{"id":79821,"date":"2018-05-15T14:13:49","date_gmt":"2018-05-16T00:13:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=79821"},"modified":"2020-08-03T12:17:33","modified_gmt":"2020-08-03T22:17:33","slug":"2018-manoa-commencement-speakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2018\/05\/15\/2018-manoa-commencement-speakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Speakers inspire graduates at <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa commencement"},"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><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/manoa-commencement-wide-new.jpg\" alt=\"Wide shot of the Stan Sherrif Center during commencement\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-79896\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/manoa-commencement-wide-new.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/manoa-commencement-wide-new-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>On a day to celebrate academic success and tenacity, student speakers <strong>Leilani Carrero<\/strong> and <strong>Kira Makuta<\/strong> took the spotlight at the <a href=\"http:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/\">University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa<\/a>&#8216;s <a href=\"https:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/commencement\/\">107th Commencement Exercises<\/a> on Saturday, May 12, 2018, at the Stan Sheriff Center. Keynote speaker General (Ret.) Eric K. Shinseki addressed the graduates at both ceremonies. An estimated 2,200 students participated in the commencement ceremonies.<\/p>\n<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_77263\"  width=\"643.64\" height=\"361.82\"  data-origwidth=\"643.64\" data-origheight=\"361.82\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rKLY7JL124c?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=\"Leilani Carrero inspires fellow graduates at Â鶹´«Ã½M\u0101noa commencement\"  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>\n<h2>Leilani Carrero<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Leilani Carrero<\/strong>, the morning ceremony speaker, earned her bachelor of arts in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.socialsciences.hawaii.edu\/departments\/index.cfm?subject=POLS\">political science<\/a> in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.socialsciences.hawaii.edu\/\">College of Social Sciences<\/a>. Carrero urged her fellow graduates to always remember their sacrifice and commitment on reaching their academic goals. &ldquo;When I think about the world today and the state we are in, I am daunted by what might happen,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But when I look out at the 107th graduating class at the University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa, I see nothing but success. You are a community of hope bringers and the tide that will lift the boat of the future.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<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_57077\"  width=\"643.64\" height=\"361.82\"  data-origwidth=\"643.64\" data-origheight=\"361.82\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VvprF-LloK8?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=\"Kira Makuta inspires fellow graduates at Â鶹´«Ã½M\u0101noa commencement\"  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>\n<h2>Kira Makuta<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Kira Makuta<\/strong>, the afternoon ceremony speaker, graduated with a bachelor of arts in public health in the <a href=\"http:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/publichealth\/\">Office of Public Health Studies<\/a> within the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/sswork\/\">Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work<\/a>. Makuta says the university gave her more than academic knowledge, such as helping to build her strong character development and a world view. &ldquo;We&#8217;ll remember the first time we didn&#8217;t feel fear when faced with opposition, because <abbr>UH<\/abbr> taught us to be at the forefront of change&#8212;to accept all races, all religions, to be understanding and to be respectful,&rdquo; she said.<\/p>\n<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_42055\"  width=\"643.64\" height=\"361.82\"  data-origwidth=\"643.64\" data-origheight=\"361.82\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TR4-qKNf1yA?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=\"General (Ret.) Eric K. Shinseki inspires graduates at Â鶹´«Ã½M\u0101noa commencement\"  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>\n<h2>General (Ret.) Eric K. Shinseki<\/h2>\n<p><strong>General (Ret.) Eric K. Shinseki<\/strong>, U.S. Army 34th Chief of Staff, United States Army, was the keynote speaker for both the morning and afternoon ceremonies. Born and raised in <span aria-label=\"Lihue\">Lihu&#699;e<\/span>, <span aria-label=\"Kauai\">Kaua&#699;i<\/span>, he served in the military for 38 years and was the highest-ranked Asian American in the history of the United States. Shinseki urged graduates to follow their hearts, saying, &ldquo;I&#8217;m just not sure you even know what&#8217;s in your heart at this point, but finding out is really worthwhile&#8212;who you are, what you truly believe, what stimulates your intellect and what passion fires your soul.&rdquo; He encouraged graduates to do their part by participating in our government. &ldquo;Read, study, be informed of the issues and then stand in line to vote&#8230;keep us the great democracy that we are.&rdquo; Shinseki said growing up on <span aria-label=\"Kauai\">Kaua&#699;i<\/span> gave him lessons big enough to live by. &ldquo;If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn&#8217;t change a thing,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&#8217;d marry the same woman and join the U.S. Army. Good luck and find wonderful, purposeful lives.&rdquo;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Students Leilani Carrero and Kira Makuta shared their remembrances, advice and thanks, and General (Ret.) Eric K. Shinseki urged graduates to find out what is truly worthwhile for themselves and their country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,12],"tags":[234,660,9,56],"class_list":["post-79821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","category-video","tag-commencement","tag-student-recognition","tag-uh-manoa","tag-video-2","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79821","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=79821"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93426,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79821\/revisions\/93426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}