Carlo Carrasco couldn’t understand why in the world his parents wanted to move to Hawaii.
As he saw it, life in San Pedro, in the Laguna province of the Philippines, was pretty plum. His father served in the air force, and his mother worked as a secretary, which made it possible for his three siblings and him to attend a good Catholic private school.
The Carrasco kids weren’t spoiled, however. Carrasco helped take care of the family’s pigs, chickens and ducks and tended to a fishpond on the family property. Once a month, the family would visit his grandparents’ farm, where they would work in the rice paddy and take care of the cows and water buffalo.
Carrasco was 12 when his aunt successfully petitioned for the family to join her in the United States.
"Back then I didn’t understand why we had to move," says Carrasco, 34. "Now, as an adult, I’m thankful that they made that decision."
Carrasco would attend Kaimuki High School, where he was an Oahu Interscholastic Association wrestling champion at 103 pounds. As formidable in the classroom as he was on the mat, Carrasco went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in sociology at the University of Hawaii and a master’s in counseling from Chaminade University.
"My dad instilled in me the idea that you don’t back down," Carrasco says. "He told me to be proud of who I am and how I was raised. He always told us to give 110 percent in everything we did."
Carrasco met his future wife as a freshman at UH, and her influence proved as powerful as that of his parents. It was Camille who got him interested in working with troubled or disadvantaged kids. It was her love of travel that gave him an opportunity to help his students to strive for something better.
Carrasco now works as a teacher and counselor at Damien Memorial School. Each year, he takes students on educationally themed tours of the neighbor islands, the mainland and abroad.
Just as his parents wanted him and his siblings to see the world beyond their immediate community and to embrace its limitless potential, Carrasco tries to do the same for his students by making history come alive on tours of Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York.
A few years ago, Carrasco and his wife founded Edventure Bound, a company that specializes in educational excursions for local schools.
"It’s eye-opening for students to leave Hawaii and actually see the places they’ve learned about," Carrasco says. "You see the impact later when they start talking about going away for college. They’re not afraid. They’re excited by what the world has to offer."
