about me.
jaelynn kiana kitlin yim
I was born on January 30th, 2001 to my parents, John and Michele Yim. My full name of Jaelynn Kiana KitLin Yim was created based off the names of my family. My first name comes from my mom’s middle name, Raelyn, and my dad’s first name, John. My two middle names are inspired by my grandmothers’ names. Kiana is the Hawaiian name for Diane, which is the name of my mom’s mother, and KitLin is the Chinese name of my dad’s mother. This is important to me because I feel honored to carry my grandmothers’ names with me throughout my life.
I live in the city of Kunia and I have lived there my whole life, yet I spent most of my childhood at my grandma’s house in Kaneohe. As a child, I always loved staying at my grandma’s house because of the constant cool breezes rather than the hot weather on the west side. At this Kaneohe house, I remember spending a lot of rainy days with my cousins, playing in the puddles until we got sick. The wind and rain I would identify with is the Kaneohe wind named Ulumano and the rain named Apuakea because it reminds me of the memories at this Kaneohe house that my family no longer owns. Living in Kunia, there isn’t much mauna to identify with, as it is relatively in the central area of the island. Instead, I find myself identifying with the Kapālama mountain because I have spent 13 years on this hill. I luckily am I able to say that I have been a student at Kamehameha since kindergarten, and after becoming accustomed to seeing this mountain nearly every day, it’s bittersweet that my time here is almost up. As for the water that I identify with, living in Hawaii has blessed me with the opportunity to see beautiful beaches whenever I want. With my father in the military, I have spent many summers at military beach cabins in Waimanalo, so the wai I would identify with are the waters of Waimanalo.
Mālama Honua literally means to take care of the land. To me, it means that I have a responsibility to care for the earth that has taken care of me. Growing up in a world run by technology, I often don’t disconnect from social media to appreciate the earth and all it offers; when I see a beautiful sunset my first instinct is to take a picture and post it on Snapchat or Instagram. Aloha ‘Āina goes hand in hand with the concept of Mālama Honua because in order to take care of the land you have to care for the land. I believe I genuinely appreciate the beauty of the earth when I’m not distracted by my phone, and hopefully throughout this course I can truly embody Aloha ‘Āina. In this Mālama Honua course, I hope to disconnect from social media and the internet, and instead learn to appreciate nature. I hope to be able to take care of the land, so I can continue to see colorful sunsets rather than polluted skies.
I live in the city of Kunia and I have lived there my whole life, yet I spent most of my childhood at my grandma’s house in Kaneohe. As a child, I always loved staying at my grandma’s house because of the constant cool breezes rather than the hot weather on the west side. At this Kaneohe house, I remember spending a lot of rainy days with my cousins, playing in the puddles until we got sick. The wind and rain I would identify with is the Kaneohe wind named Ulumano and the rain named Apuakea because it reminds me of the memories at this Kaneohe house that my family no longer owns. Living in Kunia, there isn’t much mauna to identify with, as it is relatively in the central area of the island. Instead, I find myself identifying with the Kapālama mountain because I have spent 13 years on this hill. I luckily am I able to say that I have been a student at Kamehameha since kindergarten, and after becoming accustomed to seeing this mountain nearly every day, it’s bittersweet that my time here is almost up. As for the water that I identify with, living in Hawaii has blessed me with the opportunity to see beautiful beaches whenever I want. With my father in the military, I have spent many summers at military beach cabins in Waimanalo, so the wai I would identify with are the waters of Waimanalo.
Mālama Honua literally means to take care of the land. To me, it means that I have a responsibility to care for the earth that has taken care of me. Growing up in a world run by technology, I often don’t disconnect from social media to appreciate the earth and all it offers; when I see a beautiful sunset my first instinct is to take a picture and post it on Snapchat or Instagram. Aloha ‘Āina goes hand in hand with the concept of Mālama Honua because in order to take care of the land you have to care for the land. I believe I genuinely appreciate the beauty of the earth when I’m not distracted by my phone, and hopefully throughout this course I can truly embody Aloha ‘Āina. In this Mālama Honua course, I hope to disconnect from social media and the internet, and instead learn to appreciate nature. I hope to be able to take care of the land, so I can continue to see colorful sunsets rather than polluted skies.