Education's reach beyond the Pacific
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LAIE, Hawaii — Although it has only about 2,400 students, BYU-Hawaii's reach is long and its impact significant.
Students here, whose lives and future — and the future of their homelands — have been touched by their spiritual and educational experience at this university.
According to university sources, slightly more than half those students come from the United States, and of those, about a third are from Hawaii itself. The other half are from outside the U.S., and about 25 percent come from Asia, 16 percent from the Pacific islands, and 5 percent from a wide range other countries, some 70-plus of which are represented on campus.
"With such an international student body, BYU-Hawaii serves as a model to the world of harmony" states a campus brochure. "Students prepare to embrace the opportunities and challenges of an increasingly global society." The school specializes in degrees that will prepare students for occupations in their homelands.
Some students pay their own way, some receive scholarships and also work at the adjacent Polynesian Cultural Center, and some have sponsors who support their education.
A representative student is Rilang Roberto from Koror, Republic of Palau. Palau is a nation of 21,000 people on three small islands about 500 miles east of the Philippines, with some 443 Church members. Rilang is a daughter of converts Ben and Martina Roberto.
Some years ago, her father had lived in the United States as a iron worker in Alaska, but felt impressed to return to his homeland. He admitted the missionaries into his home because he thought they were census workers. He was later baptized and served a mission, after which he was married in the Manila Philippines Temple.
Rilang attended public schools and joined her faithful family in regular Church attendance. She also attended and graduated from after-school seminary that was taught by whoever was available, missionary couples, missionaries and, occasionally, her father.
"The people who taught institute there — they were the people who put the idea in our minds to go to school," she said. "Ever since the 9th grade I had a mind to come here."
Because Filipino and Chinese workers have left, branches have been disbanded in her homeland. However, she is hopeful it will begin to grow again because the branch president is a BYU-Hawaii graduate.
Missionary couples also helped find a sponsor who supported her first year. She is planning to be a social worker in Palau, and has completed an internship in a government-sponsored substance abuse shelter there. Some of the workers in that field come from other disciplines and she expects her degree will be welcomed.
She also changed disciplines. "Even though I switched my major from biology, I still love my biology teachers," she said. The teachers at the university "really care. It is so easy to go talk to them. They are so open-minded. They don't only care about education and academics, but also about the spiritual world, too. They are very open and supportive. This has been a very spiritual experience."
Another representative student is Tol Koim from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He learned about the Church from his older brother Tal, who joined first and also served a mission. Tol was baptized after his brother returned from his mission in 1999. Tol was 16 at the time and attended a branch of about 120.
The Church in Cambodia "has grown a lot," he said. In the whole district then were about 400 members. Now there are nearly 8,000 members in two districts and some 21 branches.
When he turned 19, he was ordained an elder and set apart as president of the elders quorum. "We had about 25 in the quorum. I didn't know anything but the elders helped me and we were filled with the Spirit. We led the quorum, did home teaching and I taught some lessons. It went well."
He felt a lot of peer pressure, but his mother, who was of the traditional faith of Cambodia, supported him "partly because of my brother. She wanted me to be around good people."
He served a mission in Cambodia and when he returned, he helped in his mother's convenience store. One day a group of recruiters from BYU-Hawaii visited and told him about the university. He became a student, but the transition was not easy.
On his mission, "the mission president told me to learn English... but it was a big transition, especially the language. It was hard to understand the language. The pronunciation was different." After one semester, though, he continued, "I started to understand what the people were saying."
"The professors are great. They are wonderful. They help us out a lot. This is the best school and the best professors. They have a desire to help us."
He is studying the hospitality industry and expects to earn a graduate degree, then he and his wife plan to return to Cambodia and open his own travel-related business.
E-mail to: jhart@desnews.com
