Giving to Punahou
Giving Report Archive
2021 Annual Report
Student Stories
Strong Ending
Mehana Leafchild ’21
I was always in the water when I was little – surfing, sailing, diving and swimming. So when I came to Punahou my freshman year, it opened the door for me to do a lot of other water sports I didn’t have access to before, like water polo, kayaking and paddling. I was really looking forward to competing my senior year, but all competition was canceled because of COVID. I was pretty bummed, but now, I know it was good because it allowed me to become super serious about one sport – kayaking. It isn’t a collegiate sport, but it’s an Olympic sport, so we’ll see.
I’m really grateful that I had those first couple of years of the Punahou experience, but overall, I was happy with the way my senior year ended too. I think we ended the year really strong despite the conditions. I still felt really connected to my Class, and I think that’s because of the structure of how school was set up and the events that Punahou put on.
I got a little bit emotional during different events, because after being away from each other so long, you kind of take it for granted and take that connection for granted. So when you come back and you’re with everyone, it’s overwhelming.You just have so much love for everyone and all the different characteristics and energies that your Class brings to the school.
“I think we ended the year really strong despite the conditions. I still felt really connected to my Class, and I think that’s because of the structure of how school was set up and the events that Punahou put on.”
Punahou did an awesome job with graduation. It was cool to have it on campus. It felt like things came full circle, and it was a really beautiful ceremony with everyone there. I can’t believe we pulled it off. It was really awesome!
It’s hard to not to feel a little sad about what’s happened, but at the end of the day, we can’t change what happened, and we ended so strong. Rather than dwelling on the past, I think we should just be grateful for what we have, because we got an education, we made friends and we did it together. Those are the most important things.
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