UH Hilo senior Wainohia Peloso built her academic journey with ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, performing arts, and creative writing
Wainohia Peloso’s creative certificates and Hawaiian studies bachelor’s blend seamlessly. Though they all guide her in self-betterment, they also inspire a deeper connection that goes beyond the surface level.
By Lauren Aoki/UH Hilo Stories.
Wainohia Peloso is deeply dedicated to her own growth, artistry, and academia.
Born and raised in Kapālama, Oʻahu, Peloso decided to leave the big city once she graduated from Kamehameha School’s Kapālama campus and began her pursuit of higher education. She chose the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo for the strong support its small but loving community offers.
“Since Hilo is a smaller school and a smaller place, the community feels more tight-knight and supportive, which was something I really appreciate,” she says.
Now a UH Hilo senior, Peloso has nearly completed her bachelor’s in Hawaiian studies and certificates in performing arts and creative writing.
For her, it was no question what her major would be.
“Pursuing Hawaiian studies was kind of something I had always wanted to do,” say says. “I grew up surrounded by ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language), and spent a lot of my high school just trying to learn as much as I could. I knew that when I graduated, the only path that really made sense for me was to continue that.”
The intersection of language and creativity
Peloso has long combined ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi and culture with her own creativity, studying both the language and a multitude of other art forms.
“I studied ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi to the highest degree I could, but I also took every performing arts class my schedule allowed me to,” she says. “I took hula, theater, orchestra — for several years, as a viola —, and I was in the Concert Glee Club for a couple years, too.”
Despite her love and affinity for the arts, her respective certificates in performing arts and creative writing were unplanned.
“Creativity has always been central to me,” she says. “So every semester, I’d try and take at least one class that let me kind of express that. So almost without meaning to, I ended up just as deeply involved in performing arts and creative writing as I was in Hawaiian studies.”
Mostly, she’s thankful for the self-growth and personal development the certificate programs have inspired her to pursue. The arts have given her greater confidence in navigating her dual journey as both an artist and as a person.
“Doing all these different things has helped a lot in terms of building self-confidence and helping me find my voice, both literally and figuratively,” she says. “Through things like hula, choir, and occasionally theater, I am able to feel more confident in myself and express myself better and more authentically.”
Another unexpected but pleasant surprise is how seamlessly her creative certificates and Hawaiian studies bachelor’s blend. Though they’ve both guided her in self-betterment, they both also inspire a deeper connection that goes beyond the surface level. They both encourage profound conversations about the ways and reasons why people think and act the way they do.
Together, the programs embolden her with a greater understanding of her creative and academic work.
“On a broader scale, performing arts and creative writing are both fields of study that try to include and celebrate different perspectives and background in the classroom, so having that foundation in ʻike Hawaiʻi (Native Hawaiian knowledge) only helps you to make deeper and richer connections to whatever creative endeavor you happen to find yourself doing,” she explains.
Revitalizing the library at Haleʻōlelo; inspired to become an archivist
Peloso says her most significant project as an undergraduate has been her work as a school librarian at Haleʻōlelo, the home of UH Hilo’s Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language. The room housing the college’s library has been in need of a major upgrade since its closure before the pandemic and Peloso rose to the challenge. Since she was hired over a year ago through UH Student Employment and Co-operative Education, she’s been tasked with reorganizing the library’s entire system, including building a giant and extensive spreadsheet of every book, paper, and record in it.
“The room itself hadn’t been open since before the pandemic, so I was tasked to kind of help restart things, to reorganize and reestablish the organizational system, and to encourage people to use the library as a study space again,” she explains.
Labor intensive and time-consuming, the work took nearly a year to complete, but Peloso hopes the system she’s created will continue to be used by the college long after she graduates. She’s not only proud of the work she’s done, but the mark she’s left on both the school and its students.
“When I first started, most of the people I talked to didn’t know the room existed,” she says. “Watching people start to come back and once again use the resources that are available has been really exciting.”
Peloso has been so inspired by her time at Haleʻōlelo’s library that she’s since decided to pursue a career as an archivist. She’s already set her plan in motion and has applied for the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s library and information science graduate program. Once completed, she hopes to continue similar work that she’s already done with the college.
“I’ve really enjoyed the work as a librarian, and I want to continue that and learn more about it,” she says.
Into the future
Other creative projects Peloso is currently working on are mostly associated with her creative classes, such as fiction writing and playwriting. Outside of school, she’s picked up a variety of hobbies, including painting, crocheting, and most recently, knitting.
She’s promised herself to always remain in pursuit of new creative opportunities, no matter where she is or what she’s doing.
“I am always on the lookout for opportunities to be creative,” she says. “Whether that’s through more personal avenues like my writing, painting, and the fiber arts, or community-based performing arts, I am always open to new opportunities there.”
And with her bachelor’s in Hawaiian studies nearing completion, she plans to incorporate it into her future career as an archivist and other potentially creative pursuits, continuing to blend academics and creativity far into her future.
Wainohia Peloso will graduate with her bachelor’s in Hawaiian studies and certificates in performing arts and creative writing this spring 2026.
Story by Lauren Aoki, an English major with a minor in anthropology at UH Hilo. She is literary editor at the university’s student publications Kanilehua and Hohonu.
