A Kaimuki Senior Who Represents Kiribati, Marshallese, and Hawaiʻi Is About to See Cherry Blossoms for the First Time
One of 42 public high school students selected for the 2026 Hawaiʻi Sister-State Study Tours.
Name: Ben Murdoch Jr
Preferred Name: Ben
School: Kaimuki High School
Grade: 12th (Senior)
Home Community: Kaimuki, Honolulu
Delegation: Okinawa
Travel Dates: March 14–25/26, 2026
Focus Interests / Extracurriculars: JROTC — 4th highest Commander, S-1 Officer; Student Council Senior Class Representative; Co-Captain of Kaimuki Rifle Team; Lead Photographer for Kaimuki Yearbook; Leo Lions Club representative; KAPA (Kaimuki Association of Pacific Arts) representative — Kiribati and Samoan culture; worker and captain at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center; sings, plays ukulele and guitar
Career Aspirations: Hospitality and tourism — he names this explicitly and has already been building real-world experience at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center
Why They Were Selected
Ben is the kind of person who says yes before he thinks about whether he has time — and somehow keeps every commitment. He's a JROTC commander, a rifle team co-captain, a convention center captain, a yearbook photographer, and a cultural representative, all at once. But underneath the packed schedule is something more specific: a senior who spent four years in Arkansas, came back to Oʻahu, and has been quietly working ever since to make sure his roots grow somewhere meaningful.
What They're Excited About
Seeing the blooming sakura in spring — he names this specifically and with genuine anticipation; sharing the experience with his community; exploring somewhere beyond Oʻahu for the first time internationally.
He's Only Left Oʻahu Three Times. The Third Was a Band Trip to Hilo That "Felt Long in His Heart." Now He's Going to See the Sakura in Okinawa.
Ben Murdoch Jr has a good memory for the feeling of leaving. There was Arkansas — four years for family, gone before he was ready to go. There was California — one year, also for family. And then there was Hilo, a three-day band trip with his friends that was over before it really started. "Even though it was short," he wrote, "it felt long in my heart." This spring, the Kaimuki High School senior is leaving Oʻahu for the first time internationally — and he's already looking forward to the cherry blossoms.
Ben is one of those seniors who somehow does everything and means all of it. He's the fourth-highest commander in Kaimuki's JROTC program, the Senior Class Representative in Student Council, co-captain of the rifle team, lead photographer for the yearbook, a captain at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center, and a cultural representative in KAPA for both his Kiribati and Marshallese heritage. He wants to build a career in hospitality and tourism — and he's been building the foundation for it in ways most students his age haven't imagined yet.
Ben was selected because he carries both the discipline of a commander and the warmth of someone who genuinely cannot stop helping people. He calls himself a "people pleaser" like it's a flaw, but watch what it actually looks like: a student who represents two Pacific Island cultures at school, captains a crew at the Convention Center, and still finds time to photograph his classmates' best moments for the yearbook. That instinct — to show up fully, for everyone — is exactly what an ambassador does.
"Even though it was short, it felt long in my heart." — Ben Murdoch Jr, Kaimuki High School, Class of 2026
Ben graduates this spring, and Okinawa will be one of the last things he does as a Kaimuki student. He's going to come home with the cherry blossoms still in his mind and a story his community in Kaimuki hasn't heard yet — about what it looks like when someone who almost never left finally does, and what he brought back with him.
