HIKI NŌ 1207 Aloha, I’m Noelle Lo, a junior at Maui High School, speaking to you from my home in Wailuku.

In this edition of HIKI NŌ, we’ll find out how Hawaiʻi’s young people are managing life and school in the COVID-19 era through a series of Student Reflections.

But first, I’d like to show you my Student Reflection on life and school in the era of distance learning.

I recorded this on October 13th, 2020.

Before the lockdown, I was as busy as can be, whether it be dance, school, club activities, work or hanging out with friends and family.

Then COVID-19 hit and ever since then, I’ve been stuck at a computer all day, doing virtual schooling.

I’m the type of person who constantly needs to do something, whether it be for school, the community or for myself.

I tend to spread myself way too thin.

When COVID hit, I thought, wow, I’ll finally get a break.

But the pandemic was here for much longer than expected.

Since I’m on online for school, you would think, wow, this is much easier since I’m at home.

But now I barely know the difference between work and rest at my own house.

I used to associate my house as a place to unwind and relax, but now I feel like there’s no place to escape.

Sometimes I get so anxious and restless because I feel like there’s more work to do or there’s something I forgot to do, and I haven’t seen my friends or heard from them, so I feel lost and trapped.

With no dance studio to go to, no friends to see, I had to pick myself up and take the initiative to do something, rather than just staying on a computer all day.

I coped through physical activity, especially outside, whether it be dance, walking, jogging, as long as I was outside and moving, I felt a sense of freedom.

I felt refreshed.

I took the extra step to help myself from feeling so stuck.

Hi, I’m Lichen Forster, a senior at Waiākea High School on Hawaiʻi Island.

I’m recording this at my home in Mountain View on October 13th, 2020.

When the pandemic began to send students home, I was excited, like many of my peers, to have a break.

I was excited to watch movies, listen to music and sleep in on weekdays.

Those were the anticipated joys, but I didn’t realize the joy I’d find in simply being home.

I finally began to experience the property that my parents had been working on for five years, and I finally learned how to milk our goats.

I’ve had so much fun getting to know their personalities and just getting to spend time with them.

These little guys were born in mid-March and I was actually there to witness it.

The biggest thing I found in this time is the ability to be gracious.

I finally realized how lucky I am to have the things I do.

I have food.

I’m healthy.

And I have a stable connection to the things around me.

Even in this confusing time, my family is really lucky to have the things that we do, and I’m finally starting to understand that.

Hi, this is David Braman, a 7th grader from Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School on Kauaʻi.

I’m speaking to you from our campus as our media class competes in a virtual contest.

We’re making sure to stay safe and socially distanced.

The first semester of our school year has been all online.

I’ve tried to look at this with a positive attitude and use this time to help out in my community.

One thing I like to do is make masks for people who need them.

I iron fabric that’s been donated, my mom cuts it, then we send it to another person who sews it into a mask.

I also distribute food with several organizations.

I’ve done a variety of jobs like packing bags, organizing donations and handing out food.

Once a week, I volunteer at a local food pantry.

I bring our families extra food and help out by scooping rice into little bags for people to pick up.

I encourage everyone to help in their communities and stay safe.

If we all pitch in and treat each other with aloha, we will get through this together.

This is Aubrey Bechard, a freshman at Kauaʻi High School in Lihue, Kauaʻi.

I recorded the following reflection in my home on September 3rd, 2020.

I begin my day with a morning routine.

In short, I wake up, I get ready for the day, I get my school supplies ready, I take my dog on a walk, get a nice glass of water ready for myself.

After that, the last thing I do before I head to my Zoom and Google Meet classes, I like to play with my kittens.

One thing that is working well for me is being in the comfort of my own home.

One thing that’s not working well for me is being in the comfort of my own home.

With a family and with younger siblings, you get interrupted frequently, sometimes you have to help out your younger siblings because they’re on their own Zoom calls and they don’t know how to write the letter “H,” so that’s something that’s disrupting.

As far as teachers, I feel like our relationship has become more direct and that’s because we’re communicating and learning between a computer screen, so we’re not having the same conversations or the same moments in the classroom like we did before.

Although we are having a few glitches along the way, I feel like we’re all just learning together and that’s OK. Hi, this is Capriana Nozaki, a sixth grader at Maui Waena Intermediate School on the island of Maui.

I’m recording this at my home in Waiehu, on October 9th, 2020.

When school started again in August, Maui had more cases.

My parents and I were nervous about sending me to in-person learning, so we decided I would do 100 percent online school.

The online program at my school is Acellus and had no social interaction.

All the lessons are given on the computer by video.

There are no people to talk to at all.

Plus, the lessons were getting way too easy.

I didn’t even need to listen to the video because I already knew the answers.

It was also getting really lonely.

I started reading my assignments in a British accent, speaking to my computer and became a talking machine, driving my dad nuts.

Now that’s when you know, you’ve reached rock bottom.

To replace my loneliness, I joined the after-school STEM club.

It’s online, too, but we learn how to use After Effects and Final Cut Pro.

And instead of bothering my dad, I can bother my mentors and teacher.

In fact, I’m the last student to leave.

I really am desperate to have a face-to-face conversation, but for now, screen-to-screen will have to do.

I’m Kai Tsugawa, a fifth grader at Waiākea Elementary School on the island of Hawaiʻi.

I’m recording this at my home on October 7th, 2020.

Due to COVID-19, there have been many changes.

Our kūpuna are affected because they need someone to take care of them.

As my grandparents get older, they have a harder time taking care of themselves, especially when you toss in the COVID-19 pandemic.

This change affects many of our kūpuna.

Is it a good change?

Or a bad change?

The hardest part of my life is to not know if my grandparents are doing OK. How can I take care of my grandparents if I have a hard time seeing them or visiting them?

It makes me worried not to know if my grandparents are doing OK. It’s hard to take of someone when you can’t really see them, because that’s not taking care of them at all.

I don’t want my grandparents to be infected, so we try to avoid going to the supermarket and going back to their house.

One day, I hope I can visit them, so that I know that they are safe.

I hope in the future, a vaccine comes so that this pandemic could end, and I don’t have to worry about my grandparents being in danger.

This is Giulia Quinsaat, an eighth grader at Montessori School of Maui, on Maui.

I’m recording this at my home on October 3rd, 2020.

I dance for Hālau Kekuaokalāʻauʻalaʻiliahi under the direction of Nā Kumu Hula Haunani and ʻIliahi Paredes.

‘Īao school in Wailuku is where we have practiced for years.

During the COVID-19 spring quarantine, the schools shut their doors.

It was a huge difficult change from seeing my hula brothers and sisters three times a week to not seeing them at all.

I’m really close with all of the Merrie Monarch and Keiki Hula participants, they’re like my real family.

After about a month in quarantine, we started Zoom hula.

Dancing over Zoom can be difficult for our kumus because of the lag.

It is not easy to tell if we’re doing the correct motions at the right timing, because everyone’s WiFi is at different speeds, the music is not always in sync.

I went to every practice we had and never wanted to leave.

It was really exciting to see everyone.

Our kumu gave us time after practice to talk with each other.

We talked about what was happening in our lives at home and new things we learned at school or about our community.

We are still on Zoom hula but our hālau is hopeful that we may be able to start in-person soon.

For me, distance learning has been a little stressful because I don’t like to stare at a screen all day but that’s all we’ve been doing.

I would much rather learn in person, especially because teachers provide a quiet place to study and I get to see my friends.

Now that we’re home learning all day, there’s many distractions and it’s super noisy around my house.

My mom has gotten super overwhelmed and doesn’t exactly know how to help us.

All in all, it’s been a bad situation.

Because of how hard it was to focus at home, my dad came home from work one day and had the brilliant idea to get each me and my siblings our own hotspots.

My mom took us to different places around Maui and all we do is turn it on and work.

Because of this, distance learning has been much more peaceful and more relaxing, but not only that, we also get to learn about different areas around our island.

Some of the places that we’ve studied at are Kula, Lahaina, and Wailea, and I definitely look forward to studying around more areas.

Though distance learning was stressful at first, I thank my parents for coming up with a creative solution.

Through my experience, I’ve found that distance learning isn’t that bad after all, it’s just what you make of it.

Hi, my name is Christian Aragon and I’m a senior at Konawaena High School, here, on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, and I’m recording this in my house on October 25th, 2020.

I have two goals this year.

One, I want to graduate high school.

That’s it.

Two, I also want to improve my performing arts skills, so I can study acting in a university or community college.

COVID-19 has forced me to find new and unexpected ways of achieving these goals.

For school, I’m really working on my time management so I can fit different activities into my schedule.

Even though I’m at home, I’m still working with my community theatre group over the computer.

It’s challenging, because we can’t meet on a physical stage and I can’t share my energy with the cast.

So, we make those connections through improv exercises instead.

I was also invited to promote some of my previous theatre shows on the radio, where I voiced different characters and right now, I’m reading scary stories, whoooooo....anyways, I’m grateful that persevering through high school and theatre has opened these doors for me.

All these challenges have shown me that my goals are just stepping stones for something much greater and I cannot wait to see what comes next.

This is Ella Anderson, a sophomore from Kapaʻa High School on Kauaʻi.

I’m filming this at my home on October 22nd, 2020 When coronavirus first hit, I did not want to stay at home.

Each day I couldn’t see my friends seemed like a day wasted.

Both my parents still went to work, so it was usually just me and my 11-year-old brother.

It’s sad for me to say now, but before COVID, we weren’t really that close.

I would lose my patience and get mad at him all the time for giving me attitude and not doing as I asked, which seems normal, but it was happening a lot more then I would’ve liked, and I never really made an effort to do anything about it.

Things started to change when I began to help him learn from home.

Of course, we had a rough start, but each time I wanted to give into my frustration and just yell at him, I took a deep breath, kept a smile on my face, and continued trying to help out.

Slowly, but surely, there were less arguments, less go away, I hate you and more respect and understanding on both sides.

It seems so obvious that this is what a good sister should be, and I can’t believe I couldn’t see it for so long.

This journey made me realize that change starts with me first, before I can expect it from anyone else.

Hi, my name’s Nalea Udac, an eighth grader from Kealakehe Intermediate School on the island of Hawaiʻi, coming to you from my home on November 2nd, 2020.

I’ve been attending online school from home with a class of six, or with all my siblings.

All of us ranging from the ages five to fourteen, which is me, the oldest.

Then there’s the youngest one who is Leiliʻa, then there’s Leilehua, Naoli, Leiani, and Nahana, who had recently just turned 11.

It can be great at some point, all six of us learning in a classroom, but chaotic at best.

In order for you to get the spot you want, you have to fight for it.

And if you don’t get your way, then you have a bunch of arguing going on.

We tend to get in each other’s way to figure out whose turn is it to speak or not, or to attend a meeting, and when we do, the room sounds like a bunch of annoying parrots all talking at once.

But despite all of that chaos, the bonding has caused me to learn things that I didn’t expect.

Like, fixing a truck, learning to cook, and even teaching my siblings how to shoot and film broadcast and other short films.

It’s pushing me to go above and beyond to be like a second mom.

As children, we think parents are supposed to know everything and have all the answers all the time, but not always.

It makes me proud to know that we don’t always have to turn to our parents to figure things out.

We can figure them out on our own too, and we can teach them a thing or two.

Like, learning how to use new applications and technologies.

Hi, this is Ivan Elf from H.P.

Baldwin High School.

I’m in Waikapu in my new car.

I really like it.

But I’m not here to talk about that, I’m here to talk about how distance learning has been affecting me personally, and uh, I’m gonna talk about it.

Emotionally, it’s been a little challenging and frustrating with all the constantly working on the computer and sitting down all the time, and that leaves me less time to be focusing on myself and staying active and what-not.

Socially, I can’t really interact with my friends as much as I used to be able to, not on a physical level at least, and I’m basically just stuck with my family for most of the day, even though that’s not the worst thing ever.

Something I noticed was that we’re not really supposed to talk to classmates in a non-academic way anymore and that really takes a lot of interpersonal communication away from my day-to-day life, and I’ve also gotten bored of a lot of the indoor activities I’ve been doing for like, all of quarantine now.

Academically, I feel like it’s been tougher to really get the teacher’s attention.

In total, there’s less school hours but I feel like that makes the teachers think that they can give us a lot of work, which a lot of them do, and that leaves me sitting in the same spot, working on the computer for maybe 10 hours a day, not the funnest thing to do.

And despite all the negative things I just said, I’m really totally fine and I’m sure I’ll be fine with whatever happens in the future.

We’ll get though it together, and at the end of the day, the moral of the story is to just keep on, keeping on.

Aloha, this is Alexa Vinarao, an eighth-grade student at Aliamanu Middle School on Oʻahu.

I’m recording this from my home on October 26th, 2020.

In my opinion, distance learning isn’t as bad as it may seem.

There’s going to be a lot of change in life and this is just a part of it.

Distance learning is similar to face-to-face learning.

Students just need time to grow accustomed to it.

You still see your teachers and you still get homework, not much of a change.

It’s like the first day of school, you might get lost, but eventually, you’ll get used to it.

Virtual classes are easily accessible.

Just grab a working device and get to class.

No need to wear a uniform, walk to school, or prepare much at all.

Plus, you can change your learning space to your every need.

Most classes before distance learning were just online websites anyway, so I’m used to it.

In conclusion, distance learning has many advantages and you should give it a chance to show how amazing it can be.

This is Ayanna Brenner and I am a senior at Hawai‘i Technology Academy.

I’m coming to you from my home in Makiki, on October 23rd, 2020.

I’m struggling with distance learning because of the lack of supervision and motivation.

When I am at school, teachers are there to redirect me.

At home, my parents are doing their own thing.

My lack of motivation is due to having so much free time and only being in the house.

I feel like I do the same thing every day and it’s very unsettling and unmotivating.

When I really need to get stuff done, I try to put my phone away and go to a quiet place in the house and force myself to do work.

I sit down at the dining room table and tell myself I can’t mess around and I need to get my work done.

I don’t have a table in my room, which means I would have to work on my bed.

My bed is my biggest distraction because I’m not a morning person and if I stay on my bed, I would fall back asleep.

Instead of staying in my room and staying distracted, I have made the dining room table my designated workspace.

I have been pretty successful with getting my work done.

Aloha, my name is Lawson Makaneole from Roosevelt High School, and I’m speaking to you from home.

As a result of distance learning and senior year laziness, also known as senioritis, I’ve felt little to no motivation to do my schoolwork or anything school related.

Distance learning has been interesting, to say the least.

With it comes its fair share of problems, like canceling school events including homecoming and spirit week, which I was really looking forward to.

Also, all of your teachers throw homework at you like it’s a competition to see who can stress you out more.

And worst of it all is struggling with preparation for college.

All of it can start to feel overwhelming to deal with and has ultimately made me feel like giving up on school completely.

To counteract this, I’ve started to do things I normally wouldn’t.

I practice card shuffling, learned more songs on my ‘ukulele, and have been cleaning and trying to be more organized.

I believe that if I’m able to find motivation doing the trivial things, then maybe I’ll be able to find my motivation for school again and finish my high school career strong.

Until then, I’ll keep trying.

This is Sera Sanchez, an 8th grader at Kailua Intermediate School on Oʻahu.

I’m recording this from my home on November 5th, 2020.

I’ve been doing gymnastics since I was six years old.

There are 10 levels in gymnastics and I’m in level nine, which is pretty advanced for my age.

I train with my team, Hawaiian Island Twisters.

After high school, I want to get a scholarship and compete in college.

Before COVID I practiced for four hours every day.

Now, I only have one-hour practice through Zoom.

This makes me nervous and scared because I wonder how out of shape I am and how bad my skills might be since I don't have the equipment or space to practice.

My best events are bars and floor.

At home, I have a mat where I can do basic skills like back handsprings for muscle memory.

I also stretch a lot and do YouTube workouts.

I still feel like I’m falling behind, but I’m doing the best that I can.

With new rules going into effect, we’re supposed to return to gym soon.

When this happens, I’m going to work hard to learn new skills to get back on track to achieve my goals.

Hi, this is Jack Vedder, a junior at Henry J. Kaiser High School on the island of Oʻahu and I’m filming this at my home on November 16th, 2020.

The current conditions of life are very difficult on many people, including myself, because of this coronavirus situation.

Although this pandemic has drastically changed everyday life, I believe there are some benefits and I’ve learned to cope with these changes.

Using this time, while distancing from others, I’ve been able to catch up on myself emotionally and personally while not relying on others so much.

This changed my lifestyle drastically.

Although I still found ways to do things I love like surfing, spear-fishing, and other things like photography and hiking has given me a positive outlook on what I can do on my own during these tough times.

I know once this pandemic ends, I’ll feel even more gratitude towards the daily things I do and take for granted, and I will have learned how to stay self-sufficient emotionally and personally.

This is Navie Domingo, a senior at Wallace Rider Farrington High School on Oʻahu.

I’m recording this from my home on November 10, 2020.

My mental health has been declining during this pandemic.

I really miss being able to physically hang out with my friends and family.

I feel unmotivated and uninspired to do what I used to be so passionate about.

Actually, my friends and I were going to film a music video for a song she wrote.

We planned to film outside and on the beach surrounded by people, but when COVID hit and we couldn’t leave our homes, those plans went out the window.

We can’t film virtually because the song is all about relationships and finding yourself.

So, for now, our plans are on hold.

I see creativity as a form of happiness.

But, even filming this right now, it’s been a struggle to find the right words and visuals that usually comes naturally to me.

Right now, I’m just hanging on as best as I can until I can finally reunite with my friends and family.

If you or someone you know are experiencing signs of distress such as changes in behavior, increased expressions of emotions, or physical symptoms, reach out to your school counselor or call the Hawaiʻi Keiki Hotline, toll-free, at 844-436-3888.

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