The first weeks of college can feel lonelier than you expect, and it can take a full year before a new campus feels like home. That's what Jade Haʻo, a Paubox Kahikina Scholarship recipient, found after leaving Kailua-Kona for the University of San Francisco (USF).

Jade is now a senior at USF studying computer science with a concentration in AI and a minor in biology. She is also a first-generation college student and a graduate of Kamehameha Schools Kapālama, where she boarded all four years.

We sat down with Jade to talk about the first years of college: what surprised her, what helped, and what she wishes she had done sooner. Three other recipients, Gabbie Nakamatsu, Allena Villanueva, and Kawika Naweli, added their own advice.

 

Expect more freedom and less structure than high school

Jade pictured college the way movies show it: parties every weekend and a heavy workload. As a first-generation student, she had no one in her immediate family to ask what it was really like.

The reality was quieter and more isolating. "High school sets up this conversation of meeting people and getting to know your peers," Jade said. "In college it was kind of a free-for-all. I walked into class thinking there was going to be assigned seats, and there were none."

The free time was its own adjustment: "I came from a time in my life where everything was scheduled out for me. I had my classes as my primary foundation, but the in-between spots, I didn't know how to fill that up."

Grading works differently too. "In many college classes, midterms and finals make up a large portion of your overall grade, so it's important to figure out what study methods work best for you and stay consistent with them," she said. "Don't wait until the last minute to cram. It's much less effective and only adds unnecessary stress."

 

Go to the events that make you nervous

Looking back, Jade wishes she had shown up to more club events in her first semester. She knew about USF's Women in Tech group but was too nervous to attend, and she is a member now.

"I kick myself now for not going to events, because there were other people who were also freshmen that were going. You don't realize how good that connection and network is until afterwards."

Office hours were another missed chance. Jade tried to work through problems alone, then found that office hours are often full of students stuck on the same thing: "There's that sense of community where it's like, I'm struggling on this problem, and so are you."

Kawika Naweli, who studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, put the same idea in three lines: "Participate in many different communities. Apply to things you think you won't get. Give new things a chance."

 

Leave room for fun and for figuring out who you are

Gabbie Nakamatsu studies biology and Japanese studies at Santa Clara University. Her advice is the one she wishes someone had given her: have more fun.

"I spent the first quarter of freshman year micromanaging my schedule to the minute, spending all of my free time in the library studying for general chemistry, and only participating in things that I thought would make my resume look good," Gabbie said.

Once she saw she could handle the coursework, she realized what was missing. "I knew how to study and I knew what I wanted to do career-wise, but I had no idea who I was." Looking back, she wishes she had gone out more, tried things she couldn't do at home, and gotten to know people from outside Hawaiʻi, even though that takes effort.

Allena Villanueva, who has since graduated and now works as a software engineer at Apple, has the same advice from the other side: savor every moment. "My favorite memories were the simple ones, and I wish for just 10 minutes I was back with my friends in line getting coffee talking about life," Allena said. "It's what I miss the most and took the most for granted."

 

Find your people from home, and stay close to it

For Jade, the culture shock came in small, constant ways. She had to learn about seasons, swap slippers and shorts for warmer clothes, and figure out public transit, which her island doesn't have much of. USF's student body also mixed cultures she rarely met growing up in Hawaiʻi.

Finding other students from Hawaiʻi helped most. "Becoming friends with people from Hawaiʻi, even if they're not from the same island, is very vital," Jade said. Her first ride on public transit was with a group of Hawaiʻi students who were all figuring it out together.

Jade recommends trying your school's Hawaiʻi clubs, even if they don't all fit. USF's Hawaiʻi club focuses on hula and performance, which isn't her thing, but its social events are: "They had a Merrie Monarch watch party, and I'm like, okay, I can do that. It never hurts to try it."

Staying close to home matters as much as finding it on campus. Jade calls her parents every night to give them a rundown of her day and ask how they're doing. "It's been a nice way to still feel like I'm connected to them, but also have my own separate life from them," she said.

If you're heading to the mainland, Jade suggests packing things that keep you grounded, including food. "I was shocked to find out that Aloha Shoyu wasn't sold in San Francisco, and that was a hard adjustment."

Allena's advice is to lean on the people who already have your back. "College is a huge change. But remember that your people are always there for you: family, friends, mentors, and of course your Kahikina family," she said.

 

Build a routine outside of class

It took Jade about a year to feel at home in San Francisco. The turning point was a job.

Through federal work-study, Jade got an on-campus job in USF's financial aid office, and she also tutored off campus. Having work that wasn't school gave her a routine and a reason to talk to people. "Computer science, sometimes you don't talk to that many people," she said.

Her advice is to pick a job outside your major: "Sometimes you become so major-focused that you kind of grow blind to what's going on around you. It's another way for me to build my resume and have those interpersonal skills."

She also protected time away from homework. On weekends, she volunteered planting trees in San Francisco neighborhoods, which meant getting off the computer and meeting people in the community.

By sophomore year, she had favorite local diners and didn't feel guilty about a quiet weekend. "Once I found my go-to places, it was nice to just settle in and relax," Jade said. "It also helped my family, because my mom then had more assurance of, oh, she's good now."

 

Answer misconceptions about Hawaiʻi with aloha

Classmates often see Hawaiʻi as a vacation spot. One asked Jade, in all seriousness, whether she lived in a grass hut.

"Oftentimes I was advocating for the real Hawaiʻi," she said. "There's all these issues that people don't really realize or kind of glaze over, because they look at Hawaiʻi as just a vacation spot."

Jade chooses compassion over frustration. "With Hawaiʻi's complex history, not a lot of people are educated in that, so I can't be offended that they don't know it. I look at it as a learning experience for both me and the person that I'm talking to, where it's like, let me tell you a fun fact about Hawaiʻi that you probably didn't know."

She also takes pride in being one of very few Native Hawaiian students in her program: "Any Polynesian, Indigenous, or Pacific representation is always so important, because in college, no one really talks about us. We're here. We're loud and proud about it."

 

Apply for every scholarship and file the FAFSA early

Working in financial aid gave Jade a view of what students miss. If readers take one thing from this article, Jade wants it to be this: apply for every scholarship you can, and file your FAFSA early.

"I know it's annoying. I know it's tedious work. But college is so expensive," she said. "I've seen so many students, Hawaiʻi and non-Hawaiʻi students, drop the ball on these outside scholarship opportunities and applying for FAFSA early. There's all these opportunities out there for students that people just don't take advantage of."

The FAFSA is also how students qualify for federal work-study, the program behind Jade's job in the financial aid office. Filing early can open up more than grants and loans.

The Paubox Kahikina Scholarship is one of the outside scholarships worth applying for. It supports Native Hawaiian students pursuing STEM or technology majors with $1,000 a year until they graduate.

 

What Jade would say on the flight out

Asked what she would tell herself on the flight from Hawaiʻi, Jade kept it simple: "Everything will be okay. Your family will always be there for you, and there are resources to help you on campus."

"Just don't be a hermit," she added. "Don't shy away from who you are and the person that you are back at home just to impress people who are not from Hawaiʻi."

Read more from these recipients in their own words: Jade Haʻo, Gabbie Nakamatsu, Allena Villanueva, and Kawika Naweli.

See related: The big ideas behind the Paubox Kahikina Scholarship