Growing up in Hawaii, the idea of community was always such a fundamental part of who I was. I have never looked at it from the perspective of how it benefited me rather how it benefitted everyone around me. Everything I have done from joining local clubs that enriched the Hawaiian culture to volunteering with the west Hawaii special olympics program have helped me become the person I am today. My family has had a huge role in making sure that I am involved with the community. They passed down their practices in paddling, environmental conservation of Kealakekua Bay and encouraging the people who need it the most. My grandfather is a well known for his avid role in encouraging the conservation of Hawaiian land and natural resources. From a very young age, as in when I could swim, I spent many weekdays and nights cleaning and repairing the Captain Cook Monument. We used his double hull glass bottom canoe to travel around the bay looking for …show more content…
This was a children's program that was based out of the Bishops Museum’s, Amy B.H. Greenwell Botanical Gardens in Captain Cook. This program allowed me to volunteer three hours every week, planting endangered species of hawaiian plants. We constantly cleaned up hawaii's dry land forests and planted many plants such as the Hala Pepe and Ohia Lehua. I continued this program until my freshmen year of highschool… when I started to devote my team to west Hawaii Special Olympics. Special Olympics allowed me to get involved with many events such as Cop On Top and the Torch Run. I loved this program, because it allowed me to get out there in my community and help give people with mental and/ or physical disabilities, live out there dream. From being a unified partner with their bowling team, to being a unified runner on their Track and field team, to just giving my time as a volunteer helping with the events logistics, it is one program, I am glad i'm affiliated