Paubox Kahikina Scholarship Recipient Montana Lagat: 2024 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

Montana Lagat is a rising junior at Stanford University majoring in Chemical Engineering. Here's a 2024 update from Montana: 

"In my previous update post, I shared that I am interested in materials science and engineering, but have since declared my major to be chemical engineering. I found that I enjoyed chemical engineering coursework in my “Introduction to Chemical Engineering” course and the research areas I am interested in (battery research) can directly apply knowledge of chemical engineering. After graduating, I hope to work in battery materials research and find new ways to improve energy storage systems for next-generation batteries that will be crucial to storing and distributing energy generated by renewable systems. My passion to curb negative environmental effects of fossil fuels drives my interest in the field of materials research for greater renewable energy storage. Although I am not sure about whether I would like to attend graduate school, I have enjoyed participating in research both last summer and during the regular school year as well.

The Paubox Kahikina STEM Scholarship has helped to relieve financial stress associated with attending college, especially out of state. I greatly appreciate the renewable financial support that Paubox provides to myself as well as to other scholarship recipients. Additionally, the access to the Paubox ‘ohana (family) network is very special to me. It is inspiring for me to see many other Native Hawaiians navigate unique educational journeys and succeed in many STEM-related fields. The gratitude of Hoala Greevy, as well as the Paubox organization as a whole, has allowed me to continue to grow as a young scholar and researcher with the opportunities avaibale at Stanford without significiant financial burden!

Mahalo nui loa to Paubox and a hui hou!". 

Read more: Paubox Kahikina Scholarship Recipient Reflection | Montana Lagat