Azia Kelikoa’elakauaikekai Jaelyn Lualhati came to Shoreline expecting to fly under the radar. After two years on campus, it’s fair to say Lualhati is on almost everyone’s radar. The Communications major and Student Speaker for the 2019 Commencement Ceremony is also Editor-in-Chief of the student-run newspaper, The Ebbtide, and President of the Honors College Student Council.
“I came to Shoreline expecting to not really care that much about what was happening on campus,” said Lualhati. “I thought I would take my classes, go home, and study and that’d be it. I just didn’t know I’d be so engrossed in the campus, that I’d end up caring so much about the people and the community here and want to go out of my way to get involved.”
Lualhati got involved almost immediately by joining the staff of the award-winning The Ebbtide, which helped solidify journalism as her calling. “It’s a really hard job, but it’s also really fun and brought out a passion in me. I’m in there and I enjoy doing it and don’t want to stop. The Ebbtide was kind of a test run for what I want to do with my life. Now I’m positive I want to go into investigative reporting.”
Lualhati joined Shoreline’s Honors College in her second quarter. “After joining Honors and The Ebbtide, that’s when I noticed myself deciding that I didn’t want to draw a line separating myself from campus anymore. I didn’t necessarily want to be a stand out person, but I didn’t want to separate myself and be uninvolved.”
The Honors College drew her further into the campus community. “Honors was not what I expected,” said Lualhati. “I didn’t know I’d meet so many colorful people and different personalities, yet we’re all the same type of student—we try our best and love to work hard. We all really value our education and getting in-depth with things and value the Honors community and helping each other. It was a really comfortable experience.”
Her experiences with Honors College and The Ebbtide helped Lualhati discover her leadership capabilities.
“I think I’m one of the youngest Editors-in-Chief,” said Lualhati, “and it was a huge transition to go from being a staff member to my peers’ boss. And then also being President of the Honors Council and needing to take charge, it just really shaped me. I learned I don’t have to be aggressive to lead, I can adapt myself to being the leader the situation calls for.”
Lualhati also learned to be comfortable with and appreciate herself at Shoreline.
“I’m my harshest critic and can doubt myself a lot,” Lualhati said. “But at Shoreline, I’ve learned I don’t always have to guard myself and put on a fake face. I can be myself every day and my peers and professors will value who I am and what I bring as a person. I can be who I am and that’s ok. I’m too comfortable now being myself, there’s no going back.”
Still, she didn’t expect to be chosen as Student Speaker. “I was really surprised,” Lualhati said. “I’m a really humble person and always trying to be a better person and I felt out of my league when I was nominated. When I was chosen it felt really good, like somebody noticed my hard work and felt I earned the honor.”
Despite her success at Shoreline, it wasn’t her first choice of college. “I wanted to go to the University of Washington,” said Lualhati. But after weighing the cost of tuition, she decided a community college transfer degree was the way to go. So she started looking at colleges near UW. “I wanted a campus with a strong Communications program and really engaged student newspaper,” she said. That meant Shoreline and The Ebbtide.
It turns out, Shoreline was the right fit. “It was the best financial decision for me and, in retrospect, I would have been completely overwhelmed with the transition from high school to a four-year university out-of-state,” Lualhati said. “Choosing Shoreline allowed me to get involved with clubs and groups that I always wanted to be a part of during my college years and I gained much more experience from being here than I think I would have if I went to a four-year right away.”
So what advice would she give new students?
“Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Don’t be afraid to stand out, but don’t be afraid to not want to be in the spotlight either. Be the person you want to be, not what everyone tells you to be—college is a time to figure out who you want to be for the future—and practicing and figuring that out now for the future is very important. And, try to have fun.”
After graduation, Lualhati plans to take some time off from school and hopes to find a journalism internship before transferring to the UW sometime in the future.
Shoreline Community College’s 2019 Commencement Ceremony will be held Thurs., June 20. Find out more about Shoreline’s degree and certificate offerings.