{"id":234263,"date":"2026-05-13T15:40:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T01:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=234263"},"modified":"2026-05-13T15:43:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T01:43:07","slug":"bento-box-message-erica-holokai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/05\/13\/bento-box-message-erica-holokai\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Bento box’ message: UH<\/abbr> Mānoa student speaker encourages grads to embrace identity"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Erica-Skyler Malie Salvador Holokai<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Erica-Skyler Malie Salvador Holokai once described herself as a “bento box” to avoid explaining her mixed ethnic background. Now, the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa<\/span> commencement speaker for the afternoon ceremony on May 16 is transforming that childhood shorthand into a message about culture, connection and belonging for the graduating class of 2026.<\/p>\n

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Holokai with other graduating resident assistants and supervisors<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Born and raised on Maui, Holokai said she often struggled to answer questions about her identity. With Native Hawaiian, Japanese, German, Korean and Filipino ancestry, she recalled feeling disconnected from her cultural background as a child. A high school project asking students to represent themselves culturally led her to compare herself to a local-style bento box filled with different sections and influences.<\/p>\n

In her commencement speech, Holokai uses the metaphor to reflect Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s plantation-era history, when immigrant workers from different cultures forged connections despite divisions in language, wages, and living conditions. She will tell graduates that the “bento box” represents unity and resilience found in diversity.<\/p>\n

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Holokai and other resident assistants at a back to school late night event<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Holokai is looking to reflect on the success and achievement that has come to fruition for those who have worked so hard over their college career, while acknowledging all of the unseen efforts that go into this accomplishment. She wants to “take a second to actually celebrate that,” while embracing the fullness of layered identity.<\/p>\n

Her belief is that in “paying homage to your little bento box or your community,” you honor the communities, places and ethnicities that make you, you. As a community advocate, she emphasizes that in remembering all that you are, from whichever corner you come from, you represent and build off of those places. She said, “the people who are your mental support or emotional support\u2026these connections are what’s going to take us farther in life.”<\/p>\n

Holokai, who is earning her bachelors of social work (BSW<\/abbr>) from the Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health<\/a>, said public speaking once made her uncomfortable. While attending Baldwin High School, she pushed herself out of her comfort zone by announcing daily student bulletins. She then was inspired to audition for commencement speaker after watching her friend Cooper Salomon deliver the fall 2025 commencement address.<\/p>\n

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Holokai and other Bachelor\u02bbs of Social Work Organization officers at an event<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aside from academics, Holokai worked at Student Housing Services as a resident assistant (RA<\/abbr>) and served as the treasurer for the Bachelor of Social Work Organization. This coming fall, Holokai will continue her work as an RA<\/abbr> as she furthers her studies in the advanced standing master of social work program, specializing in child and family services or gerontology.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Holokai plans to return home to Maui, where she hopes to open a private practice alongside her mother and give back to the local community. She hopes to continue the work she has been committed to in serving disadvantaged communities, as she has with her BSW<\/abbr> internship through Catholic Charities Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> on Oʻahu<\/span>.<\/p>\n

“UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span> has been a place of opportunity, learning, culture and community for me,” Holokai said. “I think for a lot of students, it\u2019s a place where we can really grow into ourselves and connect with people who understand where we come from. I\u2019ve seen students become more confident in who they are here, and I feel like I\u2019ve experienced that too. UH<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span> also creates so many opportunities for students, whether that\u2019s internships, connections or just putting ourselves out there in new ways.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Holokai plans to return home to Maui, where she hopes to open a private practice alongside her mother and give back to the local community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":234264,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[234,1466,244,596,9],"class_list":["post-234263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-commencement","tag-manoa-enhancing-student-success","tag-social-work","tag-myron-b-thompson-school-of-social-work","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/manoa-social-work-erica-holokai.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234263","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=234263"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":234270,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234263\/revisions\/234270"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}