People of HPA

Boarding was the best part of my experience at HPA. The friendships I made at HPA and the connections. I’m from the Big Island, but I boarded because I was from Hilo, and it was too far to drive every day. My friends from Robertson’s, I visited them either during high school or right after. Even now, when I travel, I reach out to my old boarding friends — guys from Japan, Korea, and Germany — I’ve visited all of them.”

HPA Olympics was my favorite. HPA taught me the importance of being able to compete — and Olympics is just one of those things, Song Contest was another. The ability to compete, the desire to win — if you can keep that fire within you, you’ll go great places.

When I first arrived at HPA, I was an international student from Japan. It was my first time communicating in English — I couldn’t speak any English at all — so my classmates and my roommates helped me a lot. And through that, I was really able to connect with people at HPA, and I believe that being able to communicate with people from around the world and embracing different cultures really helped me navigate life after high school.”

HPA was really the first place where I felt I had community and ʻohana, and I think it was the first place that actually saw me as who I was as an individual, and to be able to have that space at such a young age, I think really set me up for success later on.”

HPA creates this incredibly accepting and comfortable environment where you can test things you like and see what you’re interested in where you’ll still have a ton of support. Immerse yourself into those spaces, then take that mindset with you wherever you go.”