"I Want to Know How My Grandparents Grew Up in Their Country." A Kaiser Freshman Is Going to Ilocos Norte — Where Her Family Is From.
One of 42 public high school students selected for the 2026 Hawaiʻi Sister-State Study Tours.
Student Snapshot
Name: Zoe Fernandez
Preferred Name: Zoe
School: Kaiser High School
Grade: 9th (Freshman)
Home Community: Hawaiʻi Kai / East Honolulu, Oʻahu — she names Kaimana Beach, her lush green neighborhood with kukui nuts on her lānai, and Key Club service at ʻAina Haina Elementary, Koko Head Elementary, Hahaione Elementary, and Niu Valley Middle; this is a distinctly East Honolulu portrait [VERIFY home address for district accuracy]
Delegation: Ilocos Norte/Ilocos Sur
Travel Dates: March 14–25/26, 2026
Focus Interests / Extracurriculars: Sustainable Society (SDG focus, Keawawa Wetlands weeding); Kaiser Key Club; Friends and Fur Club (Honolulu Zoo volunteer, Hawaiian Humane Society Pet Visitation); Cancer Kids First Oahu (cards for children with cancer); LEO Club; LifeSmarts (financial literacy competition); Karaoke Club; JV Volleyball; Air Riflery (top five female scorers); Girls JV Tennis (winter); Music Olympics nonprofit Secretary (since 2023 — weekly meetings, planning, fundraising, K-12 music competition); Class of 2029 Treasurer; violin (Irish fiddle style); baking; crocheting; drawing (paper and Procreate); jogging; language learning (Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, Tagalog, German — apps, dramas, manga); previously traveled to Fukuoka and Hiroshima, Japan (8 days, 2024) as ambassador for Niu Valley Middle School through Hawaiʻi Global Education Foundation; visited two Japanese junior high schools, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Fukuoka International Exchange Foundation
Career Aspirations: Studying abroad in college; making a difference in her community; connecting global knowledge to local SDG work — her essay frames these as lifelong goals
Why They Were Selected
Zoe's dad works two jobs. Her mom works 50–60 hours a week. Her grandpa passed away during the pandemic. Her dad was away from home for a year. She watched her family hold together through all of it, and she took notes — on resilience, on showing up for each other, on what it means to stick together so everyone can grow. She is a ninth grader who is Secretary of a nonprofit, Treasurer of her class, top five female scorer on her air riflery team, a Japan ambassador veteran at 14, and someone who already knows that she wants to go to Ilocos Norte partly because that's where her grandparents are from. She waited all day for that email. At 7:30 p.m., she ran to her mom.
What They're Excited About
Waiting all day; seeing the email at 7:30 p.m.; running to her mom; reading it aloud; the word "Congratulations"; her heart dropping; the largest smile; hugging her mom so hard her cheeks hurt; learning about global issues from professionals who are passionate; meeting students from across Hawaiʻi and the Philippines; digging deeper into her Filipino identity; learning how her grandparents grew up; her family being proud that she's going to a country where many of them came from; getting closer to her goal of studying abroad
She Waited All Day. At 7:30pm She Saw the Email and Ran to Her Mom. She Read It Aloud. Then She Smiled So Hard Her Cheeks Began to Hurt.
Zoe Fernandez had been preparing for either outcome all day. She was hoping it would be her — but she was trying to be ready either way. Then at 7:30 p.m., the email from Ms. Li appeared. She ran toward her mom, who had helped her through the whole application. She read it aloud. She reached the word "Congratulations." Her heart dropped. The largest smile spread across her face. She hugged her mom tight and smiled until her cheeks hurt. The Kaiser High freshman is going to Ilocos Norte, the region in the Philippines where her grandparents are from.
Zoe is a ninth grader with a longer list of commitments than most students twice her age. She's Secretary of a nonprofit that runs a K-12 music competition, Treasurer of the Class of 2029, a top-five female scorer on Kaiser's air riflery team, a JV volleyball player, a JV tennis player, and an active member of seven school clubs — including Sustainable Society, where she volunteers at the Keawawa Wetlands removing invasive species, and Cancer Kids First, where she writes bright, uplifting cards for children with cancer. She plays violin in an Irish fiddle style. She studies Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, Tagalog, and German using apps, dramas, and manga. She already has international ambassador experience: in 2024, she traveled to Fukuoka and Hiroshima as a student ambassador for Niu Valley Middle School.
Zoe was selected because she already knows why this trip matters personally — and the answer involves her grandparents. As a second-generation Filipino-American, she wrote that she wants to know how they grew up, and that learning more about their country will help her bond with them and explore a part of her identity she hasn't yet had the chance to reach. The Ilocos Norte trip is not just a global education experience for Zoe. It is a family visit to a place she has never been.
"After reading the word 'Congratulations,' my heart dropped. I had the largest smile spread on my face. I hugged my mom tight and smiled so hard my cheeks began to hurt." — Zoe Fernandez, Kaiser High School, Class of 2029
When Zoe comes home to East Honolulu from Ilocos Norte, she'll return with something she's been waiting to find — a piece of her family's story that she can now share with her grandparents in person. For a Hawaiʻi Kai community built by families who came from somewhere else and chose to stay, that homecoming is the point.
