Freshmen and Sophomores Hit the Big Apple

While many students enjoyed the local sun and waves this Spring Break, a group of 0ver 50 freshmen and sophomores explored the concrete jungles of New York City in 30-degree weather.

HBA’s annual East Coast Trip took the students through Virginia, Washington D.C, Pennsylvania, and New York. Along the way, students visited Gettysburg, the Pennsylvania Amish country, the U.S. Capitol, and Mount Vernon.

New York City a big impression on many students. “I liked the upbeat and vibrant lifestyle of the city,” said Chester Hui.  Like Hui, many other students had memorable stories to tell about New York and appreciated how different it was from Hawaii. Students viewed the city at night from the top of the Empire State building, ice-skated at Rockefeller Center, shopped in Chinatown and Little Italy, watched the Broadway musical Matilda, and explored Times Square.

Shelby Suzuki said, “We got to go to the NBC studio where Jimmy Fallon works and it was great.” Other students went shopping at H&M, Urban Outfitters, American Eagle, and Nike. Tour guide David Turin taught the students how to navigate the subway system, allowing them to explore the city during their free time.

“It was really beautiful looking at the different lights, and it was very surreal.”

Briana Smith was one of many students who enjoyed New York the most.  “The last night we were there, we went to Times Square. It was really beautiful looking at the different lights, and it was very surreal,” she said. Students left for home the next day, some with heavy hearts, wishing they could have had more time to experience the city.

The purpose of the East Coast trip is to take sophomores to historically important sites that relate to their history classes. Marissa Kwon said, “I liked how the trip went from historical to modern day, so I got to learn both about colonial times and how life is now in New York.” Hui added, “I learned how good of a country the United States of America is compared to other countries because all the historical people we learned about shaped us into who we are today.”

The trip was organized through Worldstrides, an educational travel organization, and led by history teacher Lynn Nakano. Campus minister Rob Lockridge and school nurse Louis Kwon helped chaperone the trip.

Photographs by Rob Lockridge, Lynn Nakano, Logan Takeda (’10), Kylie Yamauchi (’10)