Submitted by Tyler Phommachanh on the 2022 winter session program in Hawaii sponsored by the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration…
There are some things that you may see online in a little ad, or a social media post and you may think “I wish I did that” or “Wow, I wish I was there”. That is exactly the type of adventure that my class departed on the morning of January the 8th. We took a 30-minute drive through windy and narrow cliff hanging roads in order to reach a shady dirt parking spot with a grave warning sign saying “Stay clear of blowhole. You can be sucked in and killed. INSTANT FATALITY”.
Our group decided to continue on the trail with the warning in mind. We were to never separate from each other. And we eventually made the perilous climb down to experience a sight that no camera, no video, no story can ever hope to express. But I’m going to put a picture in anyway.
When I looked up the translation of Nakalele, I had to contemplate it for a bit and then it hit me. The Learning could be a warning to all of those who visit the dangerous hiking site, but it could also be a tool to learn more about my classmates and to deepen our bond with each other. We had to learn to look out for each other, and to trust each other on the journey downwards. The learning also triples as a separate lesson for me. I can look up all of the amazing hiking sites and views online, but when you come in person, when you make that journey down to the site, it changes you and makes you stronger, not just physically, but mentally, too. It made me confident in myself that I could complete anything if I had the help of my friends and the ability to say in my head, “I may regret everything when I start, but in the end, the journey will be worth it”. The learning blowhole was a big teaching point for myself and I’m sure it was for the rest of my class. A point that I will never forget.