Hello Everyone! Welcome once again to my student blog. In
this blog, I will be doing a recap of the tour of I’olani Palace that I
attended yesterday. One of the major perks of my internship is that I get to
tag along on awesome events and tours like these. Back in November, I went on
an overnight tour of the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor. All of these events are
available for HPU students and it’s great that HPU has such a strong relationship
with historic places and the overall culture of Hawaii.
Yesterday I afternoon I attended a tour of the I’olani
Palace. The tour was lead by Dr. Askman, a history professor here at HPU. It’s
amazing to see how close HPU is to the only royal palace in the United States
and a strong monument of Hawaii’s rich past. Prior to becoming a U.S. territory
and soon after a state, Hawaii was an independent nation lead by a monarchy.
The palace was ruled by Hawaii nation’s last monarch, Queen Liliuokalani,
before the overthrow of the monarchy by the U.S. As a local, I was really taken
back by learning about the deeper aspects of Hawaii’s royal history and to be
honest it was quite emotional for me. As an educated young adult from Hawaii,
although not Hawaiian, I still feel a connection to Hawaii’s past and compelled
to do my part in showing reverence to its past royalty and remember what
happened to the queen.
Aside from all my mixed emotions, I really learned a lot on
the tour and it was great to see a nice group of HPU students who were also
interested in learning about Hawaiian history. Dr. Askman also promoted his
Hawaiian history class to all of us, which I will definitely look in to taking
next semester. It is through connections like these that make HPU unique.
Although Hawaii is a young state, it has played a big part in U.S. and world
history and it is still important to remember its past royalty. Students from
around the world come to HPU to witness the Aloha of Hawaii’s people and its
beautiful scenery, but it is still important to remember its sad overthrow and
show reverence to its past monarchs. Being that HPU’s downtown campus is so
close in proximity to I’olani Palace, and because downtown Honolulu also has a
rich history, the spirit of mana (Hawaiian word for spiritual power) surrounds
HPU.
Well that’s about it for today. Tomorrow I will be
performing in Da Freakshow, HPU’s 9th annual talent show! I’m extremely
excited to share my musical message and look forward to showcasing it to my HPU
O’hana. Alright, have a good day everyone!
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