On this evening, eleven years ago today, I was a senior at the Kamehameha Schools with classmates and the rest of the secondary school students at the Neil Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. We joined our voices together as part of a tradition that had spanned 82 years to compete against the other graduating classes in friendly competition. It was a celebration of our Hawaiian culture, which is rich in the arts including singing, music, dancing, hula, and story telling. It was an honor and such a joy.

In 2002, we won the co-ed competition with our rendition of “Hilo E / Hilo One”. Hilo, my hometown, is a small town on the east coast of Hawai’i island (the Big Island). “Hilo E” tells of the beautiful and famous rains in Hilo, and “Hilo One” tells the love story of a young girl named Emily and a boy named Henry in Hilo. Song Contest is such a wonderful tradition and celebration of our Hawaiian heritage, and I am so honored to have gotten to participate as a young(er) man.

Here is our class singing “Hilo E/ Hilo One”, lead my classmate Rockne Henriques.

Aloha,
Jordan