University of Chicago Summer Program

In the summer going into my junior year, I attended a pre-college summer program at the University of Chicago. I attended the Parrhesia Freedom of Expression and Public Discourse Program. In the program, we learned about different philosophies on discourse and how we use those to create strategies for civil discourse. Some of the general strategies included slowing down conversations, adding a third opinion or perspective, and going deeper to talk about the values that are associated with our opinions.

We also analyzed our schools' and communities' areas of improvement for freedom of expression and civil discourse. From this, I was able to learn a lot more about how prevalent these issues are in other states compared to Hawaii. However, I also learned that because Punahou is quite homogenous in thinking, it creates echo chambers that don't allow for new ideas and new opinions to be expressed and formed.

Together we brainstormed and discussed the ways in which we can try to solve some of the issues that we have with freedom of expression and discourse. My thinking was to have more conversations about contentious topics so that more people would be exposed to different kinds of thinking and have an outlet for expression. The program encouraged us to enact this kind of change at our own schools, so when I came back, I spoke with teachers on how something could be implemented but found out that there was already an up-and-coming program that was focusing on this–the Davis Democracy Initiative (Democracy Fellows at the time). So I decided to join the initiative and try to support civil discussions on issues in Hawaii and the world.

Division of Drivers Education Volunteer

Over the summer going into my senior year, I volunteered at the Honolulu District Court in the Division of Drivers Education. Through volunteering, I explored how the judicial system works in Hawaii. I entered data from reports into the court database, filed and organized reports, and updated court cases. Through this, I learned more about the diction that the court uses, traffic laws, and how the court processes people who have violated those laws. I also helped to greet and answer questions from people entering the court.

I was also allowed to sit in on a few driver's education classes. This allowed me to see and understand how the court aims to keep traffic violators from repeating their mistakes. With a paramedic who has responded to multiple crashes, the class appealed to the pathos of the violators, showing them how their mistakes could be deadly.

I also came to learn how the challenges that the court has to work with. One of the challenges was language, as some of the people who needed to take driver education classes needed translators, but finding time for a translator to come in was hard. So although the court can accommodate non-English speakers, it is a difficult and long process. In this way I came to see how some people criticize the government for being slow, however, I think that slowness is rooted in other issues like a lack of resources to improve accessibility.

Overall, my experience at the Honolulu District Court allowed me to better understand state-level judiciary processes, and contribute to helping my community.

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