Month: September 2017

Leinad Arakaki received her Associate of Science in Nursing from Kauaʻi Community College back in 2002. She was born and raised in Kauaʻi and moved to Oʻahu in 2006. Originally, her plan in coming to KCC was to finish her degree and get her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Since coming back to school Arakaki has rediscovered the passion she has always had for social sciences.

“While nursing is a great profession, I always, always was interested in humanities, social sciences,” she said. “And when I took my geography course last semester, which would have been part of my bachelor’s in Nursing, I realized how much I really love it and still love it and decided to head into a social science field.”

Arakaki is considering getting her Bachelor of Arts in Geography or even Sociology when she transfers to UH-Mānoa next semester. When she’s not busy studying or working, she loves to hike trails like Moanalua trail over on the windward side.

Emma Eckfeldt is a first-year student at KCC as a liberal arts major with a concentration in education. Eckfeldt is of Japanese descent and has many family members who are fluent in Japanese, which has inspired her to go into the JET program or Japanese English Teaching program when she transfers to UH-Mānoa. She is currently taking four classes and is in an elementary Japanese class. Her goal after graduation is to move to Japan as an English teacher to teach young elementary-age students. Eckfeldt chose KCC because she wanted a chance to explore options without the pressure of a university. At KCC, she also has more time to think about future classes and get her toe in the water when it comes to learning Japanese.