten to know and appreciate all of your individual personalities,” he told the graduates.

“I’ve appreciated how honest you were in how we could improve our school, but the one thing I’m going to miss is this class was not shy. You’re a great bunch of guys.”

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Bethany Freudenthal, Courts, Crime and County reporter, can be reached at 652-7891 bfreudenthal@thegardenisland.com