Meet Our 2020-21 Mentors

"My favorite moments during my time as a mentor was chatting with Mark and JR about life. We talked about school and what we do outside of school. They shared with me some of the things they are thinking about pursuing in life. It was fun to be a small part of their lives and I hope I had a positive impact on their journey.

To Mark and JR, you are both very smart young adults with a bright future ahead of you. As you begin thinking about where you want to go in life, I encourage you both to keep seeking mentors who will help you achieve your goals. Surround yourselves with the characters, principles, and successes that you want for your own life. It was a pleasure working with you both!"

"I enjoyed learning about the passions of the LHES students through their STEM Capstone projects. This experience has made me a better mentor by providing me with a new skill set to use for easier communication with students. I loved being an On Track mentor because it gave me the chance to help and share my college experiences with future college students."

"I am truly grateful for the opportunity to have served as one of the mentors for the LHES STEM Capstone class. Having performed research myself, I understand what it's like being a mentee and the challenges that go along with it. As a mentor, I am glad that I was able to share my knowledge with my mentees and provide them with the support they needed.

I would like to recognize my mentees Ayan, Lovemarie, Allyna, and Kaitlyn on their hard work and dedication to their project! I wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors as they continue into college."

"Being an On Track mentor finally gave me the chance to become the mentor instead of the mentee. As a Computer Science major, I've had quite a few mentors and I always felt I was taking more than giving. Through the On Track program, I realized that a mentor can learn just as much as the mentee from passing on their knowledge.
Having now been on both sides of the coin, I am much more appreciative of the reciprocal nature of mentorship."

"My favorite moment as a mentor was when I found out that my students were going to get an in-person high school graduation and they committed to a college! Committing is a huge step, especially for high school seniors because college is the first big step to life.

Knowing that Ryllah will be joining me at UH Mānoa and Scarlett in Utah, I am extremely excited and proud to see what my two mentees end up doing at their institutions."

"My favorite moment during my time as a mentor was learning more about the LHES STEM Capstone projects that are being conducted to contribute to the community of Lanai. It was so awesome to see all these students' projects to conclude their senior year of high school. This experience has pushed me out of my comfort zone by mentoring a high school student since I have only mentored college students prior to this. I was able to bridge my experience in research analysis and policy work to provide my mentee with suggestions to enhance his capstone project.

I would like to congratulate Kainalu on your hard work and on your completion of high school!"

"Although extremely cliche, I was very impressed and proud of how far both of the students had progressed in a short period of time. I should have known they were hard workers when we were able to come up with a respiratory droplet experiment quickly and effectively. While we did hit a road bump trying to complete the experiment itself, it was so rewarding to see them analyze and interpret the experimental data on their own. See them work hard to effectively share their work with the public was just the cherry on top.

I would like to give an enormous shoutout to both Aira and Amaya for being patient and working so hard through technical errors. You both have constantly impressed me and I am so excited to see the differences you two make in the world!"

"I think my favorite moment during this was in one of our last meetings and I was able to encourage my student to pursue her major in college and give her advice for the path ahead of her. I was able to connect with her and build a good relationship with my student which means a lot to me. I have mentored and tutored before, but this was my first time helping a high school senior and it helped learn to better communicate and help students preparing to go to university.

I had a great time working with Shennie and thought that this was a great project. The idea was fun and creative and I enjoyed being able to help my student find things and establish a plan for completing her project. Great job to all the students and thank you for the opportunity to aid these students in their projects!"

"My favorite moment during my time as an FP 404 mentor was having a break from college and being able to talk story with my students about how their weekend was and how their day was going so far. I really enjoyed being able to witness the amazing milestones my students have accomplished while working on their projects.

I want to wish my students, Sheilah and Emily, success in their future endeavors as I know they are going to accomplish great things. Remember to enjoy these next stages of life and always give back to your community as you have done through your research projects!"