{"id":132375,"date":"2020-12-11T09:30:36","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T19:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=132375"},"modified":"2024-03-15T13:26:03","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T23:26:03","slug":"dela-rama-perseveres-for-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/12\/11\/dela-rama-perseveres-for-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Decade to diploma, <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> West O\u2018ahu mom perseveres for her children"},"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><figure id=\"attachment_132373\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-132373\" style=\"width: 676px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/west-oahu-dela-rama-2.jpg\" alt=\"family\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"size-full wp-image-132373\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/west-oahu-dela-rama-2.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/west-oahu-dela-rama-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/west-oahu-dela-rama-2-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-132373\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tasha Dela Rama (right) with her husband and their three children.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/westoahu.hawaii.edu\/\">University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>&#8211;West <span aria-label=\"Oahu\">O&#699;ahu<\/span><\/a> student is determined to be an example for her three children as she graduates this fall semester after a more than 10-year journey to obtain her <abbr title=\"Bachelor of Arts\">BA<\/abbr> degree in psychology.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tasha Dela Rama<\/strong>, a first-generation college student from Kapolei, wants her children to understand the value of relentlessness, perseverance and the power of change.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;No matter what circumstances we\u2019re in, we can always make a difference in our lives,&rdquo; Dela Rama said. &ldquo;You just need a little bit of persistence and hard work&#8212;traits I\u2019ve gotten from my parents. My graduation will teach my children that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Dela Rama will be among more than 700 spring, summer and fall 2020 graduates who will be celebrated at <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> West <span aria-label=\"Oahu\">O&#699;ahu<\/span>\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/westoahu.hawaii.edu\/commencement\/\">Virtual Commencement Ceremony<\/a>, on Saturday, December 12 at 9 a.m.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Related <em><abbr>UH<\/abbr> News<\/em> story:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/12\/08\/fall-2020-uh-commencement-schedule\/\">Fall 2020 <abbr>UH<\/abbr> commencement schedule<\/a>, December 8, 2020<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Setting an example<\/h2>\n<p>Dela Rama juggles school with family and work responsibilities. On top of being a mother and wife, doing her own school work and helping all of her children navigate distance learning, she runs a handmade goods business, Modernly Vintage Reserve.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Katrina Abes<\/strong> and <strong>Joseph Mareko<\/strong>, co-instructors of Student Development (<abbr>SD<\/abbr>) 250: Personal Development for Effective Teams, noted that Dela Rama, &ldquo;has been a great example of what it means to be resilient through the multiple roles she carries and being steadfast amid this pandemic.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Where vulnerability is normally seen as a weak trait, Tasha has expressed and modeled how vulnerability is a strength, and she will continue to carry on after she graduates,&rdquo; Abes and Mareko said.<\/p>\n<h2>Looking ahead<\/h2>\n<p>After graduation, Dela Rama said she hopes to apply to the <abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa William S. Richardson School of Law within three years. As she looks ahead, she is grateful for how <abbr>UH<\/abbr> West <span aria-label=\"Oahu\">O&#699;ahu<\/span> has prepared her for what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I have met wonderful professors who truly care about you and people who share the same life experiences,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I\u2019ve picked up an array of skills and <abbr>UH<\/abbr> West <span aria-label=\"Oahu\">O&#699;ahu<\/span> has taught me that failure is not an end-all be-all, but an opportunity to reassess, reanalyze and recreate yourself to be a better you.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Message for graduates<\/h2>\n<p>Dela Rama shares this message to future <abbr>UH<\/abbr> West <span aria-label=\"Oahu\">O&#699;ahu<\/span> graduates:<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;During this journey&#8212;if you\u2019ve just started, are in the deep or soon to graduate&#8212;never forget where you came from,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Your experiences&#8212;good, bad and ugly&#8212;have led you to this present moment. You are worth it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Dela Rama asks students to be kind to their future selves and to remember to be the change that they want to see in the world.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I believe in you, and this campus&#8212;our <abbr>UH<\/abbr> West <span aria-label=\"Oahu\">O&#699;ahu<\/span> community&#8212;cares about you,&rdquo; Dela Rama said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/westoahu.hawaii.edu\/kaloinews\/?p=14009\">Read the full story at <em>Ka Puna O <span aria-label=\"Kaloi\">Kalo&#699;i<\/span><\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8212;By Zenaida Serrano Arvman<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_132374\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-132374\" style=\"width: 676px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/west-oahu-dela-rama-1.jpg\" alt=\"girl in front sign\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"size-full wp-image-132374\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/west-oahu-dela-rama-1.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/west-oahu-dela-rama-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/west-oahu-dela-rama-1-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-132374\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tasha Dela Rama<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tasha Dela Rama, a student, wife, mother and business owner, hopes her graduation can teach her children the value of perseverance and the power of change.<\/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":[234,1459,660,59,1626],"class_list":["post-132375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-commencement","tag-ka-puna-o-kaloi","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\/132375","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=132375"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132389,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132375\/revisions\/132389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}