Changing Hawaii

By Diane Yukihiro Chang

Monday, March 15, 1999

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A pep talk for the
women to tomorrow

THE bright and beautiful young ladies of Sacred Hearts Academy -- grades 7-12, 700 strong, in their neatly pressed uniforms -- sat straight-backed in their gym, waiting for the "stars" of the morning to appear. These celebrities included a corporate CEO, a former mayor, a judge, an assistant police chief and a Navy pilot.

All of these "stars" were wahine, too.

Last Friday's special assembly at the all-girl school's Kaimuki campus had two main missions. First on the agenda was honoring five Sacred Hearts sophomores -- Lani Chu, Sara Matsuura, Tracy Wang, Maile Luafalealo and Haiau Ho -- who had won Horatio Alger National Scholarships and all-expense-paid trips to Washington, D.C., for their achievements over adversity.

The other reason for the gathering, presided over by Principal Betty White, was to hear from a handful of Hawaii's women leaders, who were asked to share their personal philosophies of success.

Boy, did they bond with the girls:

Faye Watanabe Kurren, president of Tesoro Hawaii Corp. (the local oil refining, marketing and distributing arm of Tesoro Petroleum), said there were two key words to live by: integrity and respect. Integrity should permeate our personal interactions and dealings every day, while respect is vital because "everyone has something to offer, no matter how different," said the corporate leader and mother of two daughters.

Linda Lingle seemed energized by the large and supportive crowd. The former Maui mayor said she didn't "fail" in the last gubernatorial election, because she gained tremendous experiences despite her narrow loss to the incumbent. Lingle urged the students to "make a difference every single day," and said if indecision should ever strike on whether to do something, "imagine how it would look on the front page of the Star-Bulletin. If you wouldn't be happy that it was in the newspaper, don't do it!"

Another Linda, District Family Court Judge Luke, said returning to her alma mater after graduating from Sacred Hearts in 1967 made her realize "you can go home again." With 18 years of experience in the judiciary, Luke believes leadership is a journey, not a destination, and urged the young ladies to embrace four C's as they move toward adulthood: commitment, collaboration, courage and compassion.

Assistant Police Chief Barbara Wong impressed the crowd with her uniform, her badge, the gun in her holster and her sincere straight-talk. "If you want options, you need the education," said the highest-ranking woman in the Honolulu Police Department, adding that she has "grown the most when facing the greatest adversity."

Lt. Erin Osbourne looked dapper in her Navy whites and talked matter-of-factly about being a pilot. She said aviation is the greatest equalizer because "an airplane doesn't know or care who is flying it -- a man or a woman" and declared that "the door to opportunity is there, it's up to us to open it and charge in."

THEN, at the conclusion of the presentation, the female role models filed out to the thunderous applause of their youthful audience. They clapped in thanks, perhaps in awe and hopefully in the belief that, maybe one day, they too might return to this campus to motivate a future generation.

With all of the seemingly irrational goings-on in Hawaii, the nation and the world, there is one calming and gratifying constant: the promise of a better tomorrow.

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Diane Yukihiro Chang's column runs Monday and Friday.
She can be reached by phone at 525-8607, via e-mail at
DianeChang@aol.com, or by fax at 523-7863.