The Molokai Times
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
By Sen. J. Kalani English
At the end of each school year, it has become my custom to attend the graduation ceremonies of Molokai High School, to witness the transition of these young adults into the next phase of their lives. Each time, the event takes me back to my own graduation, receding farther and farther into the past, and how, in retrospect, I really knew so much less than I thought I did, and how many surprises the future held.
Yet as I speak with today's graduates, I cannot help but to come away impressed by their maturity. Their view of the world is fuller, richer, and better informed. Their appreciation of the complex questions facing their island, our state and our world is far deeper than my own thoughts at their age. Their willingness to confront the challenges ahead much more rooted in reality.
Molokai High School is by no means the largest or richest public school in Hawai'i. Its students reflect the diversity and challenges of their island, the power of growing up in a close, tight-knit community. Their families confront the ongoing debate between development and subsistence living. They experience the pressures that followed the closure of Molokai Ranch and the loss of jobs. They feel first-hand the desire to remain on Molokai, and the opportunities that call from off the island.
Within this year's graduating class is a smaller group that is very close to my heart: those students that have chosen to enroll in the Hawaiian Immersion Program, and dedicate themselves to preserving our language and culture. They are every bit as aware, forthright, and involved as their classmates, having mastered the various subjects that form the core of a solid education, while making the extra effort to do so in the Hawaiian language. While I was not educated in an immersion program, my own experience tells me that when our culture is a part of your everyday campus life, it becomes something that you can never leave behind.
In light of their dedication and commitment, I make a special effort to listen to them, and carefully consider their views and opinions. Grounded in the culture of our ancestors but looking firmly toward the future, they have a unique and powerful view of what Molokai can and should become. It comes as no shock that their views are sometimes very different from my own, and are very often at odds with those of other adults on the island and across the state.
Still, I am convinced that time will prove their views correct. For reasons I cannot describe, my instincts tell me that they see things that escape many of us, and that those insights will serve them and our future well. Just as kalo reflects the unique characteristics of the lo'i in which it was nourished, these students carry the unique imprint of Molokai. Their spirit and vision will feed our future.
I stand steadfast in my belief that Molokai will build its own destiny, and the graduates of Molokai High School will help form its foundation.
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