Paubox Kahikina Scholarship Recipient Koa Chang: 2026 update

The Paubox Kahikina Scholarship helps Native Hawaiian students pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and Tech in general. Its purpose is to offer financial support and create a strong network for these students. The scholarship makes education more affordable and connects students with professionals, giving them valuable opportunities to learn and grow in their chosen STEM or Tech fields. This scholarship is about more than just money; it's about building a community and empowering Native Hawaiian students to succeed in STEM or Tech careers.

See also: The big ideas behind the Paubox Kahikina Scholarship

Koa Chang is a 2023 recipient of the Paubox Kahikina Scholarship. As a student at Stanford University, Koa continues to study Computer Science. Here is a word from Koa:

Aloha! My name is Koa Chang, and I am honored to be a 2023 Paubox Kahikina Scholar. I am writing this update as a rising senior at Stanford University, studying Computer Science.

Reflecting on these past years, I’ve learned a lot and gotten to dive deeper into the field of Computer Science. So much has changed since I first entered college, and I’m super grateful to the Paubox Foundation for believing in me and supporting my educational journey. Some highlights of this school year were taking more challenging classes in my major, like Natural Language Processing and Deep Learning for Computer Vision. These classes were really insightful, and I got to learn from pioneers in the field like John Schulman and Fei-Fei Li.

Apart from school, some other fun things I got to do this year were going down to LA to visit family and watch Stanford vs USC volleyball, camping at Tahoe with friends, and playing intramural basketball.

This summer, I’m looking forward to interning at Google as a Software Engineer intern. I’m excited to continue to learn and grow with whatever is next to come. Thank you again to Paubox for making this scholarship happen, it means a lot to me. Mahalo!

Read: Paubox Kahikina Scholarship Update