So Proud. My little Brother and the Class of 2013.

Aloha ALL!

Today I am going to talk about how PROUD I am of my FAMILY. I am proud to be apart of such a loving, smart and HEALTHY family. I was just given this quote by one of my newest family members:

"Friends come and friends go. FAMILY will ALWAYS be THERE. You can choose your friends but you CANNOT choose your family."

So very true. We'd been talking about how often you lose contact with friends. I keep in contact with just a small handful of friends from High School. Most of them live in California and two live in New York. I don't really keep in contact with my High School friends in Hawaii. I am the only one to blame for that. And now... it's too late. A good friend from High School just passed away this month. She was in a motorcycle accident. She was one of those fully BAD ASS girls with a heart of PLATINUM. I didn't know her in recent years except through the random "Whats up?" on Facebook. I only found out about her passing from my friend in Rochester NY.

For my friend, Helen... Kick ass in heaven.

For all of you who are still on this Earth... cherish the people YOU WANT in your life. CHERISH and LOVE YOUR FRIENDS. They have made the CHOICE to be there with you and FOR YOU. Make the CHOICE to LOVE YOUR FAMILY. Through the pain, hurt, careless words... Though the warmth, forgiveness and loving words... there is always FAMILY.

Today I am going to give my BLOG to my LITTLE BROTHER and the YOUNGEST of ALL THE COUSINS in the VIOLET/CONRAD NATHANIEL FAMILY.

Why?

1) I am just so ridiculously PROUD of the ridiculously SMART and incredibly HANDSOME man MY BROTHER has become. But most of all I am proud of his SHINING and BEAUTIFUL HEART. HE IS A HAPPYNATHANIEL!!!

2) KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS CLASS OF 2013 has SWEPT the 2013 SONG CONTEST!!!  For more information about the contest and the school please go HERE!!!

AND NOW...

ALOHA!!! (HUGE TOOTHY SMILE)

HERE I AM PILI!!! Your favorite (and only) brother, Walter Iokepaokalani Barrett. EVERYONE here in bloggerland can call me Kepa. I just Stole Your Blog Pili! WHY??? Because you said I could AND... CLASS OF 2013 is AWESOME!!! My Big Sister PILI ... (Not Leimaile for all you Kamehameha amazing people, PILI is the OLDEST SISTER) ... is the owner and author of this BLOG. She gave me a bunch of questions to answer!  I decided to just take over her blog instead! SORRY IT'S A DAY LATE. It'll still TASTE GOOD!!! I PROMISE!

WHO ARE YOU IN SCHOOL?

In school I guess you can call me a “jack of all trades.” Not in a conceited way or anything, I just like to keep myself busy. I’ve ran cross country for four years, and did canoe paddling and track for three. I was also a part of the Kamehameha schools Speech and Debate team for two years, and I’m currently the representative for the Hawaiian Language homeroom. I’ve been in my school’s choir group for two years, and I am a co-president of the Hui Aloha ʻĀina ‘Olau Niu club, also known as the Kuʻi Kalo Club, where students pound taro to make paʻi ʻai and poi.

WHAT IS KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS?

Kamehameha Schools is like the real-life Hogwarts. Only instead of wizards and witches with wands, you have Native Hawaiian youth with beautiful voices. Over 125 years ago a Hawaiian chiefess by the name of Bernice Pauahi Bishop founded the Kamehameha Schools as the largest private landowner in Hawaiʻi. She saw the challenges her Native Hawaiian people were facing and she decided the best way for Hawaiians to thrive under the influence of western society was through education.

Kamehameha Schools Class of 2013... SWEEP!!!

WHAT IS SONG CONTEST?

Song Contest has been an annual tradition at Kamehameha Schools for 93 years. Every year, Kamehameha high school students participate in this time-honored tradition. The students elect song directors for each of the three competitions. Students in grades 10-12 participate in a men’s and women’s competition, while all grades, 9-12, participate in a co-ed competition. Each class selects a class color their freshman year. The following are this year’s class colors: Freshman: purple, Sophomores: green, Juniors: yellow, and SENIORS: RED!

Every year, Song Contest embodies a different theme. Whether it involves celebrating choral classics or honoring different song writers, Song Contest brings out the best in a cappella music. It’s kind of like the "Pitch Perfect" of Hawaiian choral a cappella singing. Only better :P

WHAT IS SONG CONTEST... TO YOU?

Wow. What is Song Contest to me? Geez…it means so much. Song Contest means learning the significance of music. It means following the strong, bass voice of my father. It means speaking in front of thousands of people, emotionally giving honor to my two older sisters and the rest of my family. It means sitting through TWO senior sweeps in my high school career (including Leimaile’s), and finally sweeping MY senior year. It means following the legacy of previous classes, it means REDemtion, and it means ‘13eliving in my class. It represents the granddaughter of Albert Nahaleʻa, our Aunty ‘Analani, who was honored in my men’s song this year, “He Punahele No ʻOe.” It represents Aunty Bina’s smile after my women sang “Mapuana Kuʻu Aloha.” It represents the immortal love of an unknown woman who wrote “My Sweet Sweeting” for her son that she would never raise.

HAPPYNATHANIEL!!!

EXPLAIN YOUR CLASS, THE CLASS OF 2013!

Pfft! There are billions, if not, TRILLIONS of words in all the languages on earth, and if you choose every awesome/good/amazing word from each language, you could probably explain only a FRACTION of what the class of 2013 is to me. Of course that’s not to say we’re perfect. We’re flawed like everyone else. But I won’t talk about that in this blog post. I am BEYOND proud to be a member of the Kamehameha Class of 2013. We’ve been through so much together. Not only did we sweep song contest (which is the most sought-after endeavor by any Kamehameha graduating class), but we’ve also experienced SO much more. We ran a 10k or a 3k swim and a biathlon together for PE. We won pep-rally twice. We’re the first class to fall under the new headmaster, Dr. Earl T. Kim. We saw our campus transform LITERALLY before our eyes after several construction projects. We’ve been through deadly, tragic failures and euphoric, remarkable accomplishments. We’re bigger than the high school stereotypes. Sure we have jocks, nerds, homosexuals, scrappah’s, scrubs, goths, punks, clowns, and “natives.” But when it all comes down to it, we’re just one big, loving family.

We’ve been through the best of times, and the through worst of times. We’ve grown up together.
I am blessed to be a part of this class.

Kepa with fellow classmate and HANAI SISTER, Liana Best.

WHAT DOES THE WORD... INSPIRE... MEAN TO YOU?

The word inspire holds a lot of meaning behind it. I may not be the most thoughtful or creative person out there, but I can honestly say I’m inspired everyday from the things around me. Whether it’s the environment, a friend, or a simple conversation, the WORLD inspires me to search for something bigger than myself. I’m like a sponge. I try to soak up as much information as I can.

... HAPPINESS?

Happiness, as mentioned in your previous blogs, is most definitely a CHOICE! People often get so wrapped up in negative vibes that it’s easy for them to lose sight of happiness. Sure, I know many people go through rough times in life. In the short, almost 18 years that I’ve lived on this planet I’ve experienced more sadness than I would ever want anyone else to experience. But I always chose happiness over unnecessary grief. I remember the memories of those who have past, and I cherish the ones that are still with me. THAT is how I stay sane.

... HEALTH?

Balance. In my opinion, that’s what it means to be healthy. Much like happiness, health is a choice one makes on his own behalf. 

I think society has created this inaccurate façade of what “healthy” people should look like. Women should be tall, skinny and have a big smile. (Kinda like my sisters, but, hey, it’s not their fault they just so happen to fall under society’s approval). Men should be huge, strong, and athletic, qualities that I lack in physicality but make up in intellect ;). 

But back to what I think health REALLY is. BALANCE! Society can approve the way a person looks all it wants, but that specific individual determines his/her own health. The key to health is balancing time, energy, love, and work. You talked about dealing with stress in your last post. Time and energy are key factors one must balance in order to stay healthy. This includes going to sleep when one shouldn’t be awake and eating a healthy diet everyday. Work needs to be enjoyable. Although that’s probably better said than done. And love needs to be at the center. It has to be the spindle that holds everything in unison.

... FAMILY?

**Spoken in my best Stitch impersonation**

ʻOhana means family. Family means no one gets left behind…or forgotten.” – Lilo and Stitch.

As cliché as Disney usually is when it comes to culture, they sort of got the general idea of ʻOHANA right. Not only does family include blood relatives, it also includes alien animals from extra-terrestrial planets that make friends with you and save the world…and I guess it could include human friends too.
But in all seriousness, family means the world to me. Friends and classmates are included when I talk about ʻOhana. I believe the ʻOhana spirit is a universal concept embodied by the entire human race. Hawaiians just found a name for it!

What are some WORDS that you live by?

"MĀLAMA me ka lokomaikaʻi. ALOHA me ka pauʻole. HOLOMUA i ke ala pono." 

CARE generously. LOVE endlessly. CONTINUE in the right path. These are just a few words by which I live. 

Ma ka HANA ka ‘IKE, meaning, “in working one learns,” is my favorite proverb. I’d like to think ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, my family, and my friends, equally contribute to my prosperous, healthy life-style.

'Ohana THEN... 1995ish...

'OHANA NOW!!!