She Asks Every Friend Who Moves Away What They'll Miss Most About Hawaiʻi. She Listens Closely Enough to Notice the Pattern. Now She's Going to Ilocos Norte — Where Some of Her Classmates Are From.
One of 42 public high school students selected for the 2026 Hawaiʻi Sister-State Study Tours.
Student Snapshot
Name: Yinyi Chen
Preferred Name: Yinyi
School: Kalani High School
Grade: 10th
Home Community: Honolulu (Kaimukī/Kalani area), Oʻahu — inferred from school location; she names Wilson Elementary and Kaimuki Middle School as Key Club service sites, confirming East Honolulu community context [VERIFY home address for district accuracy]
Delegation: Ilocos Norte/Ilocos Sur
Travel Dates: March 14–25/26, 2026
Focus Interests / Extracurriculars: Key Club Vice President of Socials and Projects (plans events, manages signups, supervises at community service sites); Kalani Orchestra Leadership Secretary; Kalani PAAC Club Secretary; Environmental Club; Chinese Club; Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony (auditioned and accepted, summer 2025 — competitive); part-time frozen yogurt job (summer — self-funded a water obstacle course adventure for herself and her sister); violin; Chinese language study (ongoing — to stay connected to family in China and future cousins); traveled to Japan (Tokyo — Asakusa, Shinjuku, Shibuya) and China
Career Aspirations: Supporting English Language Learners — she names this specifically and personally: she has Chinese-speaking friends who help her learn Chinese, and she wants to give back by helping them with English; this frames her career interest in teaching, language education, or community support
Why They Were Selected
Yinyi spent her summer working a frozen yogurt job, saved the money, and took her sister on a water obstacle course. She auditioned for the Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony and got in. She plants native trees at Kaimuki Middle School with her Key Club. She asks every friend who moves away what they'll miss most about Hawaiʻi — and she listened closely enough to notice the common thread in all their answers. When she found out she got into PAAC, the first thing she said to her sister was that her parents wouldn't have to pay as much. That is who she is.
What They're Excited About
Being extremely nervous watching peers get emails one by one; taking her dog for a walk with her sister; her sister telling her to check her email; jaw dropping, then smiling; jumping up and down; immediately telling her parents they wouldn't have to pay much — that was her first thought; finding out friends and peers are from Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur and feeling like the trip became even cooler; representing Kalani and capturing moments for her school
She Was Walking Her Dog When Her Sister Said to Check Her Email. Her Jaw Dropped. And Her Very First Thought Was That Her Parents Wouldn't Have to Pay as Much.
Yinyi Chen had been watching her peers get their PAAC acceptance emails one by one, getting more nervous with each one that wasn't hers. Then she took her dog for a walk with her sister. Her sister told her to check her email. She opened it, and her jaw dropped — followed by a smile. She jumped up and down. And the very first thing she said to her parents when she told them wasn't about Ilocos Norte, or about representing Kalani, or about the trip itself. It was that they wouldn't have to pay as much, because she knew how hard they worked to give her opportunities. That's Yinyi.
The Kalani High sophomore is Key Club Vice President, PAAC Club Secretary, Orchestra Leadership Secretary, an Environmental Club member, a Chinese Club participant, and a newly accepted member of the Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony — which she auditioned for over the summer, after funding a water obstacle course adventure for herself and her sister with money she earned from a part-time frozen yogurt job. She studies Chinese to stay connected to family still in China, so she can talk to her cousins without standing on the side because she doesn't know how to speak. She asks every friend who moves away what they'll miss most about Hawaiʻi, and she listens closely enough to notice the common thread in all their answers.
Yinyi was selected because she pays attention to people — to what they love, what they carry, what they're working toward. After she got in, she found out that several of her friends and peers at Kalani are from the Philippines, some from Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur specifically. That discovery made the trip feel even more personal — she isn't just going to the Philippines. She's going to her classmates' home.
"The very first thing I was excited about was that my parents did not need to pay as much for me to attend this opportunity because I knew they worked very hard to try to provide for many opportunities for me." — Yinyi Chen, Kalani High School, Class of 2028
When Yinyi comes home to Honolulu from Ilocos Norte, she'll return with something specific to share — with her school, with the English Language Learners she hopes to support, and with the friends whose home she just visited. For a student who keeps asking the people around her what they love most about where they're from, that answer is going to matter.
