Families celebrate summer grads

Keola Piena, a husband and father of four, recalled the sacrifices he and his family had to make over the last several years -- including bringing his kids along with him to class and driving an hour and a half to and from school -- so that he could finish his bachelor's degree in psychology.

The 30-year-old from Laie, who after high school had no goals to pursue higher education, will start his master's degree in social work at the University of Hawaii at Manoa next week. He is the youngest of four children, and the last to get his bachelor's degree.

"It feels good to finally finish at least my undergrad," Piena said.

He is one of the more than 1,000 students from the University of Hawaii at Manoa's centennial class who graduated yesterday at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"It's a milestone for him," said Veronica Piena, his mother, who is a schoolteacher.

The value of education seems to run firm throughout this family. Aside from his mother, Keola Piena's mother-in-law and sister are schoolteachers, his father-in-law is a professor at BYU-Hawaii and his wife also works at the same university.

"It's been a fun journey," said Lupe Piena, his wife. "It's the struggle that makes us stronger."

Lupe Piena, a Punahou graduate with master's and Juris Doctor degrees, met her husband in 2000, and she remembers he told her, "If you want to marry someone with a degree, find someone else to date." Instead of finding someone else to date, Piena encouraged her then-boyfriend to go back to school. The couple eventually married, and she made a deal with him.

"I convinced him that I would work and all he has to do is go to school," she said.

Commencement speaker Virginia Hinshaw, who assumed the position of Manoa chancellor July 1, reminded the graduating class of their responsibility to society. Hinshaw, who was provost and executive vice chancellor of the University of California at Davis, gave the students three pieces of advice:

» Learn from everyone you meet.

» Remember to refresh your soul.

» Borrowing from French chemist Louis Pasteur, remember that chance favors the prepared mind.

"Keep company with those who will make you better," Hinshaw said.

For Piena, that's what he'll continue to do: keep himself in good company with the support of his family and friends. The Kamehameha graduate plans to use his social work background to help children and their families.

"I always enjoy helping others," he said. "I want to work with native Hawaiian families ... helping to strengthen the native Hawaiian community by strengthening the families."