{"id":207443,"date":"2024-12-10T08:00:48","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T18:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=207443"},"modified":"2024-12-10T14:31:44","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T00:31:44","slug":"uh-west-oahu-student-speaker-travis-antonacci","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2024\/12\/10\/uh-west-oahu-student-speaker-travis-antonacci\/","title":{"rendered":"Power of pilina important to commencement student speaker"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Travis Antonacci<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a distance education student, Travis Antonacci felt lost and alone when he first transferred from Kauaʻi<\/span> Community College<\/a> to the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>–West Oʻahu<\/span><\/a>. So he took it upon himself to develop relationships—pilina—with his new peers and professors.<\/p>\n

“Building pilina takes time and effort, but it is the most worthwhile endeavor,” said Antonacci, 25, of Līhuʻe<\/span>, Kauaʻi<\/span>, who will be one of the two student speakers at UH<\/abbr> West Oʻahu\u2019s<\/span> 2024 Mid-Year Commencement<\/a> on December 14.<\/p>\n

Antonacci, who will receive a bachelor of arts in humanities with a concentration in history, has come a long way from those initial feelings of isolation in the first few months of fall 2022.<\/p>\n