{"id":189284,"date":"2023-12-22T09:49:23","date_gmt":"2023-12-22T19:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=189284"},"modified":"2023-12-22T11:12:26","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T21:12:26","slug":"kapiolani-cc-toyko-to-hawaii-speaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2023\/12\/22\/kapiolani-cc-toyko-to-hawaii-speaker\/","title":{"rendered":"From Tokyo to Hawai\u02bbi, Kapi\u02bbolani <abbr>CC<\/abbr> commencement speaker has a new dream"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><div class=\"responsive-video-wrap-post\"><figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_74841\"  width=\"620\" height=\"349\"  data-origwidth=\"620\" data-origheight=\"349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2LcHeCYyZjs?enablejsapi=1&origin=https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu&rel=0&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&disablekb=0&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"Kapi&#039;olani Community College : 2023 COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div>\n<p>After 15 years of working as a flight attendant in Japan, Kazuyuki &ldquo;Kaz&rdquo; Shoji found himself jobless due to the <abbr>COVID<\/abbr>-19 pandemic. Instead of succumbing to adversity, he seized the opportunity to further his career in the hospitality industry. Drawn to <span aria-label=\"Kapiolani\">Kapi&#699;olani<\/span> Community College\u2019s <abbr>HOST<\/abbr> (hospitality and tourism) program\u2019s reputation, Kaz moved to <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> in 2022 to begin his studies.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_189303\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-189303\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kap-commencement-speaker-main-1a-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Kapiolani C C graduate delivering speech at podium\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-189303\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kap-commencement-speaker-main-1a-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kap-commencement-speaker-main-1a-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kap-commencement-speaker-main-1a.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-189303\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kaz Shoji<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In a heartfelt commencement speech to his fellow <span aria-label=\"Kapiolani\">Kapi&#699;olani<\/span> <abbr title=\"Community College\">CC<\/abbr> graduates, Shoji recounted his transformative journey and reflected on his attainment of a certificate of achievement in hospitality operations management through the <abbr title=\"hospitality and tourism\">HOST<\/abbr> program. As a former part-time student assistant to Sheila Kitamura, Health Sciences Department chair, he credited her with sharing valuable advice.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Persistence and learning from failure will open paths you never imagined,&rdquo; said Shoji. &ldquo;Believe in your unlimited potential. These words came true because of my mentor, Sheila Kitamura, who never gave up on me.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Finding community at <span aria-label=\"Kapiolani\">Kapi&#699;olani<\/span> <abbr>CC<\/abbr><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kap-commence-speaker-third-1.jpg\" alt=\"Kaz Shoji as a flight attendant\" width=\"250\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-189286\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kap-commence-speaker-third-1.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kap-commence-speaker-third-1-108x130.jpg 108w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Shoji\u2019s interactions with many <abbr>HOST<\/abbr> program faculty and staff, including assistant professor Amy Shiroma, counselor Sheryl Fuchino-Nishida, and program chair Laure Burke, have been instrumental in shaping his journey and finding a sense of community.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Kaz brings a burst of positive energy when he walks in a room and makes everyone around him feel valued and important,&rdquo; said Shiroma. &ldquo;Kaz\u2019s natural hospitality and professionalism, and his willingness to take risks and initiative, are traits that will ensure his success in any career pathway he chooses.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Shoji plans to remain in <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> and begin a one-year practical training opportunity provided by the <abbr title=\"United States\">U.S<\/abbr>. Citizenship and Immigration Services that allows international students to work for up to a year in the <abbr>U.S<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Regardless of your situation, if you encounter a problem that you can not solve on your own, please do not hesitate to ask for help,&rdquo; Shoji said. &ldquo;Inspired by (the <span aria-label=\"Kapiolani\">Kapi&#699;olani<\/span> <abbr>CC<\/abbr> faculty and staff\u2019s) dedication to students, I have a new dream now that involves helping others through education.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_189305\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-189305\" style=\"width: 676px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kap-commencement-speaker-second-1a.jpg\" alt=\"Kaz Shoji and Sheila Kitamura.\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"size-full wp-image-189305\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kap-commencement-speaker-second-1a.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kap-commencement-speaker-second-1a-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kap-commencement-speaker-second-1a-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-189305\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kaz Shoji and Sheila Kitamura.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Japanese graduate credits &ldquo;community&rdquo; at <span aria-label=\"Kapiolani\">Kapi&#699;olani<\/span> <abbr>CC<\/abbr><\/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":[234,1613,63,71,56],"class_list":["post-189284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-commencement","tag-hospitality-and-tourism","tag-kapiolani-community-college","tag-uh-community-colleges","tag-video-2","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189284","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=189284"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":189326,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189284\/revisions\/189326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}