{"id":220599,"date":"2025-08-20T16:26:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T02:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=220599"},"modified":"2025-08-20T16:26:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T02:26:10","slug":"lights-camera-action-kaeha-leeward-cc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/08\/20\/lights-camera-action-kaeha-leeward-cc\/","title":{"rendered":"Lights, camera, action! How Kainoa Kaeha honed his skills at Leeward <abbr>CC<\/abbr>"},"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_71984\"  width=\"620\" height=\"349\"  data-origwidth=\"620\" data-origheight=\"349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/T5ubaLyEkLA?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=\"Alumni Hali&#039;a Aloha: Kainoa Kaeha\"  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>In high school at Kamehameha Schools Kapalama, aspiring filmmaker Kainoa Kaeha wasn\u02bbt sure where to start when it came to choosing a college. His high school advisors pointed him toward mainland universities, but Kaeha felt that Leeward Community College was the right fit.<\/p>\n<div style=\"float:right;clear:right;margin:0 0 0 15px;\"><figure id=\"attachment_220605\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-220605\" style=\"width: 214px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/leeward-alumni-kaeha-camera-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"Kainoa with camera\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-220605\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/leeward-alumni-kaeha-camera-214x300.jpg 214w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/leeward-alumni-kaeha-camera-93x130.jpg 93w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/leeward-alumni-kaeha-camera.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-220605\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kaeha behind the camera<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<div style=\"float:right;clear:right;margin:0 0 0 15px;\"><figure id=\"attachment_220604\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-220604\" style=\"width: 214px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/leeward-alumni-kaeha-grad-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"Grad at podium\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-220604\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/leeward-alumni-kaeha-grad-214x300.jpg 214w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/leeward-alumni-kaeha-grad-93x130.jpg 93w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/leeward-alumni-kaeha-grad.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-220604\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kaeha speaking at Leeward <abbr>CC<\/abbr> graduation<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;I chose Leeward because it\u2019s more affordable, as well as their digital media program was right up my alley,&rdquo; Kaeha said. &ldquo;I regret nothing.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>At Leeward <abbr>CC<\/abbr>, Kaeha thrived in smaller classes and the close-knit environment. He gained valuable skills by getting involved on campus. Kaeha joined the student-produced campus publication <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kamanaoleeward.com\/\">Ka <span aria-label=\"Manao\">Mana&#699;o<\/span><\/a><\/em> to develop his photo, video and graphic design skills. Eventually, he got involved with student government, serving as president for a year and a half.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I was making connections with my friends and coworkers, especially when it comes to leadership. I was starting to learn how to communicate effectively,&rdquo; said Kaeha.<\/p>\n<h2>Scholarship support opens doors<\/h2>\n<p>After earning an associate\u2019s degree in liberal arts and multiple digital media certificates from Leeward <abbr>CC<\/abbr> in 2024, Kaeha turned his sights to <abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> M\u0101noa. One concern was the cost of tuition. His plan was simple: apply for as many scholarships as possible.<\/p>\n<p>The hard work paid off as he was awarded the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/offices\/student-affairs\/regents-and-presidential-scholars-program\/\"><abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Presidential Scholarship<\/a>, granting him full tuition for the school year and a total of $4,000 in stipend and travel grants.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I\u2019m more comfortable, I\u2019m not stressing out as much so I can do better in class and make more connections,&rdquo; Kaeha said. &ldquo;The easiest word is thank you, and appreciation and gratitude. To give others that power of financial stability or comfort in order to do better in school, it\u2019s really amazing.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Kaeha plans to graduate from the School of Cinematic Arts in spring 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leeward <abbr>CC<\/abbr> alumnus Kainoa Kaeha transformed campus opportunities into a thriving film future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":220602,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[90,1056,65,894,1623,271,71,9],"class_list":["post-220599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-alumni","tag-digital-media-arts","tag-leeward-community-college","tag-regents-and-presidential-scholars","tag-school-of-cinematic-arts","tag-uh-alumni-association","tag-uh-community-colleges","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/leeward-alumni-kaeha-k.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220599","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=220599"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":220607,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220599\/revisions\/220607"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}