{"id":26226,"date":"2026-11-10T10:50:02","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T20:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/?p=26226"},"modified":"2026-11-10T10:50:03","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T20:50:03","slug":"2026-student-voice-how-growing-up-on-lana%ca%bbi-shaped-who-i-am","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/2026-student-voice-how-growing-up-on-lana%ca%bbi-shaped-who-i-am\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Voice: How growing up on L\u0101na\u02bbi shaped who I am"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sofia Emilia Patricia Pimentel, L\u0101na\u02bbi High & Elementary School<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fireweed. Cane grass. Kiawe. Over and over\u2014pull, clear, remove. These words are woven through my childhood on L\u0101na\u02bbi. While they might sound to others like a list of invasive weeds and endless, backbreaking labor, to me, they represent resilience, grit and determination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My family is very familiar with hard work. For us, \u201cfree time\u201d was spent maintaining the land, particularly Kanepu\u02bbu, a rare native dryland forest. My grandfather tasked us with helping him clear invasive species, teaching us to care for spaces that required patience, devotion and sweat to survive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My story isn\u2019t just about hard work and effort\u2014it is the culmination of my hands-on experiences in the field, paired with a deep appreciation for those who preserved the paths we walk today. The impact of this upbringing is lasting, a demonstration of lifelong commitment to service, connection, and responsibility\u2014modeled by those I\u2019m closest to.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are the lessons that I now carry with me throughout my life. I also carry the cherished memories that I have of times that were full of sweat and love that I spent with my grandfather. One special memory that I have is when I was nine-years-old, working in our garden with my papa. We were clearing out the area of weeds and stumps so we could plant new vegetables. I remember my grandpa coming over to me, telling me I was finally old enough to use the hand pick. I remembered how patient he was with me, taking his time to model and show me how to weed properly. I felt so proud of myself and felt so loved by the fact that he could trust me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back at that moment, I now realize that the garden represents who I am. Like all of the hard labor I\u2019ve engaged in, it represents a thread of who my family is and who I now represent. That thread now represents a transition to the next phase of my life. I am excited for new opportunities and new experiences, meeting new people, and learning new things. I also know that this thread, grounded by hard work with fireweed, cane grass, and kiawe, will continue to carry me through life\u2019s challenges and celebrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Sofia Pimentel is a senior at L\u0101na\u02bbi High and Elementary School, where she serves as the school\u2019s primary representative to the Hawai\u02bbi State Student Council and as historian for Associated Students L\u0101na\u02bbi High. Passionate about fashion and design, Sofia hopes to one day start her own business. She is also actively involved in school athletics, participating on the cheerleading, cross country, and tennis teams. Outside of school, she enjoys sewing and spending time at the beach. As she prepares for college, she looks forward to carrying the lessons and values she has gained from growing up on L\u0101na\u02bbi, especially the importance of taking pride in where she comes from.<\/em>
<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sofia Emilia Patricia Pimentel, L\u0101na\u02bbi High & Elementary School Fireweed. Cane grass. Kiawe. Over and over\u2014pull, clear, remove. These words are woven through my childhood on L\u0101na\u02bbi. While they might sound to others like a list of invasive weeds and endless, backbreaking labor, to me, they represent resilience, grit and determination.  My family is very familiar with hard work. For us, \u201cfree time\u201d was spent maintaining the land, particularly Kanepu\u02bbu, a rare native dryland forest. My grandfather tasked us with helping him clear invasive species, teaching us to care for spaces that required patience, devotion and sweat to survive.  My story isn\u2019t just about hard work and effort\u2014it is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":26237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"856,893,1022,1619,1622,1623","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","wp_popup_display_lightbox":0,"wp_popup_suppress":"","wp_popup_trigger":"","wp_popup_trigger_amount":0,"wp_popup_disable_on_mobile":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,21,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hoohaaheo","category-news","category-student-voice"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_post_mime_type":"","taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":22,"label":"Ho\u2018oha\u2018aheo"},{"value":21,"label":"News"},{"value":51,"label":"Student Voice"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Sofia-Pimentel-Student-Voicefeatured-image-1024x511.jpg",1024,511,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Kim Yuen","author_link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/author\/kimberly-yuenk12-hi-us\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":22,"name":"Ho\u2018oha\u2018aheo","slug":"hoohaaheo","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":22,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":99,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":22,"category_count":99,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Ho\u2018oha\u2018aheo","category_nicename":"hoohaaheo","category_parent":0},{"term_id":21,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":21,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":387,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":21,"category_count":387,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0},{"term_id":51,"name":"Student Voice","slug":"student-voice","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":51,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":26,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":51,"category_count":26,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Student Voice","category_nicename":"student-voice","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}