Nā Mamo A Hanakahi Video Library
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The mission of the Nā Mamo A Hanakahi video library was to highlight the career journeys of UH Hilo student employee alumni. Through interviews with these alumni, we explored their academic experiences at UH Hilo, the decisions that shaped their career paths, and how they arrived at their current professions. These videos were shared across campus to inspire and motivate current and prospective UH Hilo students in their academic and career decision-making.
A new set of videos will expand this initiative by featuring current UH Hilo students and highlighting their internship journeys, providing additional insight into experiential learning and career development opportunities.
Nā Mamo A Hanakahi Internship Videos
Taelor Mercer
Taelor Mercer is a student in the Bachelor of Science in Marine Science program at UH Hilo who has completed two impactful internships during her undergraduate career. Her first internship took place at the Mokupāpapa Discovery Center, where she assisted a master’s student with a thesis examining the effects of microplastics on Hawaiian corals. This experience provided hands-on research opportunities beyond the classroom and allowed her to build valuable professional connections.
Taelor’s second internship brought her to Kampot, Cambodia, where she worked with Khmer Ocean Life (KOL), an organization dedicated to capacity building and monitoring Irrawaddy dolphins, Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, dugongs, and other marine mammals in the Gulf of Thailand. While with KOL, Taelor contributed to outreach lesson development, updated species and individual dolphin identification catalogs, and helped pilot a marine debris pollution project. Through these experiences, Taelor discovered a passion for marine outreach and hopes to pursue a career focused on educating others about the diverse life that calls the ocean home.
My advice for students is: don't wait for opportunities to fall in your lap. Talk to your professors, check the UH Hilo internship boards, like Makia, and connect with organizations that spark your interest. Even if it’s outside your major, say yes. Every internship teaches you something valuable and sometimes the unexpected ones are the most rewarding.- Taelor Mercer
Antonio Miguel Vite
Antonio Miguel Vite is a UH Hilo student studying History with a focus on Hawaiʻi. Antonio’s internship was built into his curriculum while he was in high school as part of a teacher education program. During his internship, Antonio worked alongside mentor teachers, supported lesson planning, and engaged directly with K–12 students, allowing him to observe how teaching strategies adapt across different age groups. This real-world classroom experience helped him build confidence, strengthen his communication and leadership skills, and gain a deeper understanding of the responsibilities of being an educator beyond what can be learned through coursework alone. While balancing academic studies and more than 200 hours in classroom settings, Antonio remained motivated by his passion for education and his desire to make a meaningful impact on students’ lives. Through his internship experience, Antonio confirmed his path in education and continues to move forward as a future educator.
When you first start your internship, I think the biggest thing you want to think about is why someone would want you and what skills you bring. Not that you're learning skills, but you already have them in order to build them and make them better for where you're working.- Antonio Miguel Vite
Nā Mamo A Hanakahi Alumni Videos
Maria Vicente
Maria Vicente earned a Bachelor’s in Business Administration with a concentration in marketing after moving to Hilo from Cape Cod in 2013. As a student, she was highly involved—working in the admissions office, housing, and participating in the student activities council—while also engaging with local businesses and the broader community. Her student role in admissions led to a full-time position as an admissions counselor after graduation. She later became the Bonner Program Coordinator, where she developed a strong foundation in meaningful community engagement by working closely with local organizations. After spending a year in Australia, she returned to Hilo and transitioned into the nonprofit sector. She now serves as a DA BUX Retailer Support Specialist with the Hawaiʻi Foodbank, where she manages and analyzes retailer data, reconciles reports, supports program operations, and engages directly with the community through food distributions and outreach events.
My biggest piece of advice is to be open and get involved. Take advantage of every and any opportunity to explore different communities, different programs, to have different experiences. Do the volunteer opportunity, do the student exchange, take the internship. Whatever it is, it's going to just broaden your perspective and shapre your path. I think UH Hilo is known for experiential learning and that's for a reason. Experiential learning is incredible valuable and the more that you engage, I think the more prepared you'll be for wherever your career takes you.
Victor Reed
Victor Reed earned his B.A. in Political Science from UH Hilo in Spring 2011. As a student employee, he served as a Student Assistant with the Upward Bound program and as a Student Assistant Manager with the Hawaiʻi Innovation Center at Hilo (HICH). After graduating, Victor spent three years living in China—an opportunity he credits in part to Professor Enbao Wang, who introduced him to Chinese culture and political perspectives through shared personal experiences. Victor reflects that this path was made possible by UH Hilo’s strong sense of community and small class sizes, which allowed him to build meaningful, individualized relationships with his professors rather than feeling like “one of many,” as is often the case at larger universities. Today, Victor resides in Washington, D.C., where he works as a Senior Partner Development Executive at SkyKick, Inc., a cloud automation and cloud management technology firm.
Responding to the statement that students are sometimes overly focused on sticking to career fields that align with their major.
You know what I think, Kawika, when it comes to that piece, that’s what graduate school and business school and law school are for. That’s a firm commitment at that point, right? That that’s the profession that you’re going to enter, but undergraduate education is all about, in my humble opinion, again, the foundational building blocks of what you will take and bring into the marketplace, and that's not necessarily going to be a one-to-one relationship with what you’re actually studying, right? -Victor Reed
Robin Lockwood
Robin Lockwood graduated from UH Hilo in Spring 2016 with a B.S. in Marine Science and a S.C. in Educational Studies. As a student employee, she worked as a Divemaster for the Outdoor Edventure Program and as a Campus Tour Guide with New Student Programs. After graduation, Robin taught science in Beijing, China before pursuing both a master’s degree and a teaching certificate. Today, she teaches Science, Math, and Digital Media at a high school in Wasilla, Alaska. In this short clip, Robin shares that she has remained in touch with her UH Hilo professors even after graduating, and that they continue to connect her with new opportunities. She also notes that she frequently recommends UH Hilo to her high school students who are deciding where to attend college, citing the campus’s small-town feel, strong community partnerships, and accessible library resources as aspects she especially valued.
I would never have gotten this position as a digital media teacher, but when I was at UH Hilo, I worked for the Outdoor Edventure Program as a Divemaster and would take videos and photos of all our students and just kind of played around with Adobe Premiere and all of these different software programs and so when they were looking for someone who’s phasing out and they're looking to someone to phase in, it was a natural transition as it was just, like, small pastime of mine in college to do this. - Robin Lockwood
Anna Liu
Anna Liu graduated from UH Hilo in Spring 2017 with a B.B.A. in Business Administration. As a student employee, she worked for two years as a Marketing Student Intern at the ʻImiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaiʻi. Today, Anna serves as a Branch Manager for First Hawaiian Bank at their Kamuela location. In this short clip, she encourages students to participate in internships to explore whether their envisioned career paths truly align with their interests. She also shares how joining the Hawaiʻi Island Chamber of Commerce helped her build valuable connections within the local business community while she was still a college student.
The internship really allowed me to get a real look into what it was like in a particular profession. So, for example, I mentioned marketing previously I took an internship at the ʻImiloa Astronomy Center for two and a half years, and then I took an appraisal internship with the county office for eight months, as well as an internship with a private firm just to see both sides of the coin. After that, I ended up going into a totally different profession but what it did is it allowed me to really learn and see what it's like to see if this is something that I want to pursue or not. -Anna Liu
Axel Defngin
Prior to earning his B.A. in Liberal Studies in Fall 2017, Axel Defngin worked as a UH student employee in several roles, including Athletic Event Staff at the Student Life Center and Student Staff with the EEO/Title IX Office. Today, Axel serves as a Graduate Assistant at the Center for Pacific Island Studies (CPIS) while pursuing his M.A. in Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. In this short clip, Axel shares his deep appreciation for UH Hilo’s Pacific Islander Student Center (PISC), which provided opportunities that inspired both his academic journey and his aspiration to support and uplift other Pacific Islander students.
I ended up not really being passionate about academia itself but more about education in general especially helping Pacific Islander students in higher education to be successful, especially for us Micronesians. I think coming here, whether its Micronesians born and raised here, or Micronesians coming out of Micronesia, it’s always been difficult; it’s always been hard. And I think we need more support and more people we can look up to. I think that’s something I’ve always wanted to do to help, is help students; be that support for them. -Axel Defngin
Rebecca Ziegler
Rebecca Ziegler currently lives in Kissimmee, Florida, where she works as a Water Sciences Divemaster, Commercial Diver, and Team Trainer for Walt Disney World. She graduated from UH Hilo in Spring 2015 with dual bachelor’s degrees in Marine Science and Communications. As a UH Hilo student, Rebecca worked as a student employee with the Student Life Center as an Outdoor Edventure staff member, leading students on activities around Hawaiʻi Island. In this role, she also served as a Divemaster for UH Hilo scuba classes.
My personal favorite was when the professors love to use kapakahi in his lecture constantly and whenever any time anything goes crazy, I say it! -Rebecca Ziegler
Michael-Edward "Laʻakea" Stone
Laʻakea Stone currently works as a Legislative Correspondent in U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono’s office in Washington, D.C. As a student at UH Hilo, Laʻakea studied Linguistics and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Spring 2018. During his time as a student, he held several student employment roles, including Hālaulani Peer Mentor with the Kīpuka Native Hawaiian Student Center, Linguistics Teaching Assistant with the Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language, and Resident Assistant—later serving as an Office Assistant—with University Housing.
My whole life I thought, ʻOh, Im gonna go to school and I know what I want to do’ and then I got there and I was like, 'This is not what I want to do' so I was like, "Woah, I have to rethink my entire whatevers that I wanted to do and now figure out something else' so I switched majors.. -La'akea Stone