Monday, April 22, 2013

Keith-Allen Afong's TRiO SSS Success Story



Keith-Allen Afong

Semester/Year Started at WCC: Fall 2012

Semester/Year Started in TRiO SSS: Fall2012

Semester(s)/Year(s) Graduating: Spring 2014



Aloha pumehana kākou a pau loa, ʻO Keith-Allen Kamealoha Afong koʻu inoa. He haumana au ma ke kula nui kaiāulu o koʻolau.


  Warm-hearted greetings everyone, my name is Keith-Allen Kamealoha Afong, I’m a student at Windward Community College working towards an Associate of Arts in Hawaiian Studies and finishing my second semester here has been crazy! When enrolling for my semester in the fall of 2012, I knew to get the most out of my college education I needed to find help.

  Starting college at 40 yrs. young can be a little intimidating, but with a goal in mind set out to challenge myself and try to set a good example for my daughter, nieces, nephews, because no one in my family ever came to college so this journey was important for me. Once on campus I was told by my Academic Advisor to stop by the office of TRiO SSS to set up tutoring for my classes.

   By signing up for tutoring in TRiO SSS was the best decision made to the find the help I needed in passing my classes with flying colors. TRiO SSS has helped me achieve a G.P.A of 3.7 in my first semester and looking to better my G.P.A after this semester, all with the help through tutoring in TRiO. The use of their computers is also a plus for any student because it helped me to get my term papers done on time and do necessary research for classes.

  TRiO SSS is truly a special place on the campus of Windward Community College for any first time student to find help and also mingle around other students who share the same goals of having a better life with a brighter future. Its Staff is always there to answer any questions weather it pertains to school or not and points out the direction on where can you find an answer to your question. Their tutors are knowledgeable in various subjects, which is a big plus because if anybody had problems with their classes, they could see any tutor for help.

   I am so confident in my education my goal is get my Associates of Arts in Hawaiian Studies and my Certificate of Achievement in Ethno Botanical Pharmacogny before I graduate from Windward Community College. I plan to transfer to The University of Hawaii Mānoa to get my Bachelor of Science degree in Botany and a Master degree in Hawaiian Studies.

  This step I took has opened many doors for me, which I now tutor math 19, 21 a&b, 24, 28, as well as Plants in Native Hawaii Botany 130 in the TRiO SSS program, a position to help others just like how TRiO helped me to get where I’m heading and the goals that I’ve set for myself. Hopefully one day, I will be able to open or start something to educate children in any community and teaching them the use and the importance of our native plants and language and why we need to educate the mind.

UPDATE as of Spring 2016 

Keith-Allen graduated with an AA in Liberal Arts, AA in Hawaiian Studies, CA in Agripharmatech - Plant Biotechnology, CA in Agripharmatech - Plant Food Production and Technology, and CO in Agripharmatech - Ethnopharmacognosy at the end of the Spring 2015 semester. He is presently at the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of Hawaii at Manoa pursuing his bachelor's of science degree in natural resources and environmental management.

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