Paubox Kahikina Scholarship Recipient Noah Kalehuawehe: 2025 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

Scholarship recipient Noah Kalehuawehe just finished his freshman year at Santa Clara University, where he found his calling in Mechanical Engineering after exploring different engineering disciplines. Here is a word from Noah:

"Aloha. My name is Noah Kalehuawehe, and I am a 2024 proud recipient of the Paubox Kahikina scholarship. I just finished up my freshman year at Santa Clara University, and this is my year one update on how it went. So during my first year, I took a lot of interesting courses in Engineering. I was first undeclared, and took some Intro to Programming classes, and then some basic core classes like Engineering, Math, and Physics. Later on, I decided not to go down that road and decided to focus on Mechanical Engineering. So I took more of like Material Science classes. I found it really interesting and decided to go forward with that in my sophomore year. I learned a lot, and it was pretty challenging but I strive to do better for next year. Another thing that I was involved in during my freshman year was Hawaii Club. I got to meet such amazing people through Hawaii Club, and I met a bunch of new friends and people up at college. Which I‘m really grateful that I have that support system, and people that I can rely on next year. I will also be taking up a role in Hawaii Club, known as Cultural Director. It’s one of the smaller roles but basically its job is to promote Hawaiian values and the culture throughout the club. So, I’ll be in charge of holding Makahiki events or just anything that our co-chair wants me to with the club with. And yeah, thank you again to Paubox for this opportunity, and for your support throughout my four years in college, and Mahalo."

Watch: Paubox Kahikina STEM Scholarship 2025 Update | Noah Kalehuawehe