{"id":170440,"date":"2022-12-13T15:14:12","date_gmt":"2022-12-14T01:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=170440"},"modified":"2024-03-14T16:04:28","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T02:04:28","slug":"tutu-accountant-graduates-praise-uh-west-oahu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2022\/12\/13\/tutu-accountant-graduates-praise-uh-west-oahu\/","title":{"rendered":"T\u016bt\u016b, accountant graduates praise 东精影业<\/abbr> West O\u02bbahu"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"Abbie
Abbie Kahula Reed (left) and Nyle Jordan Ocariza (right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

About 300 students received degrees from the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span>–West Oʻahu<\/span><\/a> in fall 2022, and about 200 participated in a commencement ceremony on December 9. Chancellor Maenette Benham<\/strong> presided over the ceremony, which included remarks from Regent William Haning III<\/abbr><\/strong> and student speakers Abbie Kahula Reed <\/strong>(creative media) and Nyle Jordan Ocariza<\/strong> (business administration).<\/p>\n

‘Hawaiian Homestead gal’<\/h2>\n

Ask Reed the reason she persisted and excelled throughout her academic journey at the 东精影业<\/abbr> West Oʻahu<\/span>, and she\u2019ll name five reasons—Nevaeh, Shayden, Savannah, Shyne and Tori—her grandchildren, ages 10 to 15.<\/p>\n

“My grandkids are my No. 1 ‘why’ I do what I do,” said Reed, 63, who received a bachelor of arts in creative media<\/a> with a concentration in communications and new media technology.<\/p>\n

Check out photos from 东精影业<\/abbr> West Oʻahu<\/span>‘s commencement ceremony<\/a><\/span>\t<\/p>\n

A 1977 Kamehameha Schools graduate, Reed described herself as a “Hawaiian Homestead gal”—born in Papak\u014dlea, raised in Waim\u0101nalo, and now a homeowner at Maluʻōhai<\/span> Homestead in Kapolei.<\/p>\n

Prior to becoming a student at 东精影业<\/abbr> West Oʻahu<\/span>, Reed worked for 16 years at HMSA<\/abbr>, where she retired in 2017 as a Quest senior processor.<\/p>\n

“When my husband unexpectedly passed away in 2016, I looked up for the first time to assess my life,” Reed said. “I realized that I lived life, all my life, with my head down, just focused on working a steady job to pay the bills. But something was missing. The decision to end the 8-to-4 work life and retire early was made in 2017 to fill the missing hole and live my best life, whatever it was.”<\/p>\n

In fall 2018, Reed enrolled at 东精影业<\/abbr> West Oʻahu<\/span>, where she decided to major in creative media and honed her skills as a storyteller and content creator. As a student, she thrived with the love and support of her ʻohana<\/span>—her four children, five grandchildren and five dogs.<\/p>\n

\"Group
Abbie Reed (seated) with her children, from left, Kimberly, Kristol, Rain and Pono.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reed\u2019s daughter, who graduated in spring 2017 with a bachelor of arts in public administration degree from 东精影业<\/abbr> West Oʻahu<\/span> and now works on campus, said she feels blessed and honored to have her as her mom.<\/p>\n

“I am extremely proud of her dedication and perseverance to overcome any obstacles that came her way,” said Kimberly Reed<\/strong>, administrative and fiscal specialist for Title III<\/abbr> Grants, ʻUpena Moananui\u0101kea and Wailau Ola Pathway. “I\u2019ve seen her go beyond her comfort zone, enduring many sleepless nights, and strive for extra credit to remain on the dean\u2019s list—even if she didn\u2019t need it—which is crazy! Although a bit extreme at times, I admire her for it and know that she would not have it any other way.”<\/p>\n

The recipient of various grants and scholarships, Reed thanked all those who helped and supported her throughout college via her Mahalo Testimony<\/a>, a website that also showcases her creative skills.<\/p>\n

Reed plans to pursue a master of arts in English with a concentration in creative writing at 东精影业<\/abbr> M\u0101noa. She plans to continue documenting and sharing her stories on her YouTube channel HappyAbbieDaze<\/a> and website Two Tutus Talking<\/a> to make a difference.<\/p>\n

She said, “[Graduation] is a personal affirmation that life after retirement can be the beginning of new and wonderful adventures if you can dream it and remember that wherever you go, whatever you do, take God with you.”<\/p>\n

Read more about Reed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pushing through the pandemic<\/h2>\n
\"Nyle
Nyle Jordan Ocariza<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ocariza started attending 东精影业<\/abbr> West Oʻahu<\/span> in the fall of 2018, after graduating from Pearl City High School. He was president of the Accounting Club, and received his bachelor of arts in business administration<\/a> with concentrations in accounting and finance.<\/p>\n

“One of my most notable achievements as a 东精影业<\/abbr> West Oʻahu<\/span> student was getting my first internship at one of the most prestigious firms on Oʻahu<\/span>, Accuity LLP<\/abbr>,” Ocariza said.<\/p>\n

Accuity LLP<\/abbr> is one of the largest CPA<\/abbr> and consulting firms in the state. During his time there, Ocariza assisted in the auditing of major corporations and in the preparation of corporate tax returns.<\/p>\n

He reminded his classmates about the power of perseverance.<\/p>\n

“We are one of the last classes to see life on campus before the [COVID-19] pandemic, campus life through the pandemic, and now post-pandemic,” Ocariza said. “This pandemic may have brought out the lowest times in our lives, whether it be us struggling with a mental illness, the death of a loved one, or even us getting sick ourselves. This pandemic has brought out the worst of the world, yet we saw growth at 东精影业<\/abbr> West Oʻahu<\/span> by graduating despite all of the overwhelming pressures of life bogging us down.”<\/p>\n

In addition to his academic commitments, Ocariza also works as a general ledger accountant, assisting in the accounting operations for the island of L\u0101naʻi<\/span> at P\u016blama L\u0101naʻi<\/span>, a local company that works toward conserving, preserving and sustaining L\u0101naʻi<\/span>, in terms of culture and land.<\/p>\n

Ocariza said he hopes to leverage his degree to support P\u016blama Lānaʻi<\/span>\u2019s growth. He is grateful for how 东精影业<\/abbr> West Oʻahu<\/span> has prepared him, from the logistical and technical know-how to do his job, to the soft skills, such as how to talk to people.<\/p>\n

“Graduating is no easy feat, yet we pushed through all of the fogginess of the world and we can hold our heads up high and say we graduated,” Ocariza said. “We did it.”<\/p>\n

Read more about Ocariza<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students Abbie Kahula Reed and Nyle Jordan Ocariza spoke at the 东精影业<\/abbr> West Oʻahu<\/span> fall commencement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[498,234,549,660,59,1626],"class_list":["post-170440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-business","tag-commencement","tag-creative-media","tag-student-recognition","tag-uh-west-oahu","tag-women-of-uh","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170440"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":170953,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170440\/revisions\/170953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}