{"id":590993,"date":"2026-04-18T03:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T03:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/590993\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T03:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T03:36:13","slug":"breaking-generational-cycles-at-leeward-cc-for-a-college-degree-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/590993\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking generational cycles at Leeward CC for a college degree first"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reading time: 2 minutes\"KikilaJanie-Maria Kikila<\/p>\n

For Janie-Maria Kikila, graduating from Leeward Community College this May is more than earning a degree\u2014it\u2019s a deeply personal milestone shaped by resilience, growth and determination. As a nontraditional student, mother and the first in her family to graduate from college, Kikila sees this moment as proof of perseverance.<\/p>\n

\"FamilyKikila with her children Jahzyah (14), Jazlyn (6), Levi (4)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis shows me that if you keep going, you can finish what you started,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Raised in Whitmore Village, Kikila attended Leilehua High School before transferring to Wai\u02bbanae High School. Her journey hasn\u2019t been easy, but she\u2019s remained focused on a bigger goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve gone through a lot\u2014from not always feeling safe as a child to postpartum depression as an adult\u2014but I made a decision not to let those things define me,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to break generational cycles, and I want to be someone my keiki can look up to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finding support at Leeward CC<\/p>\n

Kikila first enrolled at Leeward CC in 2013 but stepped away to build a career in management. That was disrupted when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.<\/p>\n

\"KikilaAs a nontraditional student, Kikila has found a path to success at Leeward CC.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was hard going from being financially independent to needing help,\u201d she said. \u201cI knew if I was going to start over, I needed a clear direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

She returned to Leeward CC in 2023 to pursue a degree in business management. Back on campus, Kikila found support that helped her stay on track\u2014not just academically, but personally. Through Leeward\u2019s counseling services, she began working with mental health therapist Lori Lum.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been seeing Lori for a little over a year, and she\u2019s been amazing,\u201d Kikila said.<\/p>\n

Turning challenges into motivation
\n\"KikilaSocial Synergy founding members and supporters: (From left) Dag Faustino, Kay Ono (retired), Janie Kikila, Tad Saiki, Madison Byrum, Na Huang\u00a0(edited)<\/p>\n

She also credits flexible student employment and mentors, such as business division faculty Tina Lee and Dag Faustino.<\/p>\n

\u201cJanie leads with intention and heart,\u201d Lee said. \u201cShe\u2019s someone who turns challenges into motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kikila founded Social Synergy<\/a>, Leeward\u2019s first marketing club, open to students of all majors across the UH System. It brings students together to connect, collaborate and gain real-world experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe saw a need and built something that brings students together in a meaningful way,\u201d Faustino added. \u201cThat kind of initiative is what sets her apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kikila plans to transfer to UH West O\u02bbahu to continue her studies in business and marketing, with the goal of one day serving in a leadership role within the State of Hawai\u02bbi.<\/p>\n

\"Kikila<\/p>\n

By Tad Saiki<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reading time: 2 minutesJanie-Maria Kikila For Janie-Maria Kikila, graduating from Leeward Community College this May is more than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":590994,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[86487,10517,258057,258056,4,450,28,258050,2535,18634,258058,33326,8200,258040,18470,258049,258043,15207,11639,16044,16043,16042,451,85171,258037,258047,258035,258054,258034,258036,258033,258045,258038,3899,1275,258052,258048,15389,3,258042,85170,30044,110804,6057,258051,258055,258041,258039,452,453,16041,85173,16049,258053,85174,17048,85172,258046,258044],"class_list":{"0":"post-590993","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking-news","8":"tag-86487","9":"tag-10517","10":"tag-alumni-recognition","11":"tag-breaking-generational-cycles","12":"tag-breaking-news","13":"tag-breakingnews","14":"tag-business","15":"tag-business-division-faculty","16":"tag-business-management","17":"tag-college-degree","18":"tag-commencement","19":"tag-counseling-services","20":"tag-covid-19-pandemic","21":"tag-dag-faustino","22":"tag-determination","23":"tag-flexible-student-employment","24":"tag-graduate-college","25":"tag-growth","26":"tag-hawaii","27":"tag-hawaii-college","28":"tag-hawaii-higher-education","29":"tag-hawaii-university","30":"tag-headlines","31":"tag-island-college","32":"tag-janie-maria-kikila","33":"tag-keiki","34":"tag-lcc","35":"tag-leadership-role","36":"tag-leeward-cc","37":"tag-leeward-college","38":"tag-leeward-community-college","39":"tag-leilehua-high-school","40":"tag-lori-lum","41":"tag-management","42":"tag-marketing","43":"tag-marketing-club","44":"tag-mental-health-therapist","45":"tag-mother","46":"tag-news","47":"tag-nontraditional-student","48":"tag-oahu-college","49":"tag-perseverance","50":"tag-postpartum-depression","51":"tag-resilience","52":"tag-social-synergy","53":"tag-state-of-hawaii","54":"tag-tad-saiki","55":"tag-tina-lee","56":"tag-top-stories","57":"tag-topstories","58":"tag-uh","59":"tag-uh-community-college","60":"tag-uh-system","61":"tag-uh-west-oahu","62":"tag-uhcc","63":"tag-university-of-hawaii","64":"tag-university-of-hawaii-community-college","65":"tag-waianae-high-school","66":"tag-whitmore-village"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/590994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}