Kilohana: Meet the Tutors and Director

Story by Kealiʻi Rapozo
Graphics by Jade Silva
Photos provided by interviewees

We are only as successful as the work we invest in ourselves. We can choose to operate by ourselves or utilize the resources that are left at our grasp. The decision is ours and we are fortunate one way or another. Kilohana: The Academic Success Center is a tutoring service here at University of Hawai‘i at Hilo (UHH) that is one of many resources open for students' needs. With the semester coming in full swing, Ke Kalahea decided to reach out and speak with their staff to highlight the services they offer and their mission as a whole!

Joshua Baldonado

Description of photo Joshua Baldonado, a senior majoring in math, has been a math tutor for Kilohana since last spring. Before working at Kilohana, he said he has had experience with tutoring high school students.

“I was working with UpwardBound, a college prep program for high schoolers around the Big Island for a while. Then I ended up working at Waiākea Elementary for a few months as an A+ group leader,” says Baldonado.

Around this time, he also made connections with faculty and student workers that would eventually set him up for his journey at Kilohana.

“During the 2023-2024 school year I started taking classes with Dr. Efren Ruiz, the interim director of the math department at the time. I also made a friend who worked at Kilohana then. Therefore, while being referred by Dr. Efren along with the friend I made, my journey at Kilohana had a great start!”

A positive takeaway that exceeds the satisfaction that he has had from his experience as a tutor is simply seeing students have a better understanding of things.

Description of photoJoshua Baldonado “Usually they come in and ask questions and especially if they don't understand, knowing that I was the one to help them get a better understanding is always cool,” he says.

Along with making close-knit connections with his co-workers, he also points out the relief of when students bring their dogs along to stop by the center!

In terms of this experience working towards his goals for academic success, he highlights the flexibility of the environment.

“There are some down times when students don’t come in especially for your subject and so I veer to work on my homework- especially my harder classes.”

He also shares the positives of these experiences building up his resume.

“It helps with my resume as I am trying to become a teacher. I have a lot of experience tutoring and working with different kinds of students and I look forward to how it goes about in the future,” says Baldonado.

In regards to highlighting the tutoring center, he emphasizes the leniency in the appointment process.

“I think people come in with an expectation that you have to set an appointment and that’s not the case. They can come in whenever they need help, if they need specific help and subjects. That's when I would recommend looking at the certain schedules online,” he shares.

Janis Taitano

Description of photoJanis Taitano Janis Taitano, a sophomore majoring in communications, is a writing tutor for Kilohana. Starting this semester, her main motivation for joining was to become more involved on campus.

“I had to commute to campus for an hour just for one class [last semester] and would sleep for the rest of the day. Being mostly on campus [now], I wanted to make my time worth it,” says Taitano.

She also highlights the diversity UHH has to offer and is another way she wants to immerse herself amongst her peers.

“I wanted to get connected with more than just the Pacific Islanders because I know there’s more diversity that UH Hilo has to offer. I think that a tutoring center of all places is one of many good places on campus that offer diversity.”

“I noticed after a few weeks of working at Kilohana that a lot of exchange students go there. It’s nice to see more than just one culture, especially because Saipan, where I’m from, was dominantly Micronesian,” she says.

She also shares that she is also an embedded writing tutor for Laurie Sagle’s English 100T class, and her past tutors were her inspiration to apply! Alesi Meyers-Tuimavave and Uʻilani Barongan were the tutors that assisted her in this path.

As a tutor, she expresses how refreshing it has been to work with first year students as a second year student herself. Taitano also shares, “I see the age gap between the two because I was them.”

“They were willing to learn and ask questions, and I was able to take everything I learned from my past tutors and teachers and help them with what they needed,” says Taitano.

While being a tutor so far, in her efforts to achieve her academic goals, Taitano reiterates the importance of being involved on campus.

“There are so many clubs on campus, many heavily underrated in my opinion. Although I may not necessarily be involved with them I enjoy learning about them,” she says.

Description of photo Taitano also points out the importance of working as a team and knowing the amount of help to provide.

“I’m a very friendly person and being a tutor, you have to make a student think outside of the box. It’s important to help the student and not do it for them,” says Taitano.

Lastly, she wishes more people knew about Kilohana and its services.

“This space is a great place to just come work if needed, and we offer more than writing tutoring. Chemistry especially is a very helpful one. This along with other resources are at your disposal, you might as well take advantage of them while you can” she says.

Alesi Meyers-Tuimavave

Alesi Meyers-Tuimavave, a senior whose area of expertise falls within writing, has been a tutor for Kilohana since the fall 2023 semester, while also serving as Editor-in-Chief for Ke Kalahea this semester.

“I was a writing tutor at Miracosta Community college in Oceanside, California, and it was the most fun job I ever had and I wanted to keep doing that,” she says.

Meyers-Tuimavave expresses the importance of representation.

“One thing specifically I told Kilohana in the interview process, is that I wanted to help the Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (NHPI) community more. I’ve noticed they sometimes struggle with reaching out for help with tutoring, so sharing that resource and being a resource for them was important to me,” Meyers-Tuimavave says.

Description of photoAlesi Meyers-Tuimavave She, similarly to Janis, shares that being an embedded writing tutor for the English 100T courses has also been a favorite experience of hers.

“Generally speaking, I’m always with those students, so building a relationship with them is crucial,” Meyers-Tuimavave says.

In both the classes she tutors, for Laurie Sagle and Susan Wackerbarth, Meyers-Tuimavave has expressed her satisfaction of making those connections.

“When I walk around campus a bunch of students I tutor will say hi to me. That gives them more incentive to come to Kilohana and work as a writing tutor.”

Circling back to the embedded tutoring classes, she emphasizes that not only is she able to become the teacher in a way, but also the student in the process.

“They teach very similar curriculums but they do it in their own ways to bring the creativity out of their students and I really enjoy being able to observe that and take pieces of it for when I become an English professor in the future” she says.

Meyers-Tuimavave wants to become, specifically, a Pacific Islander literature professor.

Her final trick that gets her by is staying on top of time management.

“It makes me hone my writing skills and keep it present. When I have to do my own work, it just reminds me of the things I need to keep track of and my own strengths and weaknesses.”

“When I help others that have the same issues it just makes it more present in my mind, I wouldn't pay attention to it so much if it was my own writing that I'm reading,” Meyers-Tuimavave says.

Karla Hayashi

Karla Hayashi, the director for Kilohana, has been in the position since 2013. Her goal as director of the tutoring center has been focusing on the academic activities of the UHH students.

“Our focus is trying to provide them with resources and services that will enable students to become more confident and self-reliant on their own academic abilities.”

“Not that we were trying to work our way out of the job, but what we were trying to make happen after students come here to work with our staff and resources for whatever amount of time, is to leave here feeling like ‘I can do this on my own,’” says Hayashi.

The best aspect of the job, she says, is truly seeing students become increasingly more comfortable.

“It’s really rewarding, especially after seeing someone come in for the first time, and oftentimes being a little unsure of what Kilohana is, and developing a foundation for themselves as they progress,” says Hayashi.

She also expresses the sweet and bittersweet sensation of making a connection with these student workers, along with their peers, during their time at UHH.

“You get to know them on a deeper level, generally working here for three to six semesters. We really see them grow over time. It’s very nice to know they’re moving on to something else. It's a little sad to see them leave,” she says.

While reflecting on Kilohana as a whole, she expresses that the students are the true heart and soul of the establishment.

“We provide the setting, resources, and the staffing to some degree but the students, visiting or working, are what make Kilohana what it is,” she says.

Description of photoA picture in kilohana re-emphasizing the purpose of its space Some plans Hayashi hopes to see more of in the future is to have more people through the door!

“As long as you are a part of the UH system, you are more than welcome to come down to utilize our technology, our study spaces and attend our community outreach programs,” says Hayashi.

As director, something she is proud to witness as an entirety of the team, is everyone's willingness to be of service.

“I think for the staff that work here, they're here because they like helping people. Everyone’s different in their own way, but that's probably the one trait we all have in common,” she shares.

“I think I’m all about lifelong learning and I think Kilohana presents a potential vehicle to promote that idea that you can always learn new things,” says Hayashi.