Year: 2018

Yuli Iwamoto is a first-year student attending KCC. Majoring in Liberal Arts, the 24-year-old chose to move from Saitama, Japan to Hawaiʻi to learn about the hotel management industry. Iwamoto yearns to manage a hotel beauty salon of her own in the future and hopes to gain an understanding of massage management through KCC.

Iwamoto admires the nice view that KCC has and enjoys the food that is served in the cafeteria. Looking to possibly transfer to UH Mānoa after completing her Associate of Arts, Iwamoto said she will continue to pursue a degree in hotel management.

Wayne Glene, 54, has been living in Hawai‘i since 2009, after serving as a medical technician in the Air Force. In Hawai‘i, he worked as a home care worker. He then noticed that the field lacked people who were qualified in social work. That helped the Cleveland, Ohio, native decide on his academic path, which he was able to pursue after being granted the GI Bill, the military assistance that provides education to service members.

Glene describes himself as a simple person, who enjoys the wind blowing, sunshine and nice conversations. He lives in Hawai‘i by himself but declares that his special one is in Japan at the moment. He deals with the distance by staying positive.

“Don’t look at the borders, don’t look at the distance, just let the love flow,” he said.