Extracurricular Activities
Oregon Tech Men's Soccer, Hawaii Club, Community Service, Oregon Tech Event Volunteer
A Little Bit About Me
I am from a small town called Hilo on the big island of Hawaii. I have grown up there and coming to Oregon Tech has been the first time being away from family for an extended period of time. I attended Kamehameha High School and have worked really hard in my education. I have also been playing soccer since I was five years old. I have won two Division II State Championships with my high school and have also represented Hawaiians by playing for the Hawaiian National Soccer Team. In my free time I love to be at the ocean. I love bodyboarding and catching waves back home. I also enjoy spearfishing with my dad which is a great way to hunt and spend some quality time with my dad. Another thing I greatly enjoy is singing and I recently started to teach myself how to play the Ukulele.
Why I Chose Oregon Tech and My Major
I have always been very interested in mechanical engineering and knew that I wanted to go to a polytechnic university. With Oregon Institute of Technology being the only polytechnic university in the state of Oregon, I knew this was the place for me. Throughout high school I took many engineering courses, including some basic CAD and design classes. I also came to Oregon Tech to play on the Men's Soccer Team.
My Influential Professors
Two of my most influential professors have been Rachel Edwards and Tiernan Fogarty. Rachel Edwards was my previous chemistry professor and was vital to my understanding of general chemistry. The way that she taught the lessons and shared information, made the complex content easy for students like me to understand. Tiernan Fogarty is my current calculus professor. I have taken both integral calculus and vector calculus with him. He does well to keep students engaged and his high energy encourages me to want to learn more. His example based teaching style fits me perfectly and helps me to excel in his class.
My Greatest Learning Experience At Oregon Tech
My greatest learning experience at Oregon Tech has been living so far away from home. I am from Hawaii and being so far away from home has brought many challenges. However, by keeping busy and going to many of the events around campus, I have become a lot more independent. Being in Klamath Falls has exposed me to many different people and cultures. It has been a big shift from the things I’m used to from back home. Albeit, it has been a great experience and has given me new perspectives.
My Plans After Graduation
After I complete my schooling here at Oregon Institute of Technology I plan to move back to Hawaii. I should have the skills and tools necessary to develop equipment, processes, or machines to better Hawaii and take care of my home. One way that I could potentially help the environment in the future is by developing energy-efficient machinery that will lower emissions into our atmosphere. I could also develop new products and machinery to manage waste.