{"id":182382,"date":"2023-10-25T09:27:44","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T19:27:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=182382"},"modified":"2024-03-14T16:05:31","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T02:05:31","slug":"graduate-healing-hope-honolulu-cc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2023\/10\/25\/graduate-healing-hope-honolulu-cc\/","title":{"rendered":"Graduate found healing, hope at Honolulu <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\"> 3<\/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_59144\"  width=\"620\" height=\"349\"  data-origwidth=\"620\" data-origheight=\"349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UtMn7l0xD4w?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=\"Graduate found healing, hope at Honolulu CC\"  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>&ldquo;My existence is a miracle. I was given a second chance at life,&rdquo; said recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honolulu.hawaii.edu\/\">Honolulu Community College<\/a> graduate Camille McComas. &ldquo;I&#8217;m a recovering addict, and on the Fourth of July, I made four years on my healing journey.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The 38-year-old single mother credits Honolulu <abbr title=\"Community College\">CC<\/abbr> and her 4-year-old daughter Brooklyn with helping her to overcome decades of toxic addiction and thrive. She will start at <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa in fall 2023 to study public health after earning her <abbr>AA<\/abbr> degree in May,<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2023\/05\/23\/from-addiction-toxicity-to-honor-society-president\/\">McComas shared some of her journey<\/a>, from the depths of despair to the hope that education has provided, with the University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Board of Regents in May, and said, &ldquo;&#8230;five years ago if someone were to tell me that I would be standing in front of you all, I would have laughed at the idea. &#8230;five years ago, I was lost in a vicious cycle of addiction, toxic relationships and dreadful decision making. I was unrecognizable to my family.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/honolulu-system-mccomas-keiki-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"McComas smiling at daughter Brooklyn\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-184039\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/honolulu-system-mccomas-keiki-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/honolulu-system-mccomas-keiki-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/honolulu-system-mccomas-keiki.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>But that changed with the birth of Brooklyn and her subsequent admission to Honolulu <abbr>CC<\/abbr>. Her accomplishments include serving as president of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, becoming a student advocate for the Collegiate Recovery Leadership Academy, and receiving awards from Soroptimist International and the American Association of University Women. She served as a peer mentor for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honolulu.hawaii.edu\/services\/hawaiian-center\/poi-na-nalu\/\"><span aria-label=\"Poi\">Po&#699;i<\/span> N\u0101 Nalu<\/a> (Honolulu <abbr>CC<\/abbr>\u2019s Native Hawaiian career and technical education program), which McComas called her &ldquo;forever home.&rdquo; In addition, she worked as a student assistant in the counseling office and interned at the <abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa John A. Burns School of Medicine, where she conducted cardiovascular research.<\/p>\n<h2>Healing at Honolulu <abbr>CC<\/abbr><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/honolulu-commencement-mccomas-3-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"Group of students in front of a Honolulu Community College sign\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-178108\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/honolulu-commencement-mccomas-3-214x300.jpg 214w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/honolulu-commencement-mccomas-3-93x130.jpg 93w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/honolulu-commencement-mccomas-3.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don\u2019t even think words can describe what Honolulu Community College has done for me,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;They\u2019re a part of my healing. They\u2019re part of not just my schooling&#8212;they\u2019re family to me.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Nicole Mitani, an academic counselor at Honolulu <abbr>CC<\/abbr>, is one of many who supported McComas through her college journey. Mitani answered McComas\u2019 initial phone inquiry and eventually helped her to get financial assistance from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/bridgetohope\/\">Bridge to Hope<\/a> program and a student job in her office. She teared up as she reminisced.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think for other students to hear her story is in itself a big lesson that you can do it&#8212;that any student can do it, if you have support and the right people to help you,&rdquo; Mitani said.<\/p>\n<p>Native Hawaiian Counselor Kahale Saito agrees that McComas has been an exemplary student and applauds her plans to continue to serve as a peer mentor for <span aria-label=\"Poi\">Po&#699;i<\/span> N\u0101 Nalu students.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I feel like her past experience is really fueling the path that she&#8217;s on academically and personally and how she will impact, our community and our l\u0101hui, for our people here in <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>,&rdquo; Saito said. &ldquo;Camille is just gonna be a heavy hitter in our community, when she gets through with her academics.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Navigating with her &lsquo;North Star&rsquo;<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_178105\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-178105\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/honolulu-commencement-mccomas-c-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Graduate holding her cap with the words &quot;today is the day&quot; with a picture of a flying pig\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-178105\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/honolulu-commencement-mccomas-c-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/honolulu-commencement-mccomas-c-130x130.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/honolulu-commencement-mccomas-c.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-178105\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Camille McComas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While McComas attended classes and worked at the Honolulu <abbr>CC<\/abbr> counseling center, Brooklyn (whom McComas refers to as her &ldquo;North Star&rdquo;) flourished steps away at the campus\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honolulu.hawaii.edu\/services\/childrens-center\/\">Keiki <span aria-label=\"Hauoli\">Hau&#699;oli<\/span> Children\u2019s Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Brooklyn changed my life,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;She was my second chance. Before her, I was in a very dark place.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>This fall, McComas will begin working on a degree in public health at <abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa. Her long-term goal is to put it to use to help Native Hawaiians with their health.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&#8217;m going to look to the past so that I can find solutions for the future,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;As a Hawaiian, we are plagued with heart disease and diabetes, and I hope to figure out a way to get our people to want to eat healthier, have [a] healthier lifestyle.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s doing it for her community, for herself and for her daughter.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I know the importance of education for me to be able to pay my bills. It&#8217;s expensive to be here in paradise to be able to provide for my family,&rdquo; said McComas. &ldquo;It&#8217;s important and I hope to instill that in my daughter that to have a bright future will require you to have a college degree.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;<em>By Kelli Abe Trifonovitch<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After decades of toxic addiction, Camille McComas graduated from Honolulu <abbr>CC<\/abbr> and will study public health at <abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,12],"tags":[33,62,660,71,9,56,1626],"class_list":["post-182382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","category-video","tag-hawaiian","tag-honolulu-community-college","tag-student-recognition","tag-uh-community-colleges","tag-uh-manoa","tag-video-2","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\/182382","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=182382"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":185664,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182382\/revisions\/185664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}