 Aloha, my name is Emmie Ortega Anderson. We want to welcome you to Pinoy Power Hawaii. It is our maiden voyage, our first show for our weekly show for think tech Hawaii. We will be conversing in three languages, itaglish, Ilocano Tagalog, and English. First I'd like to thank the whole wonderful staff of think tech Hawaii, especially Mr. Jeff Fidel for extending this invitation to be a part of their wonderful programming. Our maiden show, this is the first program that we will be talking about, it is very very important, our guests today have extended an invitation for Joshua Dela Cruz, he is a guidance counselor. I want to explain to you, it is very important, it is very important, education, so it is very important for us to present the gifts that we will pass down to our children and our future generations. So without further ado, I would like to introduce my guest, Joshua Dela Cruz, he is an educator, a guidance counselor. So welcome Joshua. Thank you so much for allowing me to be part of this, I'll try my best to speak in all three languages, but again, it's an awesome honor to be here. Thank you for allowing me to be part of this. Yes, like I mentioned, this is our first show, and it's really really important that we address education. It was a concern to me, but before we go on, tell us a little bit about how you got started in education. Well, the funny thing is, I'm glad you asked that, because both of my parents have backgrounds in education, they started off as teachers and when they immigrated here to Hawaii, they found their different paths, my mom was in work for the state for quite some time and my dad was in the military and also is now working for the federal government now. So my roots with education definitely was very deep. And for me, I initially started off as a pre-med major at the University of Hawaii, yes. But before that, I used to work at summer camps. I had the background of working with our Hawaii youth, our Episcopal youth through church, and I used to work with our diocesan bishops and everything like that. So I would collaborate with a lot of youth to work with all these teenage programs around the state. So that's my exposure with kids. And as I went through college, the science part was definitely exciting. However, the passion was with kids, and so I shifted from pre-med, and I kind of combined the two, science as well as kids. And I became a science teacher instead. And I started out way back in 2001 at Wai'anae High School. I started out as a... Wai'anae. Yes, yes. So, you know, and... You dove right into it. I did, I did. And, you know, they were the first school to offer me a position, and I was so grateful. And I said, you know what, if they believed in me, they were the first school to offer me that position. I said, you know what, let's go with Wai'anae. And I enjoyed it since, you know. So, going back, sorry, I started out as... For four years, I was a science teacher. I taught chemistry and biology. And then I slowly got into just talking with the kids and understanding where they come from and knowing their frustrations, especially in that age group. And then I started thinking about, you know what, maybe I should start going into counseling. And I spoke with some of my friends who were counselors at the school. And they led me to the right people. And I decided to pursue my master's in counseling at Chaminade University. And that's where I kind of leaped into going into counseling. So, working with kids, definitely, in a direct way. I'm really impressed. No, thank you. I always see Joshua as the kid, being that the father, Tante de la Cruz, is also a part of our Pinoy Power radio for about 10 years now. So, part of our empowerment, we do have a mission on Pinoy Power radio, which extends to our weekly show here at Pinoy Power Hawaii. We aim to enrich, enlighten, educate, entertain, and the big picture is to empower. And you are doing just that. And probably more important, the first thing that I want to do is to encourage people to help, to mold their career, and to give them education when they are adults. So, you know, we are often asked, Joshua, some people are given the choice. Añate de te pilham, de toy cuarta, when no adult education. And I'm sure you've heard that before. A student is or a child from a well-off family is offered like a million dollars, as opposed to spending or getting educated. Because nowadays, education can cost a lot of money. And if you had the choice of just taking the million dollars, or get educated for life, and impact people, and help them, mold them to get better educated, what would that choice be? You know, and I speak for every teacher. I know we don't go into this profession making a lot of money. And I think we look at, it's more of a lifelong kind of thing, and where we see the riches with the kids that we teach, and that we touch every day. Every June, every May and June, we always see a lot of our former students come and see and they share their successes. And for us, that is our million dollars per se. And that, for me, is a lot more fulfilling than just a million dollars at hand. And I think for me, I wouldn't trade that for the world, basically. Wow, I'm really impressed with society molding us to always think about the big dollar numbers and our success. They always measure in dollar amounts. In fact, they often ask, what kind of car do you drive? Where do you live? And right away, you are labeled as being successful because of your monetary wealth. And it really, really touched my heart to hear you say that success is measured on the wealth of people that you inspire, you motivate, or become an idol. And those are your richly rewards, earthly rewards. Yes. And I think you take a look at several of our former leaders and our community leaders. You take a look at, excuse me, Martin Luther King. You take a look at Gandhi, Indira Gandhi. There are those who don't live amongst the wealthy people, but they live within the riches of their heart and their compassion. And that's why I believe that teachers, they are going into this profession and they see this as the most noble profession. And I still see it as today. However, there are several people out there that may not consider it as a noble profession. Or a major achievement. Yes. I think a lot of people would consider that as their fallback. If I can't do this, then I'll just teach that kind of stuff. So for me, I want to bring that back. I want to bring back the glory of teaching, the importance of teaching. And I think we all got somewhere in life because of a teacher. Because of a teacher, not necessarily a formal teacher. It could be a mentor. It could be a big brother, big sister that teaches you something. But the art of teaching and the way, the love of teaching is always going to be there. Wow, that's deep. We were happy to be able to meet with Josh Rocket and Obing Pai, but he didn't watch us for a while. And this is a great opportunity. It's something that someone with a really, really cultured mind. Because you mentioned Indira Gandhi, Martin Luther King. The people who were waiting for Amo Jasua to return in terms of monetary wealth that they have acquired. But the people who were waiting for the return of Martin Luther King being a leader. The people who were waiting for the return of Martin Luther King to return in terms of monetary wealth that they have acquired. And to overcome the challenges of discrimination, the people who were waiting for him to return in terms of monetary wealth. And constantly, the people who were waiting for the return of Martin Luther King to return in terms of monetary wealth, discrimination is alive and well. Even today. Yes. Discrimination is part of being experience in the end, and I'm sure you've experienced those. Yes. One way or the other. So right now, can you just share with our listening audience in Ilocano? I'll sign my best. Yes, the best way to reiterate again is to make it important in Ilocano. Oh gosh, are you going to put me on the spot here? Yes. Yeah, Ilocano skills. You know, I'm sorry. You can mix it. Yeah, I'll add a few in. Just the importance of education, when your dreams, you know, it's always going to be launched on where you want to go and how far you really want to get to that. You can't do that without education. And you can't do that. And I believe that you can do that with the right mentor, the right teacher, you know, and whether it be the formal teacher, whether it be a professor, whether it be a priest, a clergyman, whether it be a professional that you see that you want to embody, that's where, you know, I believe that's where the spark is. That's where... That's the stepping stone. Yes, yeah. That's where the first step is. Yes, yes, yeah. And I think... It's always going to be a conversation, Joshua. We need to take a quick break. And I think this is a very important topic for future generations. Hi, I'm Dave Stevens, the host of Cyber Underground every Friday here at 1pm on thinktechkawaii.com. And then every episode is uploaded to the Cyber Underground. That library of shows that you can see of mine on youtube.com. And I hope you'll join us here every Friday. We have some topical discussions about why security matters and what could scare the absolute bejesus out of you. If you just try to watch my show all the way through. Hope to see you next time on Cyber Underground. Stay safe. Hey, Stan the Energyman here on thinktechkawaii. And they won't let me do political commentary. So I'm stuck doing energy stuff, but I really like energy stuff. So I'm going to keep on doing it. Every Friday on Stan the Energyman at lunchtime, at noon on my lunch hour, we're going to talk about everything energy, especially if it begins with the word hydrogen. We're going to definitely be talking about it. We'll talk about how we can make Hawaii cleaner, how we can make the world a better place. Just basically save the planet. Even Miss America can't even talk about stuff like that anymore. We got it nailed down here. So we'll see you on Friday at noon with Stan the Energyman. Aloha. Welcome back to Pinoy Power Hawaii. I'm your host, Emmy Ortega Anderson. And again, we want to thank thinktechkawaii for giving us the opportunity to discuss further the issues and topics that affects Filipinos here in Hawaii. My first guest for our maiden voyage is an educator, a guidance counselor. In fact, he is my nephew and I'm very, very proud, Joshua De La Cruz. We are talking about the importance of education and how we can pass on this legacy, how we can inspire others. And I thought about who is the best person to have on my show to inspire others and to share his story. So we're doing just that. Joshua, thank you for being here. Thank you. And thank you for being such a wonderful idol and example to our youth. Oh, thank you. So the next question I'm going to ask you is why. What is Joshua's why as to you pursued education? Well, thank you for asking me that. You know, the education, the art of teaching, I would consider that, I think, the biggest gift that I think that I've been blessed with. The passion for kids. Or just to even teach, just teach, not necessarily kids, but just people in general. Yes. And to just share the compassion and to share the knowledge that I have. I think for me that was, as soon as I got into it, into education, into teaching, you know, I always, I even doubted myself in the beginning. I said, I don't know if this is right for me. You know, it was very stressful working with 30 kids all at one time, trying to just, you know, try to handle all of them. You know, in a short amount of time, you know. Keep them interested. Yeah. Yeah. You're literally entertaining them. Yes. You're literally entertaining them for the good 45 minutes. Yes. Yes. And yes, I found that as a huge hurdle for me to overcome. A challenge. Yes, a huge challenge. And the more that I thought about it, I, just looking at the kids, engage the way they engage, the way they, their sense of wonder. Mm-hmm. As soon as I see that, I go, oh my gosh, this is why I'm here. And I love that. And not only that, too, is that I just, as I realize, as I go throughout these, I've been a teacher for almost 19 years now. 19 years? And you're all 19? No. Wow. Yeah. So, you know, the more that I see it and I reflect back on this profession, I'm like, oh my goodness, these teachers are the most resourceful, most savvy people because they make magic with whatever they have. Yeah. The little budget that they're allowed. Yes. Yes. Yeah. So, you have to use a lot of imagination. Yes. Creativity. Yes. Yes. And this is where science comes in. Yes. Yes. Yeah. So, it's going to be an opportunity to learn. Whether the whole class learns, whether it's a handful of kids that learn, there's a sense of learning that's going on every day in their classroom. And that's, for me, that's the most exciting part. Exciting. Yes. Yes. Yeah. So. It's a journey. It is. It's an adventure because depending on how you tackle or how you handle a challenging situation, when you present this lecture, or when you have a lot of friends, mothers and sisters, depending on what you're talking about, your imagination is going to be more dramatic so that they will be able to catch on. Yes. Right? The next question is, I know that I was looking at the statistics, Joshua, and there are over 275,000 Filipinos and part Filipinos in Hawaii. Yes. And we make up, I believe, 23% of the population. We are known as the largest minority ethnic group, right? Yes. Right behind the Howlys or the Hawaii. Yes. The Caucasian. Yeah. But, you know, because we are the fastest growing. Yes. As far as the ethnicity mixture here in Hawaii. Truly, it's a melting pot. We are very proud of the fact that the Filipinos keep growing in numbers. Yes. And this is why we need people like you to represent the underrepresented Filipinos. I know we are very well represented in the caregiving or care home business. Yes. I think we are overly flooded with that. Yeah. Nothing wrong with that. Yes. So, education, it's important to have an important part of your success. Right. Whether you are successful or not. Some people go on life without having any formal education. No. Yeah. And we will have guests too that have succeeded. But they will do it much easier with formal education and training. Yeah. Yes. Because not all of us are born with that gift to ability, their ability to succeed. Right. Without having some form of education. Right. Right. So, how could you entice or attract the young generation so that they will be thinking of having education as their platformer? Oh, okay. Well, thank you. You know, I guess for me this is an opportunity to sell. Yes. Try to promote education. Yes. If you're a person that just loves, just working with kids in general, and also, again, it's a brand new day every day. There's always going to be an adventure. It's always going to be exciting to just work with the kids and work with them, whatever group that you're working with, just knowing that you're out there teaching them. For me, that's already exciting in itself. Yes. And just reaching out to the community. I think for me, that's the ultimate community service is to teach. And we have so many empowered Filipinos, young Filipinos out there, who are thinking, I don't know what else to do. I'm stuck behind a desk. I'm constantly working nine to five, that kind of stuff. Teaching allows that fluidity. You can teach anywhere, basically. I mean, of course, you have your classroom, but you can take them to places virtually. You can take them to different learning experiences all in one day. Yes. Without having to leave the classroom. Yes. That's the exciting part. You can create plays. You can dramatize a lot of things. You can entertain them. You can create an involved song. There are so many gifted kids out there, so many young people who share so many different gifts why not bring that into the classroom and expose them to so many different things. And there's no better person to do the job than you, Joshua, because you serve as a role model, a leader with so many inborn resources because these are talents that you're born with. Yes. You've got to allow your creativity. And with the remaining time that we have left, I wish we had a whole hour, but what is that legacy that you want to leave behind? I know we talked about it, but please leave that. For me, my legacy is to give back. I'm currently working with the Waipahu Community Association. So give back to the community, whether it be involving community service, whether it be just educating them about Waipahu or the community that I'm in. I'm also working with Waipahu High School and our Student Leadership Conference. So I'm trying to help work with our future leaders. So my future aspirations is always just to give back. Give back. One way or the other, whether it be donation, whether it's spending my time with these kids, whether it be the auxiliary person that people need. Yes. Again, it's a servant. It's being a servant to the community. Wow. For me, that's my legacy. That's your legacy. Yes. Well, you've heard it. A touch of Joshua Delacruz, our educator, guidance counselor who wants to give back, paying it forward. It's just like paying tithing for all the blessings that you have been blessed with. And I want to thank you for being part of our empowerment. Again, I want to reiterate our mission. We aim to enrich, enlighten, educate, entertain, and empower. And today, Joshua Delacruz, an educator, guidance counselor who wants to give back and leave an indelible mark in people's heart with the hope of teaching or being a great role model and a great example to others. And we call that in Pinoy Power Hawaii a big empowerment. That they pinag balaigi. Yeah. Yes. So we want to thank, again, think Tec Hawaii for giving us this opportunity to share our views, share our thoughts with the hope of inspiring and empowering others. So tune in next time, Pinoy Power Hawaii. I am your host, Emmy Ortega Anderson. And thank you again to our guests for today. And you will be seeing him in future segment because he has agreed to help us to broaden our empowerment. Joshua Delacruz, thank you so very much. Thank you. More power. Thank you.