Despite a time of war, economic uncertainty and fierce competition in the job market, the class of 2013 appears to be leaving high school with a positive outlook and a unique perspective.
"I believe my generation is like none other in the sense that we are advanced in so many ways, not only technologically, but in the expansive amount of information we know and how we express it," said Germaine Kabutaulaka, valedictorian of Saint Francis School. "Our generation is usually known as a generation with a bad reputation, but I believe we have a bright future ahead of us. We are the generation that will clean up the mess that the last generation inflicted us with global warming, war and corruption."
Kabutaulaka, 18, of Manoa, has plenty of worldly ambitions as she gets ready to graduate with 74 others May 26 in the school’s first coed ceremony. She is a recipient of the Gates Millennium Scholarship, which provides leadership development along with financial support for college, and will be heading to the University of San Francisco to study biology and international relations.
Her goals are to become a physician, work with the World Health Organization and improve the health care system in the Solomon Islands, where her family is from.
Farrington High School senior Eric Arzaga also feels optimistic.
"We’re the lucky generation," said Arzaga, when asked what defines his class. "Because 2013, that’s a lucky number. We set the standard for the coming year."
Arzaga, 18, has juggled his high school studies with his roles as battalion commander of the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) at Farrington and captain of the varsity soccer and cross-country teams.
After graduating May 18 with about 500 fellow seniors, he will head to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., where he hopes to focus on political science.
"Once you get out of Farrington, you’ll be ready for anything," he said, noting the diversity of students on the Kalihi campus. "I just know that we have students that thrive, that try their best no matter what brings them down. I’ve seen and experienced it."
When asked about his defining moment at Farrington, Araga said it was playing for the soccer team, which has been like his family, and earning a trip to the state high school championships.
Both the college admissions process and the job market have gotten more competitive, according to Farrington Principal Al Carganilla, a 1986 graduate. At the same time, he’s noticed more students balancing part-time jobs to help their families and pay for extracurricular activities.
Punahou School senior Cayla Pang also foresees the class of 2013 making its mark.
"We’re the new and upcoming generation, and we’re going to use our impact in the world making decisions and shaping the world into a good place for our generations and for generations to come," she said.
Pang, 17, along with classmates Evan Lin and Chad Kia‘aina, composed this year’s commencement song, "Only Time." She describes it as a coming-of-age song that captures the sentiments of Punahou’s roughly 400 seniors who will graduate June 1.
Her favorite verses are: "And in all of my time, I have made up my mind/I have grown strong, I have grown fast/I am learning to stand, I am learning to last/I finally know what it means to take a chance."
The Honolulu teen and musician is heading to Lehigh University in Pennsylvania to study biological or biomedical sciences.
"I definitely hope to use whatever knowledge I can gain to help people," she said, "whether it’s in medical research or helping the environment and making sure it’s a safe place for other generations."
Robert Hugh McCarthy IV of Leilehua High School, a recipient of the National Football Foundation’s College Hall of Fame Scholarship, defines his generation as "the generation of limitless possibilities."
"Adults will call us the generation of cynics, but I view our generation in terms of what we’ll be able to achieve," he said. "Science is advancing so rapidly and opportunity is growing."
McCarthy, 18, will have overcome plenty to stand with his 360 classmates at Leilehua’s commencement May 17. His military family moved seven times before landing in Wahiawa.
Despite a spinal condition, McCarthy earned all-conference recognition as a defensive lineman and kicker on the school’s football team. The well-rounded senior also maintained a 4.0 grade-point average, enrolled in Advanced Placement courses and held a part-time job cleaning classrooms.
He plans to take up premedical studies at Washington University in St. Louis with the goal of becoming an orthopedic surgeon.
For McCarthy the future is full of potential.
"I believe our generation has the chance to change the way the world is, environmentally and economically," he said. "Honestly, we’re going to have to. … For those that are willing to work for it, they’re going to get it."
