Julia Asano
Civil Engineering Student, University of Hawai`i at Mānoa
Aloha mai kākou! Julia Asano is a third year student pursing a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa and a Kamehameha Schools (Kapālama) 2018 alumni. Despite being a full-time engineering student, a fun fact about her is that she loves to paint. She also likes to spend most of her free time working out, hiking, or at the beach surfing with friends and family.
Civil engineering has always been compelling for Julia since it first sparked her interest in the 5th grade. There was an egg drop competition in her science class, and everyone had to invent a new technology that could protect the eggs from a 15-foot drop. Julia’s dad, an engineer, helped her build the most complex milk jug egg trampoline holder, impressing her fellow classmates as well as her teacher. As a 10-year old, this made a huge impact on how Julia viewed engineering; she was amazed that someone could design something so intricate and efficient. Ever since her dad explained what he did for a living, Julia was set on also becoming an engineer.
For her very first semester of college, Julia’s GPA fell to an alltime low for her. This was mainly due to a rocky transition from high school to university. However, she has since been earnestly working to change this and take advantage of the numerous resources to aid students in their studies. In her search for help, Julia was able to get involved with the Native Hawaiian Science and Engineering Mentorship Program (NHSEMP). Julia’s consistent involvement with her new mentors enabled her to expand her knowledge about both academics and future career options as an engineer. Building new relationahips and becoming a part of a community is what allowed Julia to increase her GPA up to a much higher status, each semster stronger than the last. In addition, Julia is also involved with the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) club, OHA Scholars, UH Mānoa’s Campus Center Board (CCB), and last but not least, our own Society of Native Hawaiian Engineers (SNHE).
As a junior, Julia is beginning to delve deeper into the field of engineering, her classes becoming more difficult yet increasingly interesting. Majoring in the STEM field has opened new educational pathways, encouraging her to “think like an engineer” and allowing her perspectives to grow. In order to expose herself to new engineering experiences early on in her college career, Julia participated in various extracurricular activties, such as UH Manoa’s Holmes Hall challenge. She has also been involved with the AISES club to participate in NASA’s First Nations Launch rocketry competition in Wisconsin. In the summer of 2019, Julia had the opportunity to conduct research on biosorption as a means of primary waste water treatment as a lab intern for Dr.Roger Babcock at UH Manoa. Her most recent accomplishment was the completion of her first internship with Aecom this summer, in which she analyzed catch basins and street pollution all around Oʻahu. Opportunities like these have created a direct connection to Julia’s field of study and allowed her to strengthen skills essential to any career such as teamwork, critical thinking, and communication.
As a Native Hawaiian woman in engineering, she is a part of a unique minority population. This status is something that Julia is passionate about changing, especially at the University of Hawaiʻi. One day, she hopes to show her younger sisters that just because they are underrepresented, their capabilities are not limited. In the same groups where she has found support in her post-secondary education, she has taken on the amazing responsibility of becoming a supporter, to mentor and educate, for the next generation of young native women.
Various ʻōlelo noʻeau are proverbs our ancestors heavily incorporated into their lives, enabling them to producea fruitful society. Knowing this, we should also follow these pieces of advice and uplift one another in all that we do for our people. As a Hawaiian, an ‘ōlelo noʻeau that Julia lives by is “Pono no kākou e kūlia i kā kākou hana poʻokela” which translates to “we must strive to do our best work”. There have been various occasions in which Julia has applied this to her life. Doing the bare-minimum will never be enough; as Hawaiians, we do our kuleana and more. With the correct mind-set and the desire to do good, we can uplift one another in these tough times and do anything.