Hi, I’m Noelle Lo, a proud HIKI NŌ student from Maui High School’s Class of 2022.

Today, we continue with our profiles of outstanding HIKI NŌ alumni from the first decade of the program.

HIKI NŌ premiered on PBS Hawaiʻi in February of 2011, and that May the very first group of HIKI NŌ alumni graduated.

Here is the story of a successful young filmmaker from that very first class.

When we were in the story-finding process for our first HIKI NŌ package, we didn’t know what we wanted.

All we knew was, there were so many stories done on athletes or, you know, the school and, you know, it was oversaturated.

We wanted to try and like expand and do something different, so when we were story finding, we had a lot of great stories and different ideas, but when we heard of Jacob’s story, it really stood out because it’s something that not everyone experiences but I think on a certain level people connect to that.

It was a real-life story, which we thought was very impactful because it...we were to tell the story of a teen-age father and how he manages the situation.

The biggest struggle in my life was probably adapting to, you know, being a new father and having someone depend on me, you know, being, you know, a senior in high school and having to break away from my friends so I could get a full-time job to pay for my son and everything I need and to live here on my own.

When we were working with HIKI NŌ it was like taking it to the next level.

We were able to connect with industry professionals, and we were able to get notes from them and, you know, it was a lot of revisions.

It was more than I was used to, just getting back and forth comments on, you know, fix this, adjust this...and then, I think I even had to go back and re-shoot.

Do I want to quit my job?

Every day.

Every day.

But, do I want to quit being a father and a provider?

No.

It’s a great feeling.

It’s probably the best feeling I’ve ever had, you know?

The happiest day of my life was the day Sean was born, as my son, you know, so, it’s...it’s an amazing thing.

So, that was probably...that was actually definitely the greatest day of my life.

Growing up, I was always around media, my dad did commercial work and a lot of news stories for the Vietnamese community, so I was always around, you know, cameras and editing and all of that, so, I fell in love with media.

And then throughout the years, I also developed a passion for medicine, so, even in high school and through college, I studied to be a doctor.

But at the same time, I still continue my craft in media and, you know, at one point, it was really hard to juggle both the media side of things and then trying to, like, study for med school and all that.

So, I kind of had an epiphany moment and was like, “Hey, you know, you can’t do two things.

You just gotta pick one and focus on it.” So, in 2016, I did a show and we won an Emmy and I think after that I was just like, “Hey, this is what I’m gonna do.

This is what I’m in love with, and this is what I want to continue for the rest of my life.” So I, 2016, I went full on committed to owning my own business and, um, doing filmmaking and creative services full time.

So I don’t regret anything and it’s been amazing since.

You know, after we started the company, our work was noticed by a lot of people, so we were able to work with Hawaiian Airlines, First Hawaiian Bank, Servco, um, just to name a few.

So, I mean like, broken down to, like the most basic thing, I’m a storyteller at heart and being able to, you know, start in high school, broadcast journalism, I found my passion for storytelling and through, you know, these stories and these packages, and it’s nice to be able to do that at a, you know, as a career.

So, the first HIKI NŌ story that I recall participating in is called STEM Building.

I was still in middle school at Maui Waena Intermediate School and the story was about a long-awaited construction of a building.

The video kind of touches up on how the school is at capacity, there are about a thousand students that are just, um, in places where there shouldn’t be classrooms, and this building has been approved for about six years at the time of that recording and still it was not yet there.

I’m happy to say that we are on the precipice of actually starting this project.

At the time, the story kind of seemed a little one-sided because as a reporter who is also a student at the school, it was as if I was, I was just on the side of just, kind of more biased, of course, towards my school.

And because I did not have that much journalism experience, I really needed to just listen and learn and pay attention to what was being said to me, especially the feedback that was given by my teachers.

This is Yasha Ronquillo from Maui Waena Intermediate for HIKI NŌ.

I kind of knew that I wanted to continue with journalism and continue with making feature stories because I’m kind of influenced by my family, who have also been doing feature stories back in the Philippines.

My dad was a school newspaper writer who won competitions nationally and my grandma, as well, is a leader of the local school paper.

After I graduated from Maui Waena, I went ahead to Maui High School and I also joined the media program there led by Mr. Clint Gima.

And my first video that I worked on was “No Game Plan.” I was the editor for this piece and was the youngest in the group, and the story is about, um, Cecilia Goods-Fernandez, who is a former Wahine volleyball player at UH Mānoa and she has been battling with cancer.

So, even though there were a lot of drafts, a lot of changes that had to occur throughout the process of making this story, I think it was all well worth it.

Um, and the things that I’ve learned again, is just, just patience and being willing to listen.

Then, in my junior year, I was the producer, camera, editor, writer and reporter for this piece called, “I Am Able.” And it is a story about Keizhawn who has spina bifida, and because of that it affected his mobility, and he has to be on a wheelchair.

But that did not stop him from doing the things that he loved.

Even with his disability, the support Keizhawn has from his family, paired up with his cheerful attitude, has enabled him to pursue his numerous involvements, proving that he definitely is able.

Yeah, at the time I didn’t know this was the culminating project, but it eventually became the story that was kind of the highlight of my high school career and it was an honor to share this story.

But coordinating with the keys is not the only worry Keizhawn has to create that perfect piece.

In my senior year of high school, I was involved in a HIKI NŌ story called “Aloha Kettle Corn,” and this was my last HIKI NŌ story of my high school career, and at that time, because I’ve already made all of these other videos, at that time, my teacher, Mr. Clint Gima, just told me to go hands-off for this project.

So, even though I was involved in it, um, he told me to just be a mentor to my teammates.

We kind of wanted to share to the next, the next students who will be the next HIKI NŌ story makers.

So, I believe that’s the standpoint that he was coming from, is just being able to pass on this knowledge and training our new students.

After graduation, he gave me the opportunity to teach at Maui High School, so it kind of worked out because I did choose to stay on Maui for college.

So even though I was studying in college, I could still go to work at Maui High School, and eventually I became a paraprofessional educator for Maui High and I was helping out in the Arts and Communication Department mainly in the digital media production.

So, I helped out with future students for their own HIKI NŌ stories.

So, going from a HIKI NŌ student to a HIKI NŌ teacher was definitely a unique experience.

I don't think a lot of people are able to say that.

Um, and again, I’m just really grateful for this opportunity and again, there is that aspect of just passing on the knowledge to future storytellers.

So, it’s a really fulfilling job and I’m really excited.

I remember my teacher, Mrs. Murakami, telling us about this opportunity to host HIKI NŌ, and I remember me and my classmates telling her that, um, we would love to do it and we would love to, um, go to PBS Hawaiʻi and participate and see ourselves on TV.

Our first story takes us to the west side of O‘ahu, where students from Wai‘anae...before we introduce our first story...respect for the environment touched on by the students at...

I remember stepping into PBS Hawaiʻi, thinking that one day I want to work here.

I do remember thinking it was, like, impossible, like I just thought it was so cool, like there was no way I could ever work here.

Aloha, I’m Jenalyn Ramos.

I’m Angelica Badua.

I’m Karen Cayme.

And I’m Aaron Pudiquet.

When Waipahu High School was a home base school for HIKI NŌ, I remember thinking, man, this is hard.

This is harder than I thought.

This is not easy, but being trained by professionals, I just thought, like, we should get more credit for this in class because this is not easy.

It’s not just your usual class project, it’s for the whole community to see.

My mom’s gonna see this on TV.

“From China With Love” was basically about the two teachers who are trying to adopt from China.

I interviewed the teachers.

I was a writer and editor, but it was a team effort.

Being the interviewer, I learned that, um, storytelling can be hard but it’s possible.

Um, you have to think of it as not just a project, but also an experience to understand other people and what they’re going through in life.

Revisions were probably one of the hardest parts.

I remember almost giving up, um, I remember stressing out, I remember thinking, “Oh, it’s never going to be good enough for PBS.” I wanted to give up, but, um, we pulled through and finished the project.

This is Karen Cayme reporting from Waipahu High School for HIKI NŌ.

During college, I found a production technician job position here at PBS Hawaiʻi, so I challenged myself to apply and take the job just to get more experience in the professional world.

The biggest skill that I learned from HIKI NŌ that I was able to transfer into becoming a production technician, um, was probably professionalism.

But trying to battle college and work wasn’t really working out for me, so, I did leave PBS for about a year, and then a year later or so, I wanted to come back to PBS Hawaiʻi.

But I couldn’t come back as a student production technician anymore, so, at the time, Advancement was hiring a position.

Advancement is the fundraising department and it’s not production, it’s not like HIKI NŌ or being in the studio all the time, it’s behind the scenes of all that basically.

Because of Advancement, HIKI NŌ can continue and everything else that we do here at PBS.

I love what PBS Hawaiʻi represents, um, I love what we believe in and that’s representing the community, representing the state and our cultures, and that’s one of the biggest things that I love about being here.

On August 14th, 2020, um, I gave birth to my baby girl, Alana-Belle Mason.

Um, I’m 26 years old and now I’m a mother and I’m still working at PBS Hawaiʻi.

It’s not just work that I have to focus on, but also being a mom.

It’s made me a better person.

It motivates me every single day to do my best.

If my 16-year-old self was to look at me now, I would think that, “Wow, she’s come a long way.

I want to be like her.” In my senior year of Hilo High School, I was able to work with my teacher, Mr. Kapali, to help be a home base for, uh, Episode 4 for Season 1 of HIKI NŌ.

It was very exciting.

That was the first time that we’ve ever produced something like that.

The biggest part of our enthusiasm was the fact that it was the first season, and that HIKI NŌ was the first of its kind.

The, the feeling of being part of something new was something that resonated throughout the entire project.

Growing up, I would watch PBS Hawai‘i, and so to be able to work with a television studio, such as PBS Hawai‘i, to produce content on a high school level in a way that hasn’t been done, it was very exciting.

It didn’t appear we would be able to create anything that would be television-worthy, but we received training.

PBS Hawai‘i came to our high school to, uh, mentor us, and that gave us the confidence that we needed to be able to work on this HIKI NŌ project, and with that, um, our attitude shifted to this is something that we definitely can do.

HIKI NŌ, can do.

The thing that we got the most from this HIKI NŌ experience was teamwork.

A lot of the students together, we were not in the same class at all.

So, they weren’t even in the digital media program.

Being able to work with these group of students who I knew, but yet never worked with on a project before, showed me that together we had to really depend on each other to meet deadlines, and that when it comes to meeting deadlines, that it’s all hands on deck.

This program has helped to connect our communities through the voices of our students.

When the episode first came out, we were at home, and we watched it with our families, and I know my parents made a big deal out of it.

They told everybody.

They told my aunties and uncles, my grandparents.

They told them, “Our son’s going to be on TV.” So, for us, it was, there was a lot of excitement, um seeing it come to, come to fruition.

I remember in all the digital media classes, they actually showed it to them.

And on our morning bulletin after the, it was all said and done, they actually said, “We’re going to play this video on our closed-circuit television on campus.” So, the entire school gets to watch.

Of course, there after that broadcast, everyone kept saying, “Can do,” to me.

They would just, they would, they would point the finger, the same thing I did on the broadcast, and say, “Can do.

Can do.” So, I became known as the “can do boy.” On HIKI NŌ, can do.

After graduation, my inspiration from HIKI NŌ led me to want to take digital media, uh, technology at Hawai‘i Community College.

I never considered going to digital media as a course of study.

I always thought it was going to be something of a hobby to me.

But after working with HIKI NŌ, and it got me inspired to want to do something like that professionally.

I was given the opportunity to work at Hilo Intermediate School as a computer technician, and at the time, Hilo Intermediate School was just starting their HIKI NŌ program.

And being part of the first season, I was very excited to want to help out with that.

To me, seeing the students and their enthusiasm in creating videos was very inspiring to me, and that kept me wanting to return and keep teaching students how to make videos, how to use technology, how to use cameras and ultimately, how to tell stories.

When it came to my tenure at Hilo Intermediate School, it was shortly thereafter that I was hired at Hilo High School.

At Hilo High School, I am the data processing user support technician.

It’s a mouthful, but really, my job is to work with computers.

And so, with my background in media, thanks to HIKI NŌ, and also by working with students at Hilo Intermediate School, I was able to acquire whatever equipment the school had for video-making, and I was able to find a couple anchors and start making a morning bulletin and make videos again.

I am very grateful for HIKI NŌ, um, being able to give me that experience, being able to work with professionals in the field, seeing how they were able to teach us, and also to work with students has inspired me to want to work with students as well, because every year I’m able to experience the same kind of enthusiasm and excitement from the students.

I’m able to relive my experience every time that we get to work on a project.

And so, seeing the students and their reactions to being able to work on a HIKI NŌ Challenge or HIKI NŌ story or profile, that is something that has really inspired me, and I want to keep that going as long as possible.

You know, I wanted to be a reporter since I was in elementary school back in Japan.

He’s just unique.

He’ll come in with his Wall Street Journal and most people don’t read the Wall Street Journal, even I don’t.

I was just dressing like old man and holding pile of newspaper.

So, HIKI NŌ for me was a launching pad for me to get a start, to get a head start, in my journalism career.

HIKI NŌ gave opportunities to students like me, um, who again, whose English wasn’t necessarily as perfect as native speakers, but still gave me a fair opportunity, still gave me, um, um, the same playing field.

We are back at Roosevelt High School in Makiki district of O‘ahu, behind me is a football stadium.

My first story at HIKI NŌ that I got to be involved in writing on an actual production was a story called, Brewing Conversation.

And it was about a coffee shop in downtown Honolulu that, uh, I found very fascinating.

The unique flavors of Hawai‘i-grown coffee get a boost by Dennis’s unique drip process.

Each custom brew cup does take at least three minutes longer than the mainstream coffee chain shops.

I felt this is the project I learned how to craft a story and how to construct a story, how to tell a story to the people who have never been to that coffee shop.

This was really one of the projects that I had to think a lot about these elements of storytelling.

...able to hear about their origins, professions, as well as their experiences they encounter.

My mentor was Christi Young.

She was a professional journalist at the time, so she gave me and the production team a lot of feedback: This is where we need to do better.

This is an area we need to fix.

So, when I saw the final product on PBS Hawai‘i, I was enthralled and this was, I think, the first story that I got to tell based on what I had in my mind.

It was really the starting point of my career as a reporter.

Until, you know, before then, I had this you know, vague idea, vague dream of, you know, this is what I wanted to do.

But by actually accomplishing this project and then have the final product on the air, um, I got the taste of, OK, this is what, this will be the first of many more stories that I will be telling in the future.

This is Satoshi Sugiyama for HIKI NŌ.

By junior year, I knew I wanted to go to a journalism school and I applied to Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, um, the university has a great journalism program.

Luckily, I got accepted and I actually got involved in a student newspaper and then I interned at the Associated Press in Tokyo, the Tampa Bay Times in St. Petersburg, Florida, and the New York Times in New York City, before I came back to Japan and started working for the Japan Times, uh, as a reporter.

So, now, I’m a political correspondent of the Japan Times, which is an English daily national newspaper in Japan.

Um, my day, you know, starts with me usually waking up around 7:30, 8 o’clock, and I first go to...I cover the Prime Minister’s office, the Parliament and Foreign Ministry.

Whenever there’s a story that needs to be written, a news analysis, I write that story from my desk at the Prime Minister’s Office Press Corps.

At the age 25, when you write a national political story, when I see my name on the paper, on the front page, you know, it still gives me chills.

It is just that I cannot believe that I get to do this job, you know, at age 25, I just cannot believe it.

No, I just wanted to kind of say that really, HIKI NŌ really gave me a chance to shine and really gave me a chance to get a start with my career and without the help, I would not be here.

I would not be here where I am, and I sincerely believe that.

Thank you for watching this special “Alumni Profile” edition of HIKI NŌ.

We hope these graduates’ stories of their HIKI NŌ experiences have inspired you as much as they have inspired us.

Here’s to an amazing first decade of HIKI NŌ, and to many more decades of Hawaiʻi’s students showing the world that they HIKI NŌ.

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.Can Do!” [END]