Anna K.K. Wood - Leeward CC Commencement Celebration 2021 Graduate

Shout out to my various classmates who were awesome group members: HWST 107 food group, ENG 100 loud group (you know who you are), Hōkū (GEOG walks and Disney+), all the other Anna's and the rest of the stagecraft class, Ka Lupe o Kawelo and navigation fam, and kuʻu ʻohana from 101 and 102 ʻōlelo. You guys made studying fun and class challenging. I'm smarter because of you all (and because of kahoot!).

Finally, and most importantly, thank you to my family and to my mom for always supporting me. I couldn't have done it without you. You've inspired me to never stop learning, and you've opened up countless opportunities to help me fulfill that goal. I love you!

Thank you to those who had the biggest impact on me while at Leeward CC. First, Auntie Piʻi (thanks for nicknaming me Ipo) and Auntie Melissa from the Native Hawaiian Center, you'll never know how much you brightened my day. Everyone there made me feel truly at home. To Professor Young, Don, Kumu Kekai, Dr. Loretta, Kumu Leilani, and Professor Corey: you had a huge impact on my life and world view, thank you. To Professor Fujita, Kumu Kepa, Kumu Losch, and Professor Crandall: thank you for sharing your immense knowledge and maintaining your sense of humor and joy while teaching us. I feel honored to have learned from all of you.

College is sorta like hiking up a mountain. It takes a lot of work, makes you exhausted, but it's pretty much worth it at the end.

Just me pretending that the hike was a piece of cake, the way that I'm pretending I'm not procrastinating homework while writing this caption.

We all just finished our HAW 101 final with Kumu Leilani before this, so we were beyond relieved to be done at this point.