Aloha, my name is Akeakamai Cho.

I am a sophomore at Kua O Ka Lā Miloli‘i Hipu‘u Virtual Academy.

I'm recording this outside my School on the Big Island on February 16, 2021.

COVID has been hard on my family and me.

Both of my parents lost their jobs.

My father worked for the forest reserve and now looks for part time work.

My mother was a prep cook, but the restaurant she worked at closed during the pandemic.

Money is tight, living space is tight, and keeping up with school has been difficult.

We've had to make hard decisions and haven't had enough money for all the things we need.

For example, one time we went to the store to buy diapers and didn't have enough money.

So we went home and made cloth diapers.

We have gone pig hunting so we can have meat for the family.

Adding to our challenges we have adopted two babies who needed a safe home.

So we are now eight people living in a three-room house.

This means I have a lot of new responsibilities.

In addition to caring for my little brothers and sisters, I help with the new babies.

I also cook and clean, and I'm really missing in-person help from my teachers.

With all these changes, I've been feeling depressed so I try to take time for myself to write and play music.

In spite of all these challenges, we are a strong family and are there for one another.

If one of us is struggling, we call a family meeting and address the issue together.

For example, we noticed that my brother wasn't talking.

We all sat down and found out he was having a hard time at school.

So we took turns helping him catch up with his work.

In my case, the family noticed I wasn't doing any school work.

We met and I told them I was feeling overwhelmed.

They helped me and told me to try my best.

That encouragement was all I needed.

I appreciate our strong family support.

And I know we will get through these difficult times together You know, I just saw one of our students that I remember when she came in fourth grade and you know just grew up in front of my eyes and being able to just speak, speak her mind and tell her story.

Amazing, just very proud of the, you know, the progress she has made throughout working with us at our school and becoming the young adult she is.

Akea's finished reflection when I watch it, I kind of think back to all the process that we went through and all the challenges that they encountered working on the story.

And watching the finished piece always brings me this feeling of pride and joy.

Seeing what she was going through here was difficult.

And the production was difficult.

It was very emotional for all of us, and we needed – we understood that we needed to be very careful about how we approached it.

We knew she wanted to do this piece.

But she was really struggling with some of the, you know, what's going on in her life.

My thoughts are, it's very powerful.

I think that her story is a lot of people's story, a lot of youth’s story.

And I think that that's what's so unique.

How this project really got started was I went to school one day, and I, the teachers were having a meeting, you know, Kaimi and a few of the other kumu, were having a meeting, and I was sitting down doing some of my schoolwork, and they called me over and they're like, Hey, um, you want to participate in something?

I was like, sure, but it depends what.

And knowing you know, what she's been through?

I asked, and, you know, she was willing, you know, and through that conversation, I told her that HIKI NŌ was looking for stories of reflection from COVID.

Oh, well, we wanted to know if maybe you'd want to, you know, share, share your story and how COVID affected your family?

I was like, um, that's a big question.

That's a really big question.

But I'll think about it.

So they were like, okay, and they sent me back.

And then like, during lunchtime was like, you know, I'll do it.

I actually want to do it.

I'm willing to share my story.

And, yeah, I'm ready to do this.

And then, through that process, we then had our mentor from HIKI NŌ, Terri, jump on to many of our calls to kind of give us advice, support, and that really worked out really well.

Aloha, everybody.

Thank you for showing up.

Aloha Akea, Aloha Terri, Aloha, Eric, I'm welcome you guys to our HIKI NŌ class on Thursdays… Aloha!

When a school enters the HIKI NŌ process, they have to fill out a pitch sheet.

And a pitch sheet is actually a form where they can lay out the ideas for the vision that they want of the story that they want to tell.

And that form includes a structure that they need to fill out what happens in the beginning, what happens in the middle what happens in the end, so that when the HIKI NŌ team sees it, and they can review the story, a lot of the key elements are in place, even though they may not be fully fleshed out.

And then once that story, idea, the pitch gets approved, then it gets handed over to the mentor.

So when I see it, I can look at the idea, like kind of an initial roadmap of what the story is going to be.

And then my job is to help take that those bare bones of the story and really flesh it out into something that will be a full video for HIKI NŌ.

So my initial pitch sheet was, it was like a layout of what the story was going to be.

So as like, just to throw off of it, it goes something like, ‘COVID has been hard on me, caused parents to lose jobs and caused hard decisions between our necessities.’ So like, it kind of explains like what we're going through in that state, like how we're handling things.

So when I got the pitch sheet, I could tell it had great bones to it, and the emotions were there.

But it was structured more of like, say a journal, or notetaking, where it was feelings and thoughts on paper that may not have been structured in like a narrative.

And so even with that, because it was so brief, there are a lot of details that are missing from that.

So in order to expand it into a broader reflection, there are a lot of additional details that we'd want to include in there.

So for example, she had mentioned that during the pandemic, both of her parents have lost their jobs.

And so one of my questions was, Well, what did your parents do?

I would love to hear a little bit more detail about, for example, Akea you had mentioned that COVID caused your parents to lose their jobs.

What were their jobs?

And it doesn't have to be a very lengthy answer.

It could just be summarized in a phrase or a sentence.

But adding that little bit of detail to the story really helps the viewer understand the situation better.

Both of my parents lost their jobs.

My father worked for the forest reserve and now looks for part time work.

My mother was a prep cook, but the restaurant she worked at closed during the pandemic.

Well, creating the script is like, I feel like getting the right script isn't easy at all.

It takes so – it takes quite a while, you know, to find the correct words to fit in correct words to use to make it sound like you know persuasive.

And to make it like, kind of build a board, like, build off everything.

Yeah, when I started to develop her script, and then we started to record and then we started to, you know, put the story into, into reality.

I was like, wow, this is a bigger story than I thought.

And I think, um, what I noticed was, you know, I think that space really allowed her to open up, because she was able to really focus on what we needed to do, and that kind of give given her the, I think, the energy she needed to really, you know, put this story together, I really have to commend Kaimi, Laurel, and Eric, for doing such a great job, handling the story with such care and sensitivity.

Going into it, I knew that this was going to be an incredibly personal story.

And she was very honest about her struggles and the challenges she was facing and how that impacted her and her family.

And I think they did a great job of creating a safe environment and a safe space where she could talk about this in a way that didn't feel like she was being pressured to do something at any time, The support system is kind of, it's actually pretty great.

Like, even before doing the project, just to have support from that school, from Kua O Kā La, everybody, it's like a family.

We're all like a family down there.

We all care about each other, we all can tell each other anything and you feel okay and comfortable.

One of the things that we – I think what's unique about our school is that we are very sensitive to your feelings.

Because we try to create a space where we come with aloha and love.

And that is critical.

You know, when we come in to our school, every time we have our school sessions, there's this goal to really respect each other.

We know that if you just have one, one adult that you can get attached to that you have better outcomes in life.

And here she has all these additional adults that she gets to have this new experience with.

And so that really captivated me this idea of being in like a small community and not having a lot of exposure to other things.

But then having this kind of brought to you and having different people involved having a mentor having your Kumu involved having multiple people in the school that are also doing it for multiple years.

So you could learn it, watch it, do it.

During the course of the story, we had to do some pivots.

Because early on we had planned to shoot some of the supporting B-roll at Akea's home.

And it was difficult for her to complete that part of the process.

So we needed to pivot to a new sort of way of telling the story.

And Terri was instrumental and leading us into different options we should consider when you're creating a story.

There's not – there's no one way to create that story or to provide visuals to help tell that story.

And so since we had decided that having family videos or photos weren't going to be possible to incorporate.

I thought, well, what could be another way that we could get visuals for the story?

And then it brought me back to our initial conversation where she was describing how music was one of the ways that one of the things that helped her throughout this challenge.

Well, music was kind of one of the reasons why I overcame my depression.

And, um, well.

I just figured like a lot of people say that, you know, you understand a story more through song than people actually speaking to you.

And so, okay, great.

Well, what if she played music during the reflection, and that way, it would be a visual illustration of something that she was mentioning in her story to describe how she coped throughout the pandemic.

Well, the first choice was kind of.. it was like a Christian song called "You Say," by Lauren Daigle.

And that song kind of – it hit hard because of what she was speaking about, you know, she was talking about overcoming your obstacles.

So initially, when she recorded her performance playing the ukulele on the beach, she was singing a song that was recorded by a national recording artist.

And so we were worried that there would be copyright issues involved with that, because it was – she was singing copyrighted work.

And so we thought, oh, we can't really use that.

So what was something else?

Could she play something else, because one of the things that she liked to do musically wasn't just perform, but it was also to write her own songs.

So I decided to write my own song in my like, in my own version, and maybe explain the same thing.

But like, kind of more about me and my family.

I got a very short notice.

So I kind of just grabbed my school book and pen, I just started writing.

I wasted a lot of paper that day, though.

Ultimately, it was even better because it was a true reflection of her work, her writing and her performance all rolled into one.

And it was, it was something that we didn't expect when we started off the process.

But it ended up being an even better solution than we could have dreamed of heading into this.

Well, what like, caused me to feel like we should kind of slow down was, I just felt like, it was overwhelming me to have that responsibility and the responsibilities at home.

So I kind of was like, you know, maybe I cannot do this right now, we just got to take a break, we just got to cut it off right now.

I realized, okay, she needs to just take time to process this and be able to, you know, come back when she's ready.

You know, because we didn't get to, you know, follow our timeline, you know, as planned.

But we basically, you know, gave her that space so that she could be able to think about it and then come back.

And I think that that was important for us.

We approach different students differently.

In some cases, we know we've got to push them, some cases, we know we've got to encourage them and work with them to bring them out.

But here, we knew we had to give her distance.

And let her decide when and where we were going to complete this project.

If we would complete it, we told her if she needed to stop if it was too emotionally difficult.

That was fine, we would stop.

We had like this talk that night at home.

And my mom and dad’s like, you know, if you think about it, you just gotta – you got to take chances and just hope that, you know, taking that chance, something good is gonna come out of it.

And I was more overwhelmed with like, what if people don't?

What if this video doesn't make it?

What if it just stays where it's at?

What if it doesn’t reach people if it doesn't like, you know, get established.

And my parents told me, since we're so close, they told me that's that's the thing.

‘What Ifs’ – they're powerful?

Because like, what if it does?

What if you make it to the, to where you belong?

Like, what if it takes you somewhere big?

And I was like, you know you guys are right.

So the next week after that, on a school day, I told them, I was like, You know what, I'm ready to just do this 110%.

I just want to get this over with.

I think that that's the great reflexivity of this project, is that a person, a youth can say like, I want to do this, I want to tell my story in the moment.

It's too much, because she's living it in that moment.

And that people respect that, and that she can come back and then say, Okay, now I'm ready to finish I'm ready to share what I have.

And I think that that's normal.

I think that as we put our experiences into words, as we kind of give it that strength in saying it and sharing it, that we sometimes we pull back and we say like I'm not sure if that's what I want to share.

I'm not sure if that's too much.

And to be able to have that power to make that decision is super crucial for youth.

And that's what a youth voice is, it's being able to craft, be empowered, and then choose what you share.

And that was what was given to her.

I feel like they knew I could do it.

And they wanted me to at least give other people you know, people who can’t say what they're going through, maybe kind of stand for them and put out my story that relates to them and kind of like share their story too.

That encouragement was all I needed.

I appreciate our strong family support.

And I know we will get through these difficult times together.

We had to convey the point about how strong her family relationship is.

And her mother is frequently there helping out at the school and, you know, doing whatever she could to help the project go along.

And we thought that was a really important part of the piece – is that this was not a student who was completely isolated and adrift.

I didn't expect my parents to want to be in it.

So when we were at school, Eric, my photography teacher, Eric, was all like, ‘Oh, hey, maybe we should do some b-roll of your family.

And you.

And I was like, um, I'm not sure they're gonna like that.

But we could try.

Well, we actually live in Oceanview, that's 15 miles away from Miloliʻi on the south side of the Big Island, and it was kind of, I didn't think they'd be able to come because of the gas.

And like how far they'd have to travel just to shoot that video with me.

But… so my mom sent me to school with the teachers in the morning.

And she's like, Don't worry honey girl will make it.

So okay.

I waited and waited and then like, I was kind of like, they're not gonna come, it's okay.

Or we could just do what we're going to do.

And then you can go home.

He's like, all right, all right.

And, um, they came pulling down the road.

And I was, I was so happy, like, my cheeks started to come warm.

And I felt butterflies.

I was like, they actually did this for me.

The things family do for people.

I was, I cried a little.

And I thought, ‘Wow, what a fitting way to end this reflection.’ Because really, the way we had developed their reflection was to focus that last piece on the family support and the family dynamic.

And the resolution that even though they were facing these challenges, they were doing it together.

So to see them visually on the screen, as we're hearing this just really made me so happy.

It was something I didn't expect.

And I was so glad that they were there, and that they had plans for this.

Aloha, my name is Akeakamai Cho.

I am a sophomore at Kua O Ka Lā Miloli‘i Hipu‘u Virtual Academy.

I am recording this outside my school on the Big Island on February 16, 2021.

COVID been hard on my family and me.

Both of my parents lost their jobs.

My father worked for the forest reserve and now looks for part time work.

My mother was a prep cook, but the restaurant she worked at closed during the pandemic.

Money is tight.

Living space is tight.

And keeping up with school has been difficult.

We've had to make hard decisions and haven't had enough money for all the things we need.

For example, one time we went to the store to buy diapers and didn't have enough money.

So we went home and made cloth diapers.

We have gone pig hunting so we can have meat for the family.

Adding to our challenges, we have adopted two babies who needed a safe home.

So we are now eight people living in a three-room house.

This means I have a lot of new responsibilities.

In addition to caring for my little brothers and sisters, I help with the new babies.

I also cook and clean, and I'm really missing in person help from my teachers.

With all these changes I've been feeling depressed.

So I try to take time for myself to write and play music.

[Sings original song] In spite of all these challenges, we are a strong family and are there for one another.

If one of us is struggling we call a family meeting and address the issue together.

For example, we noticed that my brother wasn't talking.

We all sat down and found out he was having a hard time at school.

So we took turns helping him catch up with his work.

In my case, the family noticed I wasn't doing any school work.

We met and I told them I was feeling overwhelmed.

They helped me and told me to try my best.

That encouragement was all I needed.

I appreciate our strong family support.

And I know we will get through these difficult times together.

I never watched the finished video, I felt like it was gonna be kind of hard.

Like honestly watching it here, I wanted to kind of like, tear up a little bit because of how it came out and just everything about it.

It's, it's a, it's an amazing video, it's so – what is the word, there's no way to explain how it is.

After that whole experience and her being able to get it, to share it.

And finally get it, you know, get it out there.

I think it was a sense of relief.

And I also I think it helped her deal with a lot of the stuff she was dealing with at home.

It did bring our family closer together.

It gave them like a chance to see inside of my mind and feel and understand what I was going through during that time.

Well, a few people had some negative things to say like, Oh, don't you think you shouldn't have showed your family's faces in that, or like, maybe your song could have been a little bit better.

Or like, you know, it didn't, it was alright, but you could have done better like those kinds of things.

But on the positive side, like my parents, and my grandparents, and a few of my friends, and my uncles and aunties were like, you know, you did a good job, babe.

We love the video.

They were like, so touched by how the video played out and what it explained.

And I think at the end, even though it was a struggle to get to the finish product, looking at that finished product, I hope she is really proud of everything that went into it, and how she was able to turn this piece into something that hopefully can impact a lot more people and really have viewers who watch this story can connect to the story and see themselves in the story.

And that lesson of perseverance and how to face challenges with support and with love.

If they can take that back with them, she has done her job as a storyteller.

And I think that impact will be very rewarding for her.

I think Akea's piece was remarkable.

For someone her age and someone going through what she was going through.

Her honesty, her openness to face, you know, and tell people what she was going through I think was incredibly brave.

It was heartfelt.

It’s really getting back to the ownership of like, this is my story.

And this is what I want to share.

And this is who I am in this moment.

I'm sharing it with my people and with the people around me and my peers.

And I think that that is a powerful thing to be able to do.

My advice to you know, teenagers, young kids around my age is to not give up on yourself, you know, and to not really let depression overcome you because, you know, there's, there's always a way, there's so many ways to get over it.

You know, if you really want to get better, you're gonna have to push yourself out of your comfort zone and just really work on trying to do better for you and your future.

[Ukulele plays]