On April 12, WCC’s semi-annual college and career fair was held to help students find career and college transfer options.
The one day event hosted myriad employers, colleges, and universities in Pālanakila courtyard. Participating students took in the sights and sounds of the event while they engaged with vendors and scoped out the next booths they wanted to visit.
Makana Tani, a student who helped organize the fair, said, “The fall and spring job fairs we hold are to help student employment in the community.” Tani, along with other students and staff, plan a month ahead by calling different job organizations, non-profit services and colleges to participate. Tani said that there were 55 vendors at the spring fair.
“24 Hour Fitness, Kualoa Ranch, HPU, BYU and YMCA Honolulu are my favorite ones here,” he said.
The fair had more than just job and career possibilities. One of the booths provided the ability to register to vote.
“We are here to raise awareness about the voting process and registering people to vote,” said Raymund de Vega, who was working with Nedielyn Bueno. “It gives you voice in the community; it’s a good way to choose your elected officials and make a difference,” Bueno said. Together they agreed that “this provides a convenient and fast way for people to vote, and you won’t have to seek us out in the community.”
Keanu Kim said that he “really liked the vendors and found it interesting, especialy Kualoa Ranch, student employment and voting.”
Rainbow Ulii found the fair “both interesting and helpful … with all the opportunities, nice people and face to face conversations.”
The Kualoa Ranch booth looked more like an advertisement for the ranch rather than an employment possibility. T-shirts, hats and even a dinosaur figure decorated the table. Kilolani (no last name given), the operator of the booth, was the interviewer for Kualoa and said that it had jobs for students who want to work in agriculture and be part of a farm and customer-focused company.
“We provide many crops and food options that are for sale to the public, anything from squash to kale and bananas,” Kilolani said. “We also have our aquaculture facilities to provide fresh tilapia and shrimp, and even our own cattle to sell fresh grass-fed beef.”
With all of these products, someone has to grow, maintain and harvest the crops, which provides a lot of job and career opportunities.
by Slade Freitas, Lorene Hashida, Kristen Kumakura and Sean Romuar, Special to Ka ‘Ohana
