Pacific Island Community

To Entering and adjusting to college is often stressful on any student but for Native Americans it is often more stressful. The number of under-graduate students enrolled in college in the U.S. in fall of 2012, was17.7 million, Native Americans account for approximately .9% of the total population of college students. (U.S. Department of Education, 2015)On average, 57.5% of students who entered a four-yearinstitution of higher education in the United States in the year 2000 graduated within six years.Only 40.2% of Native American students who entered four-year institutions in that same year graduated within six years.(Crosby, 2011) Areas that can highly affect a Native Americans success at college are family support, structured social support,

Asian Americans are a very diverse group in the United States, which include many races such as Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, Filipino, Indian, and many more. Birth country, ancestry, and family heritage are ways to categorize this specific group. According to the 2010 Census, the Asian American population has grown faster than any other group from 2000 to 2010 (Pew Research, 2012). Asian Americans are either immigrants from Asia or are descendants of immigrants. Asian Americans have an extensive history in the United States, starting from the early 19th Century, when many people arrived to work in agriculture, construction, and low-wage jobs. Not until 60 years ago were foreign-born Asian Americans permitted to become U.S. citizens (Pew Research, 2012). The number of Asian Americans in the Unites States continues to increase, and the top six U.S. Asian groups include, Vietnamese, Indian, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, and Japanese (Pew Research, 2012). How do Asian Americans in the United States identity? Do they identify as being American, Asian, or a specific ethnic group? It is interesting to see how different people identify themselves. According to Pew Research, a small percentage of Asian Americans, 14 percent, identify themselves as being American, while only 1 in 5 people describe themselves as being Asian (2012). Therefore, the rest of the population identifies themselves by their country of origin. I argue that all Asian Americans identify differently and

Hawaii, translated from the ancient Hawaiian language should mean paradise because that's what it is. Hawaii has a climate that varies only several degrees in temperature year round and the sun always shines. The rainy season is in January, but it isn't so rainy that it deters visitors. In fact, winter is one of the most popular times of year to visit Hawaii. This is probably because it is cold and dreary just about everywhere else in the United States. Hawaii makes for the perfect getaway for Californians because it is only about a three-hour flight.

The state of Hawaii, also known collectively as the Hawaiian Islands, has a long history regarding its development. From migration, to the development of producing goods as a way of bartering, to an eventual governed society, the modernization of Hawaii has an illustrious history. The people who impacted this and were part of creating a globalized look at Hawaii played a part into modernization the state. This paper will illustrate the modernization of this land and its westernization throughout the years.

Upon their arrival, Hmong faced “multiple social, cultural, educational, economic, and institutional barriers and challenges” (Hmong National Development, 2004; Lee, Jung, Su, Tran, & Bahrassa, 2009, p. 559). As the Hmong settled down in the United States, they found that education was vital for their children’s future (Lee & Green, 2008). A study conducted by Reder (1982) found that “73% [of Hmong adults]

The Hawaiian Islands were created from volcanoes over the millions of years. The Islands sit on the Pacific Ocean plate and the way these islands were formed was from the hotspots in the earth’s crust and from the underwater volcanoes that soon rise to make land. There is roughly eight islands and I believe there will be more islands created in the future and they will keep shifting northwest. The first island is the oldest and roughly near 5 million years old, while the younger ones aren’t as old. Erosion is a common thing throughout the earth but for the Hawaiian Islands it’s changed the way the structure of the volcanoes and the island as a whole. The main reason why the islands are growing is from the lava the pours out of the volcanoes and builds layers upon layers and expands which expands the land. There is enough supply of lava that comes from the mantle since it’s still an active hot spot and will always be a hotspot.

Studying Asian American studies this semester was much better than I thought it would be. The ASAM 100 course taught me so many things about the Asian American and Pacific Islanders community. Most importantly, I learned that the model minority myth is not true. The model minority myth is conducted by the society to praise the efforts in overwhelming the hardships to fit in the mainstream culture of Asian Americans. However, the model minority myth unintentionally harms the Asian American population due to its stereotype of successful portrayal.

Mark Twain once described the Hawaiian Islands as “The loveliest fleet of islands that lies anchored in any ocean”. Hawaii is the most unique of the states of America. To further understand the geography of Hawaii, one must understand how Hawaii was formed, how Hawaii was populated, and understand what Hawaii came to be today.

Prior to this course, I had little to no knowledge on Asian Pacific Americans (APA). After weeks of discussing and analyzing material that dealt with the hardships that minorities such as APA individuals faced, I can conclude that this ethnic group underwent experiences that were not too uncommon from that of Latinos and African Americans. Since population in California today, consist of an average of 60% Asians and Latinos as stated in the book, “Learning English/Learning America” by Juana Mora, Gina Masequesmay, Eunai Shrake, and Ana S. Munoz, it is safe to say that students in classrooms nowadays are mainly those within these ethnic groups (Mora, Masequesmay, Shrake, and Munoz, ix). I will be focusing on three of the many stories APA and Latino students have to share in this book, that I felt related to me most as I also, am a second generation student.

The schools that many Native American students go to are high poverty area schools with low funding so they do not get a good education while there. Although the amount of Non-Native American students that drop out is larger than the amount of Native American students that dropout the student to dropout ratio shows the difference. For the 2009-2010 school year the Event Dropout Rate of Native Americans was 7% while the percent of all Non-Native Event Dropout Rate was only 3% (Statistics on Native American Students, 2014). Along with the higher drop out numbers than all other students’ Native American student only make up .9% of all students attending all Title IV U.S. Higher Education Institutions in 2011-2012 while white students make up 53% of that population (Statistics on Native American Students, 2014). These statistics show that the education for Native Americans is not up to par with the educations for other student

Researchers stated that successful Hmong students preserve certain aspects of their Hmong culture and certain aspects of the mainstream American culture. Hmong students are encouraged to embrace “the practice of accommodation and acculturation without assimilation” (Lee, 2001; Lee & Hawkins, 2008; Vang, 2005, p. 32). Vang (2005) listed seven characteristics of successful Hmong students in the United States. The list includes: (a) a reciprocal relationship with their parents; (b) the capability to discuss educational situations or concerns with their parents who listens to what they have to share; (c) parents who give advice and guides them; (d) made goals and have plans in regards to what they want to do after graduating from high school; (e) access to technology, educators/counselors/school administrators, co-curricular and extracurricular activities, school programs, role models; (f) skills needed to cope with academic, social, and economic problems; and (g) high self-esteem. These characteristics demonstrate that family, language, culture, and environment are essential to help increase Hmong students’ educational achievement and

Hmong report below average English proficiency, educational attainment, and household income. Due to the model minority argument, Hmong and other struggling Asian American subgroups don’t receive substantial government assistance despite their alarming statistics. In their native countries, Hmong lived in isolated, rural regions with little traditional schooling functioning primarily as farmers. As a result of the Hmong coming to the U.S. as refugees as opposed to immigrants, they didn’t undergo the same self-selection process which favors educated and wealthy professionals. Because the majority of Hmong came to the U.S. for survival rather than economic gain they were unprepared socially and economically for life in the U.S. In 2015, 60% of the foreign-born Hmong population reported their level of education as high school or less. Additionally, only 40% of the foreign-born Hmong population reported being proficient in English. These statistics indicate that a large portion of Hmong refugees arrived in the U.S. with minimal education and spoke little English making assimilation even more difficult. Hmong Americans report a median household income of $48,000 while the U.S. average is $57,000. This statistic is particularly troubling because although Hmong are only slightly behind the U.S. average 32% of them live in multigenerational households and average greater than six individuals per household. However, life is improving for Hmong Americans notably

The earliest people believed to come to the Hawaiian Islands were Polynesians from the Marquesas and they came between 500 and 750 A.D. Later, in 1000 A. D., the Tahiti came. The Tahiti brought over the belief in gods and social hierarchy, resulting in the hawaiian people following a Kapu system. In `1778, James cook, the first westerner to reach the Hawaiian Islands, paved the way for other explorers to come. James cook name the Islands the “Sandwich Islands” so show gratitude for the Earl of Sandwich. Cook dies a year later because of Hawaiian conflicts on Kealakekua Bay. In 1795, King Kamehameha led a campaign through the Hawaiian Islands, capturing and uniting all the islands under his monarchy in 1810. During his conquest, many ships anchored

In his article “Dilemmas of Racial Inequality in American Higher Education”, Robert Teranishi – a professor of Education, and the Morgan and Helen Chu Endowed Chair in Asian American Studies- explores “the importance of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) to our nation’s higher education priorities.” (5) Teranishi conducts “the study of AAPIs college participation within a broad set of conditions through which all students must navigate as they pursue higher education.” (5) He mainly focuses on the effects of individual agency, social conditions, and organizational structures of how they influence each other in a result of a severe gap in educational mobility. In other words, Teranishi addresses the dilemmas of racial inequality in American Higher Education in the aspects of stereotypes, racial stratification, and broader issues about the racial inequality.

The Polynesian Club is a very well known club at Chino Hills High School, so I felt that everyone should know a bit more about it. To find out more about the subject I sought help from Adrian Bagro, a junior officer in the club. For those who do not know, Polynesian Club is a Hawaiian dance club that uses Polynesian moves. They use these moves to create dances to perform at events like luaus. The members of Poly meet at the modules and practice from 3:00 to 5:00 on Thursdays. Later in the year they begin to have practices on Saturdays at Alterra Park from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., as the year progresses there are also practices on Tuesdays from 3:00 to 5:00. They have their meetings on Tuesday’s during lunch in room 244. I asked Adrian why he joined,