 And we're back with a live Tuesday show here on Think Tech Hawaii. We are young talents making way, and I'm Andrea Gabrieli, your host. Today I would like to inspire us all, inspire us with the story of incredible success, talent and perseverance, a story that began with a dream and continued with lots and lots of work to make it possible. My guest stream was becoming Miss Hawaii's Outstanding Teen 2017 Ladies and Gentlemen, Maya Mayashiro. Welcome to the show, Maya. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for being with us. No problem. So, Maya, you made an incredible dream of yours come true. How? That's funny. Actually, I didn't even have dreams if we're going to start from the beginning. Just maybe over a year ago, I was actually in high school, public school system, and I was feeling really unmotivated, not doing good in school. I really enjoyed being outdoors. I grew up in Minoa Valley, so that's really, really lush and rich in environment. Beautiful. Good. Beautiful. So to be in regular school in the classroom felt almost constricting, and I just remember not being on the right path. And if I had stayed on that path, I wouldn't be here today for sure. So I looked into my options, and I found a system called CUPU, which was leading young people into environment to graduate early, and with that, I graduated early. And on that path of motivation and drive now, that you found success, I had found Miss Hoy's Outstanding Teen, which was perfect because it's a scholarship program. And since I graduated early, college was now on my mind, which I hadn't even thought of, and I needed funds right away. Right. The winner, actually, just for being a contestant, you win scholarships. So to be a winner is even more amazing, and all the girls I've been with were so amazing in that competition. And the Miss Hawaii organization is really, is not only a pageant competition, but it's really building a future for young ladies and really talented, such as you are. And really, you know, scholarship. It's all about the scholarships that you work with. It is a scholarship. That's what takes us apart from everything. The Miss Hawaii organization is just under a hundred years old, and it's the only competition that has the talent portion, and the majority of our score is talent, I believe, 35 percent. So that's really encompassing a well-rounded woman. Not only does she have to be smart and talented, she has to know what she's talking about. She has to be aware of the politics and the current events and be able to be an ambassador for the young people and for the community of Hawaii. It's something, really. I would like to bring us back to the time when you actually decided to sign up. Sure. It was a very special night. It was. You were, we mentioned a student of KUPPO, which is this unconventional high school program for conservation and preservation of cultures and land. And you also employed at Arcadia Retirement Center. Yes, yes. So what happened that night? That was fun. I just came back. I was riding my bike. I stayed late at night. I finished my shift. I stayed late to clean up. I was riding my bike in the rain, just so tired, and then I finally came home, and I was looking online on Instagram, actually, after applying for, or after looking at colleges. And then I was so stressed out about how to pay for college, but instead of thinking about it, I look on Instagram, right? And I'm on the Explore page, and I see this little tiny pink square posted by the current Ms. Hawaii, Alison Chu. And she said that the deadline for Ms. Hawaii's outstanding teen applications was extended. And I'm like, Ms. Hawaii's outstanding teen. I have no idea what that is. I was in my dirty clothes with my titibun, as they call it. I was just not in any sort of circumstance to be in a pageant, but I Like regalia or something. Yeah, no, nothing at all. I could barely walk straight in shoes, right? And I saw a scholarship, and it doesn't matter what that was for. I just saw a scholarship, and I'm like, that's a great idea. That's what drew your attention. That's what drew my attention. And coincidentally, on the television, to provide white noise was Miss Congeniality, a movie with Sandra Bullock. And it's almost a very, very similar story to mine. She was quite a tomboy, but needed this opportunity to push her further in some sense. And I was like, I'm watching Miss Congeniality. I'm ready for this. This is all the preparation I need. I can enter this pageant. I woke up my dad at like one in the morning. I'm like, dad, I need you to sign this application. It's for scholarship. And you're like, oh, yeah, OK. Whatever. Whatever, whatever. He didn't know that he had signed me up for ultimately something that's going to change the course of my life forever. But even, I suppose, your family as well, life. Yes, exactly. It takes what Catherine Missful A 2017 said to me all the time, was it takes a village to raise a child. And exactly for a pageant, it takes a village to raise that title holder. It was not an individual journey. My family was totally involved. And that organization is really good at involving your whole team of support in your journey. Right. Kupu, we mentioned this program that you were part of. Kupu in Olalo, Hawaii in Hawaiian means to grow. Right. How true was this for you? How did it help for you to in your growth, personal growth? Oh, it helps in every way possible. In Kupu, we learned a lot. If a flower isn't growing, you don't change the flower, but you change the environment in which it grows. And that was supposed to be a lesson for the day, because we were like in mud all day. And we had to move the color around, right? But I took it to heart. And I was like, that's exactly what Kupu is doing for me. I wasn't learning well in the system I was in. And I kept thinking every day that it was my fault that I am not able to learn this way, so I can't learn at all. But really, it was looking at where you are and figuring out what your strengths are and how to kind of attack them in a place that would harbor and allow them to be advantages rather than a disadvantage. How long was this program, Kupu? It was only six months. Only six months? Yes. So you have to be 16. Intense. Yeah. Oh my god. It was so intense. It used to be an 8-week program. So I think they realized that all the things you learn can't be taught in eight weeks. And even six months is kind of short, too. But it's an accelerator program. So they really want the kids to understand what they need to be doing and then get out into the world and experience it. You get involved with the community as well doing Kupu. Definitely. We spend most of the days around the island in natural farms learning about conservation, agriculture, and local programs as well. So it's something really wonderful, because it drives all this quality service, community, and really, but also building experience. Exactly. This Miss Hawaii Outstanding Teen journey that began with this sudden decision. Because the preparation it takes a lot of documents and paperwork and interviews. How did you manage to handle all this? That's a great question. I think I've always been good at just jumping into decisions, so I don't have time to think about it. Yeah. But with Kupu, the scholarship, and learning how to affect your community positively, I think it all really helped to mold me in a way where I was ready for this. I've been just jumping into everything. I've been meeting people all over the island. I've been learning how to network. Without even knowing, I was learning how to network. And then just jumping into the competition, I was lucky enough to have my family to just ask me really heavy questions randomly. So that prepared me for the onstage question. The walking was probably the hardest part. Learning to walk in heels. But even the people in the Misumori Hoi organization, before you're even a winner, will help you if you ask for help. So learning the importance of just asking if I need the help was what I meant. Very important. Yes, exactly. No, I'm very curious about all these things. Let's see some pictures. I want to see some pictures. I want to see some pictures. Let's see maybe the first one. OK, so this is your Kupu class. This is the classroom. The classroom, exactly. And that's not the normal desk and book work that you usually see. We're actually, we had just finished clearing out a lot of invasive weeds so that they don't choke out the native plants, the native callow. And after we cleared them out, me and my friend Josh and Peter would actually run in the callow field and race in the mud that sometimes went up to our chest. But luckily, this one was just ankle deep. And of course, I would always lose by far. But it was always fun. And that's actually how we rewarded ourselves after working outside was to spend more time outside. Say it was a win-win, really. Wonderful, wonderful. And so let's see some more of your activities, what you do. Maybe the third picture. OK, this is the night. OK, let's see the night where you were actually crowned. This is the night where you were crowned. You know, what kind of feelings, when you heard your name being called, what experience is that? It's so surreal, really. Especially honestly, thinking that I wasn't going to win because I was so unexperienced. You were not aware that you were going to win. No, from the beginning of it, I saw how amazing these young ladies were. And I'm like, this is such a competition, really. So finding out that I won was so surreal. And this picture is perfect, actually, because where I'm looking is up on the stage where I saw all my Kupu family in their Kupu shirts with their camel pants, but just so happy for me. And my family, I remember looking into my mom's eyes. And they were both actually maybe more surprised than I was that I had won. Coming in support. Yes, exactly. And after you became Miss Hawaii's outstanding team, 2017, you started to be involved with a variety of other things. Let's see more pictures of this. You went to the mainland. Yes, I did. And continuing conservation. Continuing, yeah. Even after I graduated, you don't have to be. But they really encourage you to not only be in your community, but to be actively involved in the environment afterwards. So I was chosen with a bunch of other Kupu alumni to go up to the mainland in Tahoe on this exchange trip with Generation Green, which is the equivalent of Kupu in Monterey and the mainland. And we had sort of relayed our Ohi'a-Lehua problem in Hawaii to go to the mainland and work on their pine tree problem. So we're here, what they call thinning out, or taking out the weaker conifers of pine trees so that they're starting to grow. These are seedlings. Yes, they're pine tree seedlings, thousands and thousands of them, actually. And we're weeding out the ones that could possibly be the weakest so that the strongest ones can grow and we can re-force them to grow more healthy forests in the mainland. These organizations, the forestry you mentioned, they manage 200 million acres of forest. So you were involved in big projects. So National Forestry Service actually awarded us all with honorary membership to the National Forestry Service, which is amazing. And we won a few awards as the Blue Waters Exchange Group. And it was amazing to just be a part and to present to them ways to improve their environmental capacity and to reach more people in the environment. You are an ambassador for our youth in terms of conservation and preservation. How do you feel is the awareness with the young people, basically? You know, it's unfortunately really low. And that's exactly what we're trying to improve. I mean, there is a huge amount of youth who are really actively involved, such as Kupu. But they are the general public who don't get to do problems at Kupu programs like that. And of course, they won't understand just because they're not surrounding them that. And that's what we're trying to involve in Kupu. Not only within the program do you have to be involved. But if you're not going to join these programs, it's OK. But we'll bring it to you. And that's what we're going to try to do. It's wonderful that you're still involved with Kupu after all these adventures of yours. Right, exactly. We mentioned, Maya, at the beginning that the Miss Hawaii organization is not only pageants and raising awareness on important issues, such as this one, which is your topic, conservation and community and service, but also about talent. And I see something here on our desk today, which brings us to your talent as music. Yes, ukulele specifically. When did you learn? I grew up learning all the time. I think I learned by observation, which is really helpful. My brother was always playing. And my cousin is actually Jake and Bruce Kimabukuro. So we grew up in that environment. But I finally officially started playing it around the age of eight or nine. And it just came so easily because I was always submerged in that. And observation is probably the best way of learning. And it's just been part of my life ever since then. Music is really a wonderful art. You can't touch it somehow. You create the notes. You create the symphony. So what do you feel when you play, when you create this wonderful sound? They say that music is the universal language. And that's exactly it. Unfortunately, I was not athletically gifted. My brother and I just like, well, the rest of our family was. So we were kind of the odd men out. But when we play our ukulele, it's like athletes playing their sport. It's sort of an outlet. And then whatever type of music you play, you attract that energy from the people who enjoy that music. And that's the ultimate gift for me, just being able to relate to people without having to talk and making them feel happy or whatever emotion, just by playing four strings is amazing. And it's only four strings, yeah, but so powerful, so powerful. What kind of songs do you perform? I like anything. I really enjoy jazz. And ukulele is so versatile. They think you can only play Hawaiian songs. But really, you can play anything you want. There's so many ways to manipulate the instrument to sound how you want. And you said it's powerful. That's really because Koaloha, the brand I play, I don't know how they do it, but they insert some magic dust. And it's so tiny, but so powerful. And I think that it's just like, I don't know if you watch Harry Potter, How the Wanchus is the Wizard, it's like this. I can play ukulele, but really, if I'm playing this one, it's my best performance because Koaloha. And I had a chance of listening a performance of yours recently. And it was really terrific. You play unconventional music, really powerful, and really beautiful music. And guess what? We have a picture here of you performing. But guess what? We're going to take a short break. But then, once we're going to be back, up next, we're going to have a live performance. We're going to have a live performance. Ladies and gentlemen, Maya Mayeshiro, Miss Hawaii's Outstanding Teen 2017. Take a short break. We'll be right back. 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And we're learning about her experience with the Miss Hawaii organization, her journey, how it started, and also about raising public awareness about conservation. But also, guess what? Music, music and ukulele. Now it's your time to shine. Let's dance. Thank you. Miss Hawaii's Outstanding Teen 2017. And also, top finalist, instrument award. And also, non-finalist talent music award at the Miss America finals for Miss America's Outstanding Teen. Thank you very much. This was terrific. Thank you so much. This was terrific. So I'm just curious. Such talent, such wonderful experiences with this ukulele and also with the community as well. Let's see some more pictures of other activities that you got involved with with this exciting. OK, so here you are teaching others. So when we were at that exchange trip, we had some downtime to visit the local elementary schools and other places. So this is Bijoum Elementary. Most of the students didn't understand English at all and spoke only Spanish. So this is where the universal language, so to speak, comes to play, where I couldn't really talk to them, but I could teach them music, which is funny. The music. Yes. So we actually learned the whole Twinkle, Twinkle song without a drop of English. Wow, that's terrific. Yes, that's terrific. And also, what other activities do you do? Let's see more pictures, more pictures. I'm just curious here. OK, we go more back towards Kupu, is there why? Yes, exactly. So this is after I graduated, I won already. And as Miss Hawaii's Outstanding Teen, we go with Miss Hawaii and other contestants to the big island, where we got to plant cold trees to lessen our carbon footprint. Yes, a very baby one. But they're so important in reducing our carbon footprint. And we got to plant each one tree for each of our contestants at the national competition. So I had to plant about 52 trees to include myself and the District of Columbia, of course. And then we got to take a picture with each one, which is really fun and really hot. And my Kupu experience came back to me. It definitely wasn't as vigorous as Kupu, as you can tell. I had to wear a crown and banner. But conservation was always a part of my life and continued. And this is also fundraising. Yes, fundraising. So we can also sell trees to plant more. So if people bought trees, we were planting them that day as well. And everybody gets a certificate for this. And it actually has a piece in it, a microchip, so they can track it and look at their tree online as well. It's really cool. You're building a forest. Yes, exactly. It's the Hawaiian Legacy Forest. And you build one. Hawaiian Legacy, yeah. Yeah, we're building forests one by one. Wow. OK, let's see more. Let's see more. I can't. Yeah, OK, so that's your friend. Yes, it was so interesting. I remember her. She actually knew seven languages. And she used to be a translator. And I've never met one of those before. And she was so funny, so sharp, maybe even sharper than I was. But as the title holder, we got to go to almost every retirement home on the island. And I got to perform. But most of all, we got to interact with them. And as a worker from Arcadia, I mean, it was like going back to my roots. I really miss working at Arcadia, but I didn't have the time to do that as the title holder. And I got to just kind of relate that experience and love for the kupuna at the retirement homes. That's wonderful experiences as well. And also, you can basically give back to the community in terms of, yeah. Exactly, in terms of interaction. How did you feel meeting these people? Because when we meet the elderly, the kupuna, they have been longer time than we did to live life. So they have a variety of experiences. How did you feel interacted with them, sharing their stories in a place which sometimes is sad? Yeah, the retirement. Yes, it definitely is. But I think it's almost an overwhelming amount of experience that they have. And I just love taking it all in and learning how many amazing stories we have here on the island. But if you don't ask, you just never know. And I was constantly learning the importance of asking and just learning so many things just by asking and just by being curious. And that's exactly what happened at retirement homes. And they've helped me to be motivated for the future and to plan more for the future just because they always have, no matter how much experience they have, they always tell me, you know, I regret not doing this. I regret just not taking this chance. And I'm like, well, I guess that's my cue to do exactly what they do. So speaking of future, what do you see ahead now for you? Yeah, so now my biggest project is starting Arpeggio, my nonprofit. And it's kind of encompassing all the things I've learned. It's a journey from Kubu, from Miss Hawaii's Outstanding Teen, from music. So it's going to be a facility that provides instruments, practice space, and lessons to youth, but the community, but youth especially, for free. You know, my, our conversation is slowly coming to an end, but this show is watched by a variety of other young talents. What advice would you have for somebody who wants to, you know, make your dreams come true? And we're not talking about just Miss Hawaii, but also for example, the state of Hawaii science and engineering fear, or other activities, you know, becoming a doctor or whatever, your dream. What advice would you have for these young talents? Right, I'd say at the end of the day, this is your life essentially. So the only opinion that matters would be yours. And that's something that I battled with throughout my whole development and learning that was the key to sort of achieving whatever would affect me greatly and the most because no matter what people think, it is up to you and it will always be up to you and you only have you at the end of the day, so make it count. Thank you very much, Maya. Thank you for being with us today. And to everybody here, you know, if there is no joy when you wake up in the morning, if you are afraid of the, you know, sound of the alarm and you feel swamped, you know what you should do? You should really stop doing whatever it is that you're doing because you become extraordinary. The moment you realize it is time to make an extraordinary decision and commit to it, you know, make it happen like Maya did here. But it takes a lot of courage, you know, to make dreams happen. And it will be a lot of people supporting you many. We heard stories from Maya today. But there will also be someone who won't be able to handle your light. And I'm talking about the light that shines from you when you're doing what you love and you love what you're doing. You know, these people, there will be people, we all know them, they will tell you, you know, oh, just, you know, give up or you should reduce that light. You know, when people ask us, when people ask us to reduce our light, you know, I think we should just, you know, hand them over some sunglasses, you know? And go see the life that God has planned for you, ladies and gentlemen. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll talk more about this in the upcoming shows. But let us all thank Maya Maeshiro, Miss Hawaii's Outstanding Team 2017 for being with us today. And next Tuesday, we'll be back for another great story. But meanwhile, go make your dreams come true. Thank you, everybody.