Video: UH Hilo Hawaiian studies major ʻIliahi Tancayo wants to give back to her community on Molokaʻi
ʻIliahi Tancayo, who hails from Hoʻolehua, Molokaʻi, says her respect for the ʻāina has inspired her degree. She wants to obtain more knowledge she can apply back home through community service.
A Hawaiian studies major at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo is featured in the newest video release from Vulcan VIBE, an informational program of the university with the tagline Vulcans Involved By Engagement.
ʻIliahi Tancayo, who hails from Hoʻolehua, Molokaʻi, is an alumna of Kamehameha Schools Maui currently in her junior year at Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language, UH Hilo.
“My passion is to help people in any capacity,” she says. “That might be giving, offering of time, resources, helping people understand there’s love in the world.”
“My respect for the ʻāina (land) that we live on has inspired my degree because my desire is to serve and give back to my community,” she continues. “So by learning about it in a university setting I am able to obtain more knowledge that I can properly apply back home and implement those practices in my community service.”
Tancayo says her favorite place on campus is Kīpuka Native Hawaiian Student Center.
“Kīpuka would be that number one place that I continually go to because the environment there is just fostered in love and friendship and good conversations and lots of opportunity.”
Vulcan VIBE
The Vulcan VIBE program is produced by the Office of Institutional Marketing in partnership with the UH Hilo Student Association for members of the campus ʻohana (family) to tell their own unique stories about how the values and experiences offered at the university have changes their lives.
