Hawaiian culture dances into ULV
Campus Times
October 2, 1998
Christina Suan, a hula dancer in her native Oahu, Hawaii, is a freshman
communications major. Even though she enjoys living on-campus, Suan says
she misses Hawaiian food and hula dancing, which she began when she was
4.
Could someone give up growing up in paradise to travel east to what
is a new world, to go to college? Growing up in a land where culture and
personal roots may be taken more seriously? Growing up in a land where food
is exotic, and the rest of the world envies the lush, tropical surroundings?
Growing up in a place that could star as the Garden of Eden in a major Hollywood
picture?
Christina Suan, a 17-year-old freshman communications major from Oahu,
Hawaii, gave up such a living to come to the University of La Verne. Suan
has also put a hold on being a professional hula dancer back home.
She first took up her trade when she was just 4 years old. When she
returns home in January, she is scheduled to go on a month-long tour.
When making her decision to go to college, Suan was looking to stay
on the West Coast. She eventually chose ULV because of its student-teacher
ratio, a decision that meant she would turn down larger schools.
"I like La Verne. It's really nice," she said.
The biggest adaptation she is adjusting to is in her taste buds.
"The food is really different. I've had a little trouble with it
and don't eat that much," she said.
Although she said she does miss home, she is happy in La Verne and has
made a lot of friends.
Suan sums herself up as a person who is deeply rooted in her ancestry
and takes pride in her ethnicity. She said culture is something that is
emphasized more in Hawaii than it is here.
"Because we are exposed to so many different cultures, we have
to learn about the different things that they do."
Jaymel Capinpin, a sophomore biology major, came to La Verne from Hawaii
because he is a person who feels that culture and its diversity is important.
"I was looking for diversity and La Verne seemed right," said
Capinpin.
From Capinpin's perspective La Verne and its cultural diversity was
a way to escape any potential racism that may have existed on a less diverse
campus.
"Back in Hawaii there is a perception that racism is a greater
problem on the continental United States. I wanted to avoid that so I chose
La Verne."
Capinpin turned down some bigger known schools such as the University
of Washington and UC San Francisco to gain the ethnic potpourri that ULV
offers.
By being part of such a small and intimate campus, Capinpin feels that
La Verne offers the opportunity to get to know people, but at times it can
be too much.
"La Verne is a little too small sometimes. Everyone is in everyone's
business and at times we can seem like a high school," he said.
Capinpin feels that people in Hawaii are more open minded in comparison
to the mainland United States, and he also thinks that Hawaiians are more
laid back than the rest of their countrymen.
"I get the impression that people here are cold to one another,
back home the entire city seems like one big family," he said.
Hard work is no problem for the man who turned his junior high school
photography hobby into two businesses. Capinpin also has a license that
certifies him as a professional photographer.
"I consider myself to be a entrepreneur who is ambitious. My grandparents
and my parents always told me that if you work hard you will succeed in
life and I believe that."
Christina Suan and Jaymel Capinpin are a couple of Leos who traveled
here from a land far away, and whose attendance is a testament to ULV and
the melting pot it strives to be.
If ever there is a luau around campus and there is dancing entertainment
and a photographer who cannot only take pictures but develop them in one
hour, it might be two ULV students who are sharing their culture with their
new world.
