May 2, 2026 • 34 mins
Welcome to a real look at life at Brigham Young University–Hawaii.
In this podcast, we talk about how to apply, what helps you get in, and what to expect when you arrive. We keep it honest about student life being far from home, managing school and work, and adjusting to a campus full of different cultures.
We also talk about real challenges, like U.S. visa issues that have affected students from places like Tonga and Fiji, and how that impacts who gets the chance to come.
And yes, we talk about dating too. The pressure, the culture, and what it’s really like on a small campus where everyone knows everyone.
This podcast is for anyone thinking about BYU–Hawaii or already living it. It’s real, simple, and straight to the point.
Streaming now and connect with us online @thirdwatchpodcast
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_01 (00:03):
And welcome to the third one.
Welcome back, everybody.
Another week.
Man, how was your week?
How's it been since last time?
Oh, it's been good so far, youknow.
I got a little bit rich with mytogether jobs.
I got to purchase a beautiful uhKingdom of Tonga.
Yes.
Made in China.
(00:24):
But if you look in Sanamo, uhwe're looking at Samoa.
You know, we're very basic humanbeings in San Mora.
Basic, yeah.
Uh we don't worry about thematerialistic things.
We just got myself a fan, um,and then my salmon t-shirt.
So we're we're good, man.
Forget about your salmonEnglish.
(00:44):
Don't worry, we're happy, we'rejust happy people, you know.
But yes, today we're gonna havesome fun.
Yeah, we're gonna be talkingabout a fascinating topic.
SPEAKER_00 (00:53):
Very fascinating with this with the school.
There we go, yeah.
School, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (01:03):
But it'll be entertaining, yeah.
Yeah, it will be.
We're gonna be talking about ouruniversity, the Brigham Young
University of Hawaii, yeah, andhow it influences the Pacific,
right, as well as the Asianroom.
You know, it's it's more thanjust an institution, it's a
means whereby we can becomebetter.
Right.
Because it's it it's not just uhone university.
(01:25):
In the church, there's threeuniversities.
Well, there's actually four.
There's Breakham Young Hawaii,sorry University in Hawaii, and
Purville, and there's one inIdaho, and then there's BYU part
of Pathways, yeah.
So yeah, no, it's um it'samazing.
It's amazing to be part of it,and it's not just one school,
(01:45):
it's four multiple schools.
Exactly.
We're all working together tokeep us together as one.
But for those of you that don'tknow out there, Brigham Mill
University is an establishedinstitution where the one in
Hawaii is specifically for thePacific people and those in the
(02:06):
Asian rim.
Right, right.
Because they saw the needs ofus.
You know, this was establishedway back in the 1960s, and so we
love No, I thought you weregonna make uh make a joke about
my age.
So I gave you the look I waslike, oh no.
No, no.
No, but keep going, keep going,sorry.
(02:26):
I know you were there when theygroundbreaker.
Uh but it was uh establishedwith the vision from one of our
uh prophets in the Latter-daySaints or the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day SaintsChurch and envisioned a school
or university here.
And so this was specificallydesigned for Polynesia because
at the time there weren't a lotof tertiary opportunities for
(02:49):
Polynesians.
No.
You know, probably most likelyjust New Zealand had uh a
university at the time.
And so there was a way for themto come here to gain tertiary
education, to gain their to gaintheir bachelor's degrees, and
then go back home and implementtheir skills in those
communities.
So that's why it was here for,and that's why it's very
attractive for Polynesian peopleas well as those in the Asian
(03:10):
rim to come here, gain anopportunity that they otherwise
would not have, and then maketheir communities better.
Yeah.
Yeah, and I think that's why umone of the reasons why I love
Biwi Hawaii because it's notjust about school, it's more
than that, right?
It's about building our ownlittle community and and lifting
(03:30):
where we stand.
So yeah.
Exactly.
So now with that background,why?
Why did you choose BYUH?
Um, well that that like Imentioned, that was one of the
reasons I think for me as well.
When I left my mission after mymission, I never had any
thoughts of studying um after mymission.
(03:51):
So but then you know, from mymission I've kind of learned
about gaining education as wellas um the importance of
knowledge.
So I naturally after liketowards the end of my mission, I
applied and I wanted to comeschool here.
So me last time that I studiedwas was nine years before that.
(04:12):
So last time I studied was 20202014.
That was a long time ago.
Um and then having to come backinto um into school, it was a it
was an exciting opportunity, butas well as a scary opportunity
at the same time.
Uh but B-Way Hawaii reallyoffered the opportunity to be
able to study, but as well as bein an environment that would
(04:35):
help me strengthen my testimony,um, and and still live the
gospel.
Wow.
And being in the sameenvironment with other people
that are striving for the samething, of the same values, same
standards as well.
So what about you?
Yeah, similar reasons.
I besides being uh uh coerced bymy uh companion over here, I
(04:58):
wanted to strive for educationin some way or form.
I didn't know I was gonna comeall the way to Hawaii to achieve
that dream.
But when I saw that it was like,you know, pretty much a
full-right scholarship, if youdon't know, if you are selected
in the iWork program,scholarship program, you're able
to have basically most of yourtuition uh paid for.
Yeah, covered.
(05:19):
Covered.
Yeah.
Which it which you know coversyour accommodation, tuition,
insurance, all of that goodstuff.
There are certain costs that wewill talk about later that you
have to prepare for as well.
But initially it's it's anamazing opportunity, and you are
well subsidized, which isawesome.
Yeah.
And so I took that opportunitybecause my my uh monetary
(05:43):
standards back then wasn'treally high.
You know, I was still kind ofpretty pretty broke, and so this
was kind of a you wasn't prettybroke, we were broke.
Well, then to expose that mylife, but uh yeah, pretty much
and so this was the viableopportunity um for me.
But in that same, how was it?
Was it pretty easy for you toget in?
(06:05):
Or um was very easy actually.
Uh not saying that um it was aneasy, you know, a few clicks
here submit and then you'll giveyou an answer straight away.
Oh, yeah, because I know theywere looking for older couples.
So you must have fallen on theolder singles.
Yeah, no.
So the process is um it's not asbad as I thought it would be,
(06:28):
but applying for it, it's it'sfairly easy.
I think they've made it easierfor us to be able to apply, and
they've considered the islandsas well.
Don't have much access tointernet or online, so they've
made it easier for us to submitan application.
Once you submit the application,then you'll get an acceptance
litter, letter, letter.
Wow, so it's it's workinguniversally.
(06:50):
Uh you get an acceptance letter,um, and then from there, really
just get the ball rolling,getting your visa, getting
everything sorted, your planetickets, and then you're man,
just like that, you're here.
You're you're in Hawaii.
So it wasn't a scary processbecause your ward or your or
your congregation back at homereally helps out with that
(07:12):
process as well.
Because you have to getpermission, not permission, but
you have to get the um thebacking of your bishop as well
as your stick president.
So really it just a wholeprocess that makes it easier for
us to be able to come and applyand come here to be with Hawaii.
And that's made made possiblethrough your church leaders,
your community, as well as fromthe school as well.
(07:33):
So Yeah, wow.
Sounds like for you.
It was it was pretty similar.
As long as you have you know apretty good record of
achievement.
Even if you uh record ofachievement, okay.
But even if you haven't donewell in school, they still have
ways for you to come to BYUH orBYUI or BYU Provo through the
(07:56):
BYU pathways.
Yeah.
So BYU Pathways is predominantlyan online class where it allows
you to I haven't done it, you'vedone the pathways program.
Yeah, so so prior to me coming,I wanted I didn't need a when I
submitted my record of learning,like you mentioned, I didn't
(08:17):
need to do other additionalthings for me to get in or to
reach, I guess, the minimumentrance to BOE Hawaii.
So because I've had enoughcredits, I just wanted to sort
of do BYU pathway for me to sortof get back into the habits of
studies, you know, having tospend time on a computer, having
to sort of learn how to type,how to purchase a computer.
So with all those things cameinto play.
(08:40):
I was grateful that I was to bepart of the BYU Pathway because
it allowed me and took me timeto get used to the different
system because by then schoolwas online, Canvas, you know,
having to get used to Zoom.
So really it was not onlyadjusting to that environment of
the school, but as well as theother technologies that have
(09:01):
come you know through since.
Definitely.
Yeah.
So that's for those of us thatthink, oh man, we did terrible
in school.
BYU Pathways is there to helpyou learn the skills necessary
for college, as well as to helpyou, you know, gain your
foundational understanding ofthe basic subjects.
So that when you come here, it'snot as much of a shock to you.
So for me it was pretty simple,same thing, same process.
(09:23):
Visa is so important.
Book it early and try and getit.
I was like my apologies.
I delayed that, I procrastinatedit, and I nearly, nearly didn't
make it on the plane.
I lost my yes, I lost my form,my DS 2019, woof and I had to
get there.
(09:43):
But we survived clearly, we arehere and we are enjoying Hawaii,
yeah.
Yes, definitely.
Um, so going on with what yousaid that you mentioned before
about the numbers as well aslike cost.
So we are part of the iWorkScholarship.
For those that don't know, doyou want to give a quick rundown
of what iWork Scholarship is allabout and what it kind of
(10:07):
entails and like school fees aswell in general?
Yeah, so the iWork Scholarship,as I said, is uh those that are
selected as most predominantlyinternational students.
Well, actually, it's onlyinternational students that come
from the Asian Rim and thePacific.
So Asian Rim, Philippines,Japan, Indonesia, countries like
(10:27):
that, as well as in the Pacific,Tonga Tuvaru, Samoa, all of
those countries can apply forthe iWork scholarship.
And if they uh reach thecriteria or the requirements for
the scholarship, then you willhave your tuition pretty much
paid.
Yeah?
Yeah.
The only uh as part of theconditions for iWork, you have
(10:47):
to work for a minimum of 19hours a week.
So you're part-time, and part ofthat pay will come towards
paying your tuition off.
But the portion that issponsored and paid for is way
larger than our contributionourselves that we work for.
So IWork, we are required towork 19 hours during the
semester per week, and then wecan work up to 40 hours if your
(11:08):
job allows it in the breaks.
And as I said, a portion of yourpay will be paid off, but they
still leave you enough to buyyour amenities and your
groceries and things like thatthat are not covered by iWork.
Yeah.
Um because of the because of it,there are definite restrictions
for certain things in terms oftravel, like you have to give a
lot of notice.
And I believe the only themaximum you can leave is about
(11:30):
two weeks at a time for iWork.
But for what it pays for, forwhat it provides you, it is uh
it is worth it.
Yeah.
And then one thing I'll add intothat is the family contribution
part as well.
I think it's very important whenyou when you come to school,
it's not just a you thing, Ithink it's a community thing,
(11:52):
it's a collective thing withyour family.
So there is a part that yourfamily can contribute to that
cost, and like you mentioned, itcomes nowhere near what the
university offers.
I think when I looked at it, itwas like a hundred and eighty
thousand dollars all up for usto be here.
Um that's the cost of you know,scholarship, um, tuition, food,
(12:14):
our accommodation, everythingthat is so they've really the
university has made it easierfor us to be here so that our
focus really just goes straightto our studies rather than
worrying about the financialpart.
So your family really cancontribute to uh that family
contribution, but there's alsoother opportunities where you
can work and pay off that familycontribution.
(12:35):
It is divided up into threesemesters because that's how
many semesters we have, um, andthat's how you know how how it
is.
So for example, if someone ispaying a thousand dollars a
year, let's say for example,it's a thousand a year for your
family contribution.
That thousand dollars is dividedup into three uh different
semesters for the year.
So you're not paying a wholethousand and and one semester.
(12:57):
I mean you could, but you didn'thave to.
They've kind of divided up foryou.
So that's what quick math, howmuch is that?
333 um per semester.
So so yeah, and that's it.
And it depends on your familysituation too.
If your family have certainthings, like a lot of people on
the mission or someone may be onmedical leave, then they'll
(13:20):
consider that in yourapplication.
So some of us may have athousand dollars a year, some of
us may have more, may have less.
Yeah.
But it's all dependent on yoursituation and they preferably
consider that stuff too.
And that's why I think for meit's important to be here in
Hawaii and and just theexpectation that I've had uh
since coming to school.
I've lowered my lowered myexpectation of of what I need
(13:45):
and just live, you know, throughbasic things.
We don't need a lot of things,right?
We don't need a fancy watch hereand there, we don't need, you
know, things that others canafford.
Yeah.
Where us we're here just toreally basically live in
accordance with what we have,and as well as support from the
(14:06):
school.
Man, there's so many support.
Uh what do you think?
There's a lot of resourcesaround the school, or is there
not a lot of resources for theschool?
Oh, there's heaps.
But I think as students we justdon't like to use them.
Like the library, there's somany resources here reading,
writing lab.
You have your faculty that arealways there to help you with
your studies, a lot of TAs.
And there's so many differentnights.
(14:27):
There's grad school prep night,there's internship night,
there's all of these clubs thatare wanting to help you succeed.
So there's a lot of there's alot of support, but whether we
actually utilize them is the iswhere the discernment is.
But our work is amazing.
Like I remember when I came andI thought it was just a bunch of
rules, and I felt so limited.
(14:48):
Yeah.
I felt like I was in a trap, youknow?
But uh when I thought about itand realized, wow, this is
actually a serious commitment toactually come here and having
other sponsors or as well as thechurch help prov subsidize my
education, it allow it allows meand it and it motivates me to
become better, to study harder,so that I can then be an asset
(15:11):
to my community back home.
Yeah.
Instead of being that mum.
That kind of brings me to thenext question um that I was
thinking about um going from areligious school versus a public
or private school.
Is there any difference in inthe two?
I mean, obviously there is interms of religion and but what
(15:33):
is the fear because you've beenthrough public as well as
private school, and in nowreligious schools, so how does
it I guess what it differ fromthe other two?
Yeah, I mean that's a bigquestion, you know.
A lot of people hear BYUH andthink, oh, that's the that's the
Mormon school, that's the Mormonuniversity.
But it is not, it it'sdefinitely uh sponsored and and
(15:57):
was founded by the AudiusChurch, but its resources aren't
limited just to its members.
Yeah.
There's a there's a lot ofstudents here that are not
members of our faith but chooseto come here.
Um but the only thing thatdiffers is the expectations.
So with you know, your publicschool, every every uh
institution has their owndifferent rules.
(16:20):
Yeah.
And public school is more like,you know, don't do this, don't
do this, don't do this, respectthis.
But with uh this uh unique uhBYOH uh school or university,
it's a lot of uh biggerprinciples that they are trying
to teach you to become uh abetter person, not necessarily
(16:42):
you know, become a member of thechurch of the of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
It's just to become a generallybetter person.
You know, to conduct yourself ina better way.
So we have something called anhonor code where you know they
they set out specific rules andways to help teach you respect
of other people's privacy, ofother people's cultures, it uh
(17:04):
and a lot of it is influenced bythe doctrines of the church.
But the doctrines of the churcharen't unique to the church,
it's more so that it's uhteaching principles that we all
should really learn to love oneanother, to support one another,
and things like that.
Yeah, and I think to add on tothat, I think to r standards
that are really we are reallykeeping as church members.
(17:26):
So I think it's it's nothingnew, it's just that it's just
been enforced in a university umspace where a lot of our
students have to kind of abideby, right?
And I mean, I agree with some, Idon't agree with some.
Um but we're not gonna go intothe details of what, you know,
which one I agree with.
But there are some that Idefinitely think is there for a
(17:49):
reason.
Reason of safety, not onlyphysically, but as well as
spiritually, um, and as well asmaking sure that we're we're in
a safe environment, not only forourselves, but for others as
well.
We come from differentcountries, and like we've heard
before, it's the only schoolwhere you study and travel at
the same time because you'relearning from other students
(18:10):
around, right?
And if I'm studying, I'm in theclass with people from the
Philippines, from Mongolia,China, Fiji.
So we may not have the samebackground upbringing, but we
have the same church or the samevalues, values of of
spirituality.
So because of that, it it kindof allows for the environment to
be able to facilitate not onlyto me but to other people as
(18:33):
well.
So I think for me, yes to someuh well yes to honor code, but
there's some that I disagreewith based off different I guess
situation.
Yeah, it's not it's never um aone size fit all kind of thing.
I mean one size We know Tanoagoes big size over there, but
(18:58):
it's it's about uh being able tosort of look at it you know
through different situations.
So I mean something that wouldapplicable to me as a salmon
from Australia is different thanwhat it would be for someone
from the Philippines from fromMongolia.
So again, it's one of thosethings where I agree with some,
(19:18):
but I don't agree with some.
Which ones?
To be continued, cancel hisvisa, everybody.
Um, yeah, man.
So given that we have so manycultures, so many countries or
streams from differentcountries, what do you think of
the recent band uh by the USgovernment?
(19:39):
I mean, not to sort of get intopolitics or anything, even
though I love politics.
But what do you think of theband um that was imposed by the
US government?
It's interesting.
I I was talking to a few Tonganstudents, um, because Tonga is
on the ban list for certainspecific visas.
And Fiji as well?
Fiji, I think Tuvalu is.
(20:01):
Those are the only Polynesiancountries that I know of.
There might be more.
Yeah.
Or the status may have changedby the time we implement this
video.
But right now they've they'vebanned uh J1, I think F1
students as well from cominginto the US because of the
overstayer rates.
Yeah.
Now it's a classic stigma.
(20:21):
Overstayers, it's the samepredicament back at home in New
Zealand back in the day with thedawn raids.
Right, right.
And and now, you know, with iceand everything going on, it's
quite a touchy subject.
But for me, there's there's twoperspectives that I see.
Right?
There's a ban, it's easy tolabel Tonga and Fiji as, oh,
(20:43):
they're just a bunch of studentsthat didn't want to leave the
country.
They just run off and marry a palung and go have a family.
Right.
And although there may be caseslike that.
Oh, there's definitely caseslike that.
Especially for the 'cause we canrun.
But for it's easy to label us asthat.
(21:04):
But if you look at the actualstatistics, Dong A, Fiji,
Tuvalu, they're a very, verysmall percentage of the whole
population are overstayers.
Yeah.
But because it's in relation toour population within the US,
our percentages are higher.
Higher, right, right.
Um and uh one of the I can'tremember which I'm talking
about.
Inokize Inoke kind of gave apresentation on that.
(21:28):
Yeah.
Just because we may have, Ithink, around 6.5% that are
overstaying, which is over thethreshold in the US, it's a
very, very small number, I think150 to 160.
But if you look at othercountries, they may have uh a
million of them here, but onlymaybe nine thousand of them.
Yeah.
Like say for France, I'm prettysure they have like over a
(21:50):
million people here, but there'sabout nine thousand five hundred
overstaires.
Which is a smaller percentage ofthe actual.
Which you if you make it inpercentage.
But nine nine.
So there's this distortion thatis putting this image on Tonga
as people just wanting to stayand use illegal resources and
(22:12):
things like that.
So I want to clarify that thatit's not just the numbers,
there's a lot behind it.
But also what I feel of it forfor Donga in a sense, what I
felt was it was an opportunityfor Donga to fight its uh
monarchical and itsparliamentary system to come
together to to fight for Donga'sstance here.
(22:32):
You know, to have more uhpolitical activity with the US.
Now I keep up to that withTonga's politics.
I know I think they've alreadyhad meetings about it, about the
ban and things like that.
But what I heard from the uhstudents as well was that this
is a time for Tonga to processwhat it can do as a country.
(22:55):
Okay, here we are, this is theconsequences of some people's
actions.
What can we do to hold ourselveshigh, to generate our own
educational systems to have thesame opportunities as America so
we don't have to keep shiftingall of our, you know, uh good
students and those that all canbe an asset to society away from
us.
How can we keep them there?
(23:16):
How can we learn from ourmistakes and become a better
society as a whole?
So those are the things that Ilearned from it.
Yeah, and and I think this isthe consequence of uh of that
policy, right?
So now future students are notable to come and study here at
BOE Hawaii.
So really it's just emb you knowit's stopping and and preventing
some of those students, and itcover kind of infringed onto the
(23:36):
mission of the church as well asthe mission of the school,
providing quality education tothe Pacific as well as Asia Room
of students to develop their owncountry.
So by all means, I I don't Idon't disagree with America and
their stance on on their bordersand as well as um this band.
I think I would agree with it aswell if I was American.
(23:59):
Um but I think at the same timewe as Polynesian islands need to
do more, like you mentioned, interms of government.
So we need to do more andensuring that when our people
come here, they have anincentive to come back to these
islands and to have a job,better opportunity to be able to
develop their country as well.
So so by all means, I don't Idon't disagree with the ban.
(24:23):
I if anything, I would supportit.
Others may say otherwise.
Um we're just trying to get ridof other talkers.
So there's a middle name I no,but as a as a political science
chair, um I think if it's youknow uh um America's doing what
it's best for its people and forits country, so I don't I don't
(24:44):
see it as a that's more of arealist overview over here.
He's a realist, I'm more of aliberal myself.
Oh, but look, it's it's one ofthose things where that our
islands need to do more.
And and I think that's such atrue statement.
Not only for Tonga, but like forother islands.
I think we need to step up.
I think we've contributed a lotto getting people here, getting
(25:05):
people here, but not gettingthem getting them back.
Get them back.
So providing jobs,opportunities, infrastructure,
infrastructure.
So we're not developing ourcountry enough to for them to
come back.
Yeah.
Um so that's what I think of thewhole ban and everything, and
kind of fringing onto that.
So but you did mention aboutmarriage.
(25:26):
Did I?
I think you did.
Um so a lot of our students, youknow, they've come and they've
dated and um and they're marriedoff to pretty much anyone here.
So what do you what do you uhwhat do you think of the dating
scene here in America or maybeHawaii?
Oh, it's weird.
It's weird.
How's it weird?
(25:46):
Well, uh to compare, I feel likein New Zealand in general, when
you take someone on a date andyou're dating to marry.
Once you're in that stage, youpretty much want that boy or
girl.
Yeah.
But over here in the US here inthe US, they date for the sake
of dating.
(26:07):
And so there's a conflict ofinterest, especially when an
American is dating a Polynesian,you know what I mean?
Right.
Um, but um I it I guess itworks, really.
It's it's yeah, it's weird, butit works.
There's a high rate of marriagesthat I have been in pretty
quick.
Yeah, and what's the uh what'sthe title?
(26:28):
The fastest I've seen is withintwo months, you know what I
mean?
They've proposed uh after theone month and they got married
in the second month.
Nah, I think you're right.
Uh the dating scene is differenthere.
And I because of the differentperspectives and the different
cultures of dating that we grewup in, more old school, yeah.
(26:51):
Well, I'm more old school in inin terms of the approach to
dating, right?
So I prefer to sort of approachthem in person.
Um I would prefer to sort of,you know.
Take them, gauge the room.
Uh sculpt the scenery actually.
But that's the more of the old II guess the old way of dating.
(27:12):
So but it's definitelydifferent.
For America, it's become more ofa cultural thing that everyone
just goes on date for the sakeof getting a meal in the house.
You know, to the point of likeI've heard some girls say that
you know they've scheduleddifferent dates for other week
so they can get a meal.
SPEAKER_00 (27:29):
Like, it shouldn't have to be a meal when you're
like if you want to meal you, itseems like you've been in a lot
of dates.
SPEAKER_01 (27:42):
I think it's it shouldn't have to be about the
meal, it should be about theperson.
I think you're right as well.
Because we already know of eachother because we're sort of in a
similar island, so we kind ofknow the group of friends that
we're in.
So because of that, it kind ofleans straight to married or
dating to be married, right?
So because it's bold to bepublic about yourself.
(28:04):
Oh I'm very bold.
Because either you you know getit right or get it wrong, and
then you're gonna lose a friend.
That's a big thing that once yougo public, D, good luck with
your life, right?
Because you better go through,otherwise everyone's gonna talk
about you.
Um speaking for prisons, nogood.
(28:33):
The day is good.
I think both are good in theirown way, yeah, and they relate
to the environment that they'rein.
Yeah, yeah.
But when it comes to people UH,I think for boys, well, talking
to a lot of girls, yeah.
You talk to my girls.
Um, so for those that look atthem.
(28:54):
Sorry, babe, I love you.
I'm just saying But like talkingto a lot of women, yeah.
Let me change it to women.
They always say that the mendon't want to approach them.
Yeah, they're too scared to askthem out.
Like, oh, usually we getrecommended, like, oh man, hey,
uh so-and-so likes you overthere.
And and then the girls are like,Well, then tell them to come ask
(29:15):
me.
I'm not gonna go after him, youknow what I mean?
Yeah, to the point where itannoys them.
I feel like the boys here needto kind of step up their game.
See, but this is where I comefrom a different approach.
I would say the girl needs toalso do the approaching.
I I see that.
Like, yeah, I think I think youknow, sometimes right we we've
(29:37):
learned on the mission,Revelation is a two it's a
two-way thing.
It's not just a one-way thing.
If you felt something and ifyou've you know you've been
inspired to ask me out on adate, let me know.
SPEAKER_00 (29:51):
Like, let me know.
Like Please! Like, here's mynumber.
SPEAKER_01 (29:59):
But like, I think you know, girls need to sort of
do the same as well.
Now, I do think it's a wholecultural shift.
It's a whole cultural shift, youknow.
Y'all want equality, you gottabut it's it's something that I
think, you know, it's a it's acollective thing.
We need to we need to do thistogether.
If you're gonna ask me on adate, it's nothing, you know.
(30:20):
I mean, it's gonna boost our egoa little bit.
It must be, you know, it must besomething I'm doing right or I
look a bit different.
But in saying that, I thinkgirls should do the approaching
as well, not just the men.
So, but in saying that, hey,dating is dating, man.
Dating.
Whatever works for you, youknow, works for you as well.
So Well, I would say, I wouldsay that the the boys need to
(30:44):
have more courage to ask thegirls.
Yeah, because in in Bi WayHawaii, there's actually more
female than the male.
So we should be dating two girlsat a time.
And how many that you dating?
(31:05):
No bad.
Anyway, that's enough talkingfor today.
And and it just that that is bewhy you wait, and uh that is
what it offers.
It's a fun environment.
Your lover here, it's not goingto be the easiest thing because
your family aren't here, andwe're such community-based
people.
Yeah, but when you look aroundto your neighbors, you realize
(31:27):
they're all suffering together,and there's something beautiful
about suffering together, itmakes it a lot easier.
Yeah, so realize that you don'thave to carry your burden alone
if you do come here, and theopportunities that will arise
because of you coming to Hawaiiis amazing.
And if not, the bare minimum,you get to be in Hawaii.
Yeah, I mean, being here inparadise is another I guess
(31:49):
incentive and part of the theprivilege that we get to study
and be Hawaii.
So if anyone that wants to cometo school or not sure about it,
just come.
Like, I mean, if you don't likeit, you can always go back home.
You don't have to stay here.
But if anything, apply, come andcheck it out for yourself.
And if you like it, you like it.
If you don't, it's all good.
(32:09):
Book a trip, man.
Come to Hawaii, come and checkit out for yourself first.
And if you like it, you like theenvironment, then hey, by all
means, come and stay and get aneducation, I guess.
Come and date.
That's the first one, yeah.
Get an education.
But even more important thanthat is we're becoming better
people.
Yeah, we're becoming betterleaders and disciples of Jesus
Christ.
(32:30):
If we can do that, then theschool has served its mission
for us.
Otherwise, come have some fun atthe Polynesian Cultural Center.
Both of us work there.
Yeah, portable guys.
Yeah, we're both tour guys.
We're both working at thePolynesian Cultural Center.
So, and that's another thingabout being a student, right?
You get to work at thePolynesian Cultural Center.
You don't have to, but you canwork at the Polynesian Cultural
(32:50):
Center.
So about 85%, 80 to 85% of theworkers that are students.
And you have different jobs,man.
I love I don't know about you,but I love being a tour guide.
Wow, you really do, eh?
I think because I because Istudy political science as well
as Pacific Studies, it kind ofoffers me an opportunity to
share what I've learned inclassrooms.
So and I love it.
(33:11):
I mean, I love people, sohopefully that will sort of turn
into a different care uh to intoa career, uh, whether it be with
I don't know, running as apolitician.
Oh, breaking news.
Oh breaking news, you'll bewalking as a politician.
(33:32):
That's all the time we have herefor today, but yes, we are
talking guys.
That's all the time we have.
We have a lot of time.
Sorry, yeah.
No, um, thank you for beinghere, man.
I mean, if you have anyquestions, let us know in the
comments.
Um, anyway, please follow us onInstagram, TikTok, Facebook,
(33:54):
YouTube.
We have all these platforms wecan come and enjoy some more
cool content where we laugh andwe talk about things that are
important to our people, yeah?
Yeah, and if you have any topicsor anything that you want us to
discuss or want our perspectiveon, let us know as well.
Happy to sort of talk aboutanything church related, culture
related, related to school,whatever, food related.
(34:14):
Ooh, he got so excited.
Look at him.
Anything that you know that youwant us to talk about, we'd love
to talk about those things aswell.
But apart from that, I lover.
Yeah, Malo Abito.
And welcome to the third one.
Welcome back, everybody.
Another week.
Man, how was your week?
How's it been since last time?
Oh, it's been good so far, youknow.
I got a little bit rich with mytogether jobs.
I got to purchase a beautiful uhKingdom of Tonga.
Yes.
Made in China.
(00:24):
But if you look in Sanamo, uhwe're looking at Samoa.
You know, we're very basic humanbeings in San Mora.
Basic, yeah.
Uh we don't worry about thematerialistic things.
We just got myself a fan, um,and then my salmon t-shirt.
So we're we're good, man.
Forget about your salmonEnglish.
(00:44):
Don't worry, we're happy, we'rejust happy people, you know.
But yes, today we're gonna havesome fun.
Yeah, we're gonna be talkingabout a fascinating topic.
SPEAKER_00 (00:53):
Very fascinating with this with the school.
There we go, yeah.
School, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (01:03):
But it'll be entertaining, yeah.
Yeah, it will be.
We're gonna be talking about ouruniversity, the Brigham Young
University of Hawaii, yeah, andhow it influences the Pacific,
right, as well as the Asianroom.
You know, it's it's more thanjust an institution, it's a
means whereby we can becomebetter.
Right.
Because it's it it's not just uhone university.
(01:25):
In the church, there's threeuniversities.
Well, there's actually four.
There's Breakham Young Hawaii,sorry University in Hawaii, and
Purville, and there's one inIdaho, and then there's BYU part
of Pathways, yeah.
So yeah, no, it's um it'samazing.
It's amazing to be part of it,and it's not just one school,
(01:45):
it's four multiple schools.
Exactly.
We're all working together tokeep us together as one.
But for those of you that don'tknow out there, Brigham Mill
University is an establishedinstitution where the one in
Hawaii is specifically for thePacific people and those in the
(02:06):
Asian rim.
Right, right.
Because they saw the needs ofus.
You know, this was establishedway back in the 1960s, and so we
love No, I thought you weregonna make uh make a joke about
my age.
So I gave you the look I waslike, oh no.
No, no.
No, but keep going, keep going,sorry.
(02:26):
I know you were there when theygroundbreaker.
Uh but it was uh establishedwith the vision from one of our
uh prophets in the Latter-daySaints or the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day SaintsChurch and envisioned a school
or university here.
And so this was specificallydesigned for Polynesia because
at the time there weren't a lotof tertiary opportunities for
(02:49):
Polynesians.
No.
You know, probably most likelyjust New Zealand had uh a
university at the time.
And so there was a way for themto come here to gain tertiary
education, to gain their to gaintheir bachelor's degrees, and
then go back home and implementtheir skills in those
communities.
So that's why it was here for,and that's why it's very
attractive for Polynesian peopleas well as those in the Asian
(03:10):
rim to come here, gain anopportunity that they otherwise
would not have, and then maketheir communities better.
Yeah.
Yeah, and I think that's why umone of the reasons why I love
Biwi Hawaii because it's notjust about school, it's more
than that, right?
It's about building our ownlittle community and and lifting
(03:30):
where we stand.
So yeah.
Exactly.
So now with that background,why?
Why did you choose BYUH?
Um, well that that like Imentioned, that was one of the
reasons I think for me as well.
When I left my mission after mymission, I never had any
thoughts of studying um after mymission.
(03:51):
So but then you know, from mymission I've kind of learned
about gaining education as wellas um the importance of
knowledge.
So I naturally after liketowards the end of my mission, I
applied and I wanted to comeschool here.
So me last time that I studiedwas was nine years before that.
(04:12):
So last time I studied was 20202014.
That was a long time ago.
Um and then having to come backinto um into school, it was a it
was an exciting opportunity, butas well as a scary opportunity
at the same time.
Uh but B-Way Hawaii reallyoffered the opportunity to be
able to study, but as well as bein an environment that would
(04:35):
help me strengthen my testimony,um, and and still live the
gospel.
Wow.
And being in the sameenvironment with other people
that are striving for the samething, of the same values, same
standards as well.
So what about you?
Yeah, similar reasons.
I besides being uh uh coerced bymy uh companion over here, I
(04:58):
wanted to strive for educationin some way or form.
I didn't know I was gonna comeall the way to Hawaii to achieve
that dream.
But when I saw that it was like,you know, pretty much a
full-right scholarship, if youdon't know, if you are selected
in the iWork program,scholarship program, you're able
to have basically most of yourtuition uh paid for.
Yeah, covered.
(05:19):
Covered.
Yeah.
Which it which you know coversyour accommodation, tuition,
insurance, all of that goodstuff.
There are certain costs that wewill talk about later that you
have to prepare for as well.
But initially it's it's anamazing opportunity, and you are
well subsidized, which isawesome.
Yeah.
And so I took that opportunitybecause my my uh monetary
(05:43):
standards back then wasn'treally high.
You know, I was still kind ofpretty pretty broke, and so this
was kind of a you wasn't prettybroke, we were broke.
Well, then to expose that mylife, but uh yeah, pretty much
and so this was the viableopportunity um for me.
But in that same, how was it?
Was it pretty easy for you toget in?
(06:05):
Or um was very easy actually.
Uh not saying that um it was aneasy, you know, a few clicks
here submit and then you'll giveyou an answer straight away.
Oh, yeah, because I know theywere looking for older couples.
So you must have fallen on theolder singles.
Yeah, no.
So the process is um it's not asbad as I thought it would be,
(06:28):
but applying for it, it's it'sfairly easy.
I think they've made it easierfor us to be able to apply, and
they've considered the islandsas well.
Don't have much access tointernet or online, so they've
made it easier for us to submitan application.
Once you submit the application,then you'll get an acceptance
litter, letter, letter.
Wow, so it's it's workinguniversally.
(06:50):
Uh you get an acceptance letter,um, and then from there, really
just get the ball rolling,getting your visa, getting
everything sorted, your planetickets, and then you're man,
just like that, you're here.
You're you're in Hawaii.
So it wasn't a scary processbecause your ward or your or
your congregation back at homereally helps out with that
(07:12):
process as well.
Because you have to getpermission, not permission, but
you have to get the um thebacking of your bishop as well
as your stick president.
So really it just a wholeprocess that makes it easier for
us to be able to come and applyand come here to be with Hawaii.
And that's made made possiblethrough your church leaders,
your community, as well as fromthe school as well.
(07:33):
So Yeah, wow.
Sounds like for you.
It was it was pretty similar.
As long as you have you know apretty good record of
achievement.
Even if you uh record ofachievement, okay.
But even if you haven't donewell in school, they still have
ways for you to come to BYUH orBYUI or BYU Provo through the
(07:56):
BYU pathways.
Yeah.
So BYU Pathways is predominantlyan online class where it allows
you to I haven't done it, you'vedone the pathways program.
Yeah, so so prior to me coming,I wanted I didn't need a when I
submitted my record of learning,like you mentioned, I didn't
(08:17):
need to do other additionalthings for me to get in or to
reach, I guess, the minimumentrance to BOE Hawaii.
So because I've had enoughcredits, I just wanted to sort
of do BYU pathway for me to sortof get back into the habits of
studies, you know, having tospend time on a computer, having
to sort of learn how to type,how to purchase a computer.
So with all those things cameinto play.
(08:40):
I was grateful that I was to bepart of the BYU Pathway because
it allowed me and took me timeto get used to the different
system because by then schoolwas online, Canvas, you know,
having to get used to Zoom.
So really it was not onlyadjusting to that environment of
the school, but as well as theother technologies that have
(09:01):
come you know through since.
Definitely.
Yeah.
So that's for those of us thatthink, oh man, we did terrible
in school.
BYU Pathways is there to helpyou learn the skills necessary
for college, as well as to helpyou, you know, gain your
foundational understanding ofthe basic subjects.
So that when you come here, it'snot as much of a shock to you.
So for me it was pretty simple,same thing, same process.
(09:23):
Visa is so important.
Book it early and try and getit.
I was like my apologies.
I delayed that, I procrastinatedit, and I nearly, nearly didn't
make it on the plane.
I lost my yes, I lost my form,my DS 2019, woof and I had to
get there.
(09:43):
But we survived clearly, we arehere and we are enjoying Hawaii,
yeah.
Yes, definitely.
Um, so going on with what yousaid that you mentioned before
about the numbers as well aslike cost.
So we are part of the iWorkScholarship.
For those that don't know, doyou want to give a quick rundown
of what iWork Scholarship is allabout and what it kind of
(10:07):
entails and like school fees aswell in general?
Yeah, so the iWork Scholarship,as I said, is uh those that are
selected as most predominantlyinternational students.
Well, actually, it's onlyinternational students that come
from the Asian Rim and thePacific.
So Asian Rim, Philippines,Japan, Indonesia, countries like
(10:27):
that, as well as in the Pacific,Tonga Tuvaru, Samoa, all of
those countries can apply forthe iWork scholarship.
And if they uh reach thecriteria or the requirements for
the scholarship, then you willhave your tuition pretty much
paid.
Yeah?
Yeah.
The only uh as part of theconditions for iWork, you have
(10:47):
to work for a minimum of 19hours a week.
So you're part-time, and part ofthat pay will come towards
paying your tuition off.
But the portion that issponsored and paid for is way
larger than our contributionourselves that we work for.
So IWork, we are required towork 19 hours during the
semester per week, and then wecan work up to 40 hours if your
(11:08):
job allows it in the breaks.
And as I said, a portion of yourpay will be paid off, but they
still leave you enough to buyyour amenities and your
groceries and things like thatthat are not covered by iWork.
Yeah.
Um because of the because of it,there are definite restrictions
for certain things in terms oftravel, like you have to give a
lot of notice.
And I believe the only themaximum you can leave is about
(11:30):
two weeks at a time for iWork.
But for what it pays for, forwhat it provides you, it is uh
it is worth it.
Yeah.
And then one thing I'll add intothat is the family contribution
part as well.
I think it's very important whenyou when you come to school,
it's not just a you thing, Ithink it's a community thing,
(11:52):
it's a collective thing withyour family.
So there is a part that yourfamily can contribute to that
cost, and like you mentioned, itcomes nowhere near what the
university offers.
I think when I looked at it, itwas like a hundred and eighty
thousand dollars all up for usto be here.
Um that's the cost of you know,scholarship, um, tuition, food,
(12:14):
our accommodation, everythingthat is so they've really the
university has made it easierfor us to be here so that our
focus really just goes straightto our studies rather than
worrying about the financialpart.
So your family really cancontribute to uh that family
contribution, but there's alsoother opportunities where you
can work and pay off that familycontribution.
(12:35):
It is divided up into threesemesters because that's how
many semesters we have, um, andthat's how you know how how it
is.
So for example, if someone ispaying a thousand dollars a
year, let's say for example,it's a thousand a year for your
family contribution.
That thousand dollars is dividedup into three uh different
semesters for the year.
So you're not paying a wholethousand and and one semester.
(12:57):
I mean you could, but you didn'thave to.
They've kind of divided up foryou.
So that's what quick math, howmuch is that?
333 um per semester.
So so yeah, and that's it.
And it depends on your familysituation too.
If your family have certainthings, like a lot of people on
the mission or someone may be onmedical leave, then they'll
(13:20):
consider that in yourapplication.
So some of us may have athousand dollars a year, some of
us may have more, may have less.
Yeah.
But it's all dependent on yoursituation and they preferably
consider that stuff too.
And that's why I think for meit's important to be here in
Hawaii and and just theexpectation that I've had uh
since coming to school.
I've lowered my lowered myexpectation of of what I need
(13:45):
and just live, you know, throughbasic things.
We don't need a lot of things,right?
We don't need a fancy watch hereand there, we don't need, you
know, things that others canafford.
Yeah.
Where us we're here just toreally basically live in
accordance with what we have,and as well as support from the
(14:06):
school.
Man, there's so many support.
Uh what do you think?
There's a lot of resourcesaround the school, or is there
not a lot of resources for theschool?
Oh, there's heaps.
But I think as students we justdon't like to use them.
Like the library, there's somany resources here reading,
writing lab.
You have your faculty that arealways there to help you with
your studies, a lot of TAs.
And there's so many differentnights.
(14:27):
There's grad school prep night,there's internship night,
there's all of these clubs thatare wanting to help you succeed.
So there's a lot of there's alot of support, but whether we
actually utilize them is the iswhere the discernment is.
But our work is amazing.
Like I remember when I came andI thought it was just a bunch of
rules, and I felt so limited.
(14:48):
Yeah.
I felt like I was in a trap, youknow?
But uh when I thought about itand realized, wow, this is
actually a serious commitment toactually come here and having
other sponsors or as well as thechurch help prov subsidize my
education, it allow it allows meand it and it motivates me to
become better, to study harder,so that I can then be an asset
(15:11):
to my community back home.
Yeah.
Instead of being that mum.
That kind of brings me to thenext question um that I was
thinking about um going from areligious school versus a public
or private school.
Is there any difference in inthe two?
I mean, obviously there is interms of religion and but what
(15:33):
is the fear because you've beenthrough public as well as
private school, and in nowreligious schools, so how does
it I guess what it differ fromthe other two?
Yeah, I mean that's a bigquestion, you know.
A lot of people hear BYUH andthink, oh, that's the that's the
Mormon school, that's the Mormonuniversity.
But it is not, it it'sdefinitely uh sponsored and and
(15:57):
was founded by the AudiusChurch, but its resources aren't
limited just to its members.
Yeah.
There's a there's a lot ofstudents here that are not
members of our faith but chooseto come here.
Um but the only thing thatdiffers is the expectations.
So with you know, your publicschool, every every uh
institution has their owndifferent rules.
(16:20):
Yeah.
And public school is more like,you know, don't do this, don't
do this, don't do this, respectthis.
But with uh this uh unique uhBYOH uh school or university,
it's a lot of uh biggerprinciples that they are trying
to teach you to become uh abetter person, not necessarily
(16:42):
you know, become a member of thechurch of the of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
It's just to become a generallybetter person.
You know, to conduct yourself ina better way.
So we have something called anhonor code where you know they
they set out specific rules andways to help teach you respect
of other people's privacy, ofother people's cultures, it uh
(17:04):
and a lot of it is influenced bythe doctrines of the church.
But the doctrines of the churcharen't unique to the church,
it's more so that it's uhteaching principles that we all
should really learn to love oneanother, to support one another,
and things like that.
Yeah, and I think to add on tothat, I think to r standards
that are really we are reallykeeping as church members.
(17:26):
So I think it's it's nothingnew, it's just that it's just
been enforced in a university umspace where a lot of our
students have to kind of abideby, right?
And I mean, I agree with some, Idon't agree with some.
Um but we're not gonna go intothe details of what, you know,
which one I agree with.
But there are some that Idefinitely think is there for a
(17:49):
reason.
Reason of safety, not onlyphysically, but as well as
spiritually, um, and as well asmaking sure that we're we're in
a safe environment, not only forourselves, but for others as
well.
We come from differentcountries, and like we've heard
before, it's the only schoolwhere you study and travel at
the same time because you'relearning from other students
(18:10):
around, right?
And if I'm studying, I'm in theclass with people from the
Philippines, from Mongolia,China, Fiji.
So we may not have the samebackground upbringing, but we
have the same church or the samevalues, values of of
spirituality.
So because of that, it it kindof allows for the environment to
be able to facilitate not onlyto me but to other people as
(18:33):
well.
So I think for me, yes to someuh well yes to honor code, but
there's some that I disagreewith based off different I guess
situation.
Yeah, it's not it's never um aone size fit all kind of thing.
I mean one size We know Tanoagoes big size over there, but
(18:58):
it's it's about uh being able tosort of look at it you know
through different situations.
So I mean something that wouldapplicable to me as a salmon
from Australia is different thanwhat it would be for someone
from the Philippines from fromMongolia.
So again, it's one of thosethings where I agree with some,
(19:18):
but I don't agree with some.
Which ones?
To be continued, cancel hisvisa, everybody.
Um, yeah, man.
So given that we have so manycultures, so many countries or
streams from differentcountries, what do you think of
the recent band uh by the USgovernment?
(19:39):
I mean, not to sort of get intopolitics or anything, even
though I love politics.
But what do you think of theband um that was imposed by the
US government?
It's interesting.
I I was talking to a few Tonganstudents, um, because Tonga is
on the ban list for certainspecific visas.
And Fiji as well?
Fiji, I think Tuvalu is.
(20:01):
Those are the only Polynesiancountries that I know of.
There might be more.
Yeah.
Or the status may have changedby the time we implement this
video.
But right now they've they'vebanned uh J1, I think F1
students as well from cominginto the US because of the
overstayer rates.
Yeah.
Now it's a classic stigma.
(20:21):
Overstayers, it's the samepredicament back at home in New
Zealand back in the day with thedawn raids.
Right, right.
And and now, you know, with iceand everything going on, it's
quite a touchy subject.
But for me, there's there's twoperspectives that I see.
Right?
There's a ban, it's easy tolabel Tonga and Fiji as, oh,
(20:43):
they're just a bunch of studentsthat didn't want to leave the
country.
They just run off and marry a palung and go have a family.
Right.
And although there may be caseslike that.
Oh, there's definitely caseslike that.
Especially for the 'cause we canrun.
But for it's easy to label us asthat.
(21:04):
But if you look at the actualstatistics, Dong A, Fiji,
Tuvalu, they're a very, verysmall percentage of the whole
population are overstayers.
Yeah.
But because it's in relation toour population within the US,
our percentages are higher.
Higher, right, right.
Um and uh one of the I can'tremember which I'm talking
about.
Inokize Inoke kind of gave apresentation on that.
(21:28):
Yeah.
Just because we may have, Ithink, around 6.5% that are
overstaying, which is over thethreshold in the US, it's a
very, very small number, I think150 to 160.
But if you look at othercountries, they may have uh a
million of them here, but onlymaybe nine thousand of them.
Yeah.
Like say for France, I'm prettysure they have like over a
(21:50):
million people here, but there'sabout nine thousand five hundred
overstaires.
Which is a smaller percentage ofthe actual.
Which you if you make it inpercentage.
But nine nine.
So there's this distortion thatis putting this image on Tonga
as people just wanting to stayand use illegal resources and
(22:12):
things like that.
So I want to clarify that thatit's not just the numbers,
there's a lot behind it.
But also what I feel of it forfor Donga in a sense, what I
felt was it was an opportunityfor Donga to fight its uh
monarchical and itsparliamentary system to come
together to to fight for Donga'sstance here.
(22:32):
You know, to have more uhpolitical activity with the US.
Now I keep up to that withTonga's politics.
I know I think they've alreadyhad meetings about it, about the
ban and things like that.
But what I heard from the uhstudents as well was that this
is a time for Tonga to processwhat it can do as a country.
(22:55):
Okay, here we are, this is theconsequences of some people's
actions.
What can we do to hold ourselveshigh, to generate our own
educational systems to have thesame opportunities as America so
we don't have to keep shiftingall of our, you know, uh good
students and those that all canbe an asset to society away from
us.
How can we keep them there?
(23:16):
How can we learn from ourmistakes and become a better
society as a whole?
So those are the things that Ilearned from it.
Yeah, and and I think this isthe consequence of uh of that
policy, right?
So now future students are notable to come and study here at
BOE Hawaii.
So really it's just emb you knowit's stopping and and preventing
some of those students, and itcover kind of infringed onto the
(23:36):
mission of the church as well asthe mission of the school,
providing quality education tothe Pacific as well as Asia Room
of students to develop their owncountry.
So by all means, I I don't Idon't disagree with America and
their stance on on their bordersand as well as um this band.
I think I would agree with it aswell if I was American.
(23:59):
Um but I think at the same timewe as Polynesian islands need to
do more, like you mentioned, interms of government.
So we need to do more andensuring that when our people
come here, they have anincentive to come back to these
islands and to have a job,better opportunity to be able to
develop their country as well.
So so by all means, I don't Idon't disagree with the ban.
(24:23):
I if anything, I would supportit.
Others may say otherwise.
Um we're just trying to get ridof other talkers.
So there's a middle name I no,but as a as a political science
chair, um I think if it's youknow uh um America's doing what
it's best for its people and forits country, so I don't I don't
(24:44):
see it as a that's more of arealist overview over here.
He's a realist, I'm more of aliberal myself.
Oh, but look, it's it's one ofthose things where that our
islands need to do more.
And and I think that's such atrue statement.
Not only for Tonga, but like forother islands.
I think we need to step up.
I think we've contributed a lotto getting people here, getting
(25:05):
people here, but not gettingthem getting them back.
Get them back.
So providing jobs,opportunities, infrastructure,
infrastructure.
So we're not developing ourcountry enough to for them to
come back.
Yeah.
Um so that's what I think of thewhole ban and everything, and
kind of fringing onto that.
So but you did mention aboutmarriage.
(25:26):
Did I?
I think you did.
Um so a lot of our students, youknow, they've come and they've
dated and um and they're marriedoff to pretty much anyone here.
So what do you what do you uhwhat do you think of the dating
scene here in America or maybeHawaii?
Oh, it's weird.
It's weird.
How's it weird?
(25:46):
Well, uh to compare, I feel likein New Zealand in general, when
you take someone on a date andyou're dating to marry.
Once you're in that stage, youpretty much want that boy or
girl.
Yeah.
But over here in the US here inthe US, they date for the sake
of dating.
(26:07):
And so there's a conflict ofinterest, especially when an
American is dating a Polynesian,you know what I mean?
Right.
Um, but um I it I guess itworks, really.
It's it's yeah, it's weird, butit works.
There's a high rate of marriagesthat I have been in pretty
quick.
Yeah, and what's the uh what'sthe title?
(26:28):
The fastest I've seen is withintwo months, you know what I
mean?
They've proposed uh after theone month and they got married
in the second month.
Nah, I think you're right.
Uh the dating scene is differenthere.
And I because of the differentperspectives and the different
cultures of dating that we grewup in, more old school, yeah.
(26:51):
Well, I'm more old school in inin terms of the approach to
dating, right?
So I prefer to sort of approachthem in person.
Um I would prefer to sort of,you know.
Take them, gauge the room.
Uh sculpt the scenery actually.
But that's the more of the old II guess the old way of dating.
(27:12):
So but it's definitelydifferent.
For America, it's become more ofa cultural thing that everyone
just goes on date for the sakeof getting a meal in the house.
You know, to the point of likeI've heard some girls say that
you know they've scheduleddifferent dates for other week
so they can get a meal.
SPEAKER_00 (27:29):
Like, it shouldn't have to be a meal when you're
like if you want to meal you, itseems like you've been in a lot
of dates.
SPEAKER_01 (27:42):
I think it's it shouldn't have to be about the
meal, it should be about theperson.
I think you're right as well.
Because we already know of eachother because we're sort of in a
similar island, so we kind ofknow the group of friends that
we're in.
So because of that, it kind ofleans straight to married or
dating to be married, right?
So because it's bold to bepublic about yourself.
(28:04):
Oh I'm very bold.
Because either you you know getit right or get it wrong, and
then you're gonna lose a friend.
That's a big thing that once yougo public, D, good luck with
your life, right?
Because you better go through,otherwise everyone's gonna talk
about you.
Um speaking for prisons, nogood.
(28:33):
The day is good.
I think both are good in theirown way, yeah, and they relate
to the environment that they'rein.
Yeah, yeah.
But when it comes to people UH,I think for boys, well, talking
to a lot of girls, yeah.
You talk to my girls.
Um, so for those that look atthem.
(28:54):
Sorry, babe, I love you.
I'm just saying But like talkingto a lot of women, yeah.
Let me change it to women.
They always say that the mendon't want to approach them.
Yeah, they're too scared to askthem out.
Like, oh, usually we getrecommended, like, oh man, hey,
uh so-and-so likes you overthere.
And and then the girls are like,Well, then tell them to come ask
(29:15):
me.
I'm not gonna go after him, youknow what I mean?
Yeah, to the point where itannoys them.
I feel like the boys here needto kind of step up their game.
See, but this is where I comefrom a different approach.
I would say the girl needs toalso do the approaching.
I I see that.
Like, yeah, I think I think youknow, sometimes right we we've
(29:37):
learned on the mission,Revelation is a two it's a
two-way thing.
It's not just a one-way thing.
If you felt something and ifyou've you know you've been
inspired to ask me out on adate, let me know.
SPEAKER_00 (29:51):
Like, let me know.
Like Please! Like, here's mynumber.
SPEAKER_01 (29:59):
But like, I think you know, girls need to sort of
do the same as well.
Now, I do think it's a wholecultural shift.
It's a whole cultural shift, youknow.
Y'all want equality, you gottabut it's it's something that I
think, you know, it's a it's acollective thing.
We need to we need to do thistogether.
If you're gonna ask me on adate, it's nothing, you know.
(30:20):
I mean, it's gonna boost our egoa little bit.
It must be, you know, it must besomething I'm doing right or I
look a bit different.
But in saying that, I thinkgirls should do the approaching
as well, not just the men.
So, but in saying that, hey,dating is dating, man.
Dating.
Whatever works for you, youknow, works for you as well.
So Well, I would say, I wouldsay that the the boys need to
(30:44):
have more courage to ask thegirls.
Yeah, because in in Bi WayHawaii, there's actually more
female than the male.
So we should be dating two girlsat a time.
And how many that you dating?
(31:05):
No bad.
Anyway, that's enough talkingfor today.
And and it just that that is bewhy you wait, and uh that is
what it offers.
It's a fun environment.
Your lover here, it's not goingto be the easiest thing because
your family aren't here, andwe're such community-based
people.
Yeah, but when you look aroundto your neighbors, you realize
(31:27):
they're all suffering together,and there's something beautiful
about suffering together, itmakes it a lot easier.
Yeah, so realize that you don'thave to carry your burden alone
if you do come here, and theopportunities that will arise
because of you coming to Hawaiiis amazing.
And if not, the bare minimum,you get to be in Hawaii.
Yeah, I mean, being here inparadise is another I guess
(31:49):
incentive and part of the theprivilege that we get to study
and be Hawaii.
So if anyone that wants to cometo school or not sure about it,
just come.
Like, I mean, if you don't likeit, you can always go back home.
You don't have to stay here.
But if anything, apply, come andcheck it out for yourself.
And if you like it, you like it.
If you don't, it's all good.
(32:09):
Book a trip, man.
Come to Hawaii, come and checkit out for yourself first.
And if you like it, you like theenvironment, then hey, by all
means, come and stay and get aneducation, I guess.
Come and date.
That's the first one, yeah.
Get an education.
But even more important thanthat is we're becoming better
people.
Yeah, we're becoming betterleaders and disciples of Jesus
Christ.
(32:30):
If we can do that, then theschool has served its mission
for us.
Otherwise, come have some fun atthe Polynesian Cultural Center.
Both of us work there.
Yeah, portable guys.
Yeah, we're both tour guys.
We're both working at thePolynesian Cultural Center.
So, and that's another thingabout being a student, right?
You get to work at thePolynesian Cultural Center.
You don't have to, but you canwork at the Polynesian Cultural
(32:50):
Center.
So about 85%, 80 to 85% of theworkers that are students.
And you have different jobs,man.
I love I don't know about you,but I love being a tour guide.
Wow, you really do, eh?
I think because I because Istudy political science as well
as Pacific Studies, it kind ofoffers me an opportunity to
share what I've learned inclassrooms.
So and I love it.
(33:11):
I mean, I love people, sohopefully that will sort of turn
into a different care uh to intoa career, uh, whether it be with
I don't know, running as apolitician.
Oh, breaking news.
Oh breaking news, you'll bewalking as a politician.
(33:32):
That's all the time we have herefor today, but yes, we are
talking guys.
That's all the time we have.
We have a lot of time.
Sorry, yeah.
No, um, thank you for beinghere, man.
I mean, if you have anyquestions, let us know in the
comments.
Um, anyway, please follow us onInstagram, TikTok, Facebook,
(33:54):
YouTube.
We have all these platforms wecan come and enjoy some more
cool content where we laugh andwe talk about things that are
important to our people, yeah?
Yeah, and if you have any topicsor anything that you want us to
discuss or want our perspectiveon, let us know as well.
Happy to sort of talk aboutanything church related, culture
related, related to school,whatever, food related.
(34:14):
Ooh, he got so excited.
Look at him.
Anything that you know that youwant us to talk about, we'd love
to talk about those things aswell.
But apart from that, I lover.
Yeah, Malo Abito.
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