Heather Kiyomi Omori’s journey to her coronation as Hawaii’s 65th Cherry Blossom Queen started when her grandmother suggested that her interest in Japanese culture and commitment to community service fit the objectives of the program. A conversation with the 60th Cherry Blossom Queen, Erin Mie Hi‘ileialoha Morimoto, persuaded her to go for it.

Winning the title last month has made the soft-spoken, 26-year-old “gosei” (fifth-generation Japanese-American) a role model and representative of Hawaii’s Japanese-American community. Born and raised in Mililani, a proud 2008 Mililani High School grad, Omori got her bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Hawaii-Manoa and a master’s in elementary education. She teaches third-graders at Daniel K. Inouye Elementary School at Schofield Barracks and works as a one-on-one behavior interventionist with autistic children.

JOHN BERGER: What were your thoughts when they announced the name of the first princess and you knew that you would either be Cherry Blossom Queen or nothing?

HEATHER OMORI: I told myself “It’s OK. It’s OK if I don’t make it. Even though this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the things that I’ve learned and I’ve gained through the festival are going to last a lifetime.”

JB: What is one of the things Japanese culture has taught you?

HO: Shikata ga nai — “It cannot be helped.” Accepting that we don’t always have control over the things that happen in our lives helps keep me positive during difficult situations or challenging times.

JB: What was the most difficult or challenging part of being a contestant?

HO: One of the hardest challenges was making my introductory speech by memory at the beginning of the program. The breathing meditation techniques I learned from aikido and realizing “shikata ga nai” helped me do it.

JB: What would be the biggest surprise for people who know you only as a Cherry Blossom Queen?

HO: I wrestled for four years in high school. In my freshman year I lost every single match and I also had a coach who didn’t believe girls should wrestle. His “mission” that year was to make me quit, but with hard work and motivation to finish off the season I continued wrestling. In my senior year, I placed in the state championship and was offered an academic/wrestling scholarship for Menlo (College in Atherton, Calif.).

“On the Scene” appears weekly in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Sunday Magazine. Reach John Berger at jberger@staradvertiser.com.