Timeline

1992: Hurricane Iniki struck Kaua'i and killed four people and caused $2 billion in damages.  Although this was not on my island, it was still a big deal to the state of Hawai'i because of the damage it caused.

1993: Clinton signs the Apology Resolution.  This was significant because he acknowledged that the overthrowing of Hawai'i by the United States was wrong.

1995: The last sugar planation on the Island of Hawai'i closes.  This is a pretty big event because sugar cane is one of the major exports of Hawai'i.

2000: US Supreme Court declared restricting voting in Office of Hawaiian Affairs to Native Hawaiians violated the 15th Amendment.  This was a huge event for me because I am part Hawaiian and I come from a school that requires Hawaiian Ancestry to attend.  Hawaiian rights is a huge deal in Hawai'i because people are always trying to take it away from us.

2001: September 11, 2001.  I was getting ready for school when I walked into my mother's bedroom to see Muslims dancing and celebrating as the twin towers and World Trade Center went down.  I was too young and naive at the time to understand what was going on.  That soon changed.

2006: An earthquake knocks out power and topples rock walls in Hawai'i.  This was big because it was the first earthquake I had ever experienced in my life.  It was also the first time school had been cancelled because of any natural doing.

2007: University of Hawai'i football goes undefeated and plays in their first BCS bowl game.  This is the first time the UH football team was really recognized at a national level.

2008: Obama is elected President.  This was a significant event because he was the first President born and raised in Hawai'i.

2010: Graduation day.  13 years at the same school finally comes to an end.  A new beginning awaits in the fall.

Community and Diversity

Community: Community is used in this essay as the many college students living and learning together at the same university.  The community is composed of an ethnically diverse group of people.  However, the people of different ethnic appearances tend to hang out mostly with their own kind.  In Nathan's study, "most students, but white students predominantly, ended up becoming close friends with people of their own ethnicity." (240).  A person of a community need not to interact with everyone in their community, he or she simply needs to coexist with the other residents.  That's not to say that unity in a community is not a good thing because it could make a dorm experience much more enjoyable.

Ego-Centered Network: A personal network of friends that serve as "the backbone of most students' social experience in the university.

Community Living Agreement: "The dos and don'ts of hall life."