Natural Sciences & Mathematics

From Trauma to Transformation and Beyond

October 20, 2022 by University Communications & Marketing

The road Kimmy Takata ’22 took to college wasn’t traditional—or easy.

But while she says much of her life has been defined by struggle, Takata is choosing to focus on everything she’s accomplished and all the people who have helped her along the way. “My journey has been one from trauma to transformation,” she said, on a recent afternoon. “It takes a village to save somebody and it took 10 villages to save me, including the village I found at Chaminade.”

Now the 53-year-old is setting her sights on new goals—from serving as a mentor to other women exiting prison to even going back to school to pursue a graduate degree. She said her story is an example of what’s possible when you work hard, dream big and get plenty of help along the way.

“People believed in me. That’s the key,” she said.

Takata wasn’t always confident in herself.

As a child growing up in an abusive household, she struggled with low self-esteem. She said she was constantly being called “dumb” and “stupid”—and often heard those words in her head when she was at school. Throughout her teens, Takata was in and out of youth lockup and struggled with drugs.

Eventually, she dropped out of school.

“I never even thought of myself going to college,” she said. “College wasn’t even in my vocabulary.”

In the years that followed, things got worse for Takata. And then, she hit rock bottom.

She was arrested and charged with 16 counts and sentenced to 40 years behind bars. Then in 2003, Takata escaped from Oahu Community Correctional Center and was gone for four days. When she was arrested again, she was transferred to a women’s prison and placed in lockdown “for a very long time.”

She thought that all was lost. But it was at that moment things started to turn around.

Takata was given the chance to enroll in classes and earned got her GED. She also participated in a program that allowed her to share her story through poems—pieces that she eventually shared with her children to help them understand her grief about how much of their lives she’d missed. And she was placed in a substance abuse program, where she was encouraged to continue her journey of self-reflection. “I really had to take a look at the damage I’d done to everyone,” she said.

After getting out of prison on parole, Takata knew she had to make the most of out of her new perspective. She got a job and paired up with the Pu’a Foundation, which helps incarcerated women transitioning back into the community. “I was locked up for 15 years. The transition wasn’t easy,” Takata said. But she eventually got her sea legs. And then, she started looking for opportunities.

Friends encouraged her to go back to school. And at first, she didn’t even entertain the idea. It was too far-fetched. “I’m not good enough for college,” she remembers thinking. “I’m not smart enough and I’m scared.” But her friends and mentors didn’t give up. And before long, she found herself enrolling.

With the help of the Pu’a Foundation, she first enrolled at Kapiolani Community College.

From there, she found her way to Chaminade University. Bro. Dennis Schmitz, of the Marianist Center of Hawaii, happened to work with the Pu’a Foundation and encouraged her to apply. Takata also clinched a Hooulu Scholarship, which covered her tuition and included robust career development and advising resources.

On her first day of classes at Chaminade, Takata couldn’t believe how far she’d come.

“It was like Disneyland to me,” she quipped. “I found myself smiling all day long.”

And while she had plenty of jitters about going back to class, she found no shortage of professors, counselors and peers ready to cheer her on—and give her the help she needed. As an Environmental Studies major, Takata formed a particularly strong bond with Dr. Gail Grabowsky, dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and director of the CIFAL Honolulu Center at Chaminade.

In fact, she still keeps in touch with Grabowsky.

“She is absolutely the best professor in the world,” Takata said. “Her classes were hard, but she’s understanding. She helped me realize going back to school was the best thing I ever could have done.”

After a lot of hard work, Takata made it to graduation day—and invited friends to cheer her on.

Now she’s working with women as they leave prison, using her own life as a case study of what’s possible. She’s also ready to jump into the next big challenge. She’s seriously considering the master’s program in Criminal Justice Studies at Chaminade and is also busy growing a cleaning business on the side.

“There’s just so many things I want to do,” she said. “And I’m ready for anything.”

Using AI and Machine Learning in Healthcare

September 26, 2022 by University Communications & Marketing

Algorithms are increasingly being used to make big decisions in healthcare, and there’s a common misconception that they’re unbiased. The truth is: they’re as biased as the humans that create them and a group of researchers—including several at Chaminade University—are trying to spotlight what that means.

In partnership with a federal consortium looking at the issue—dubbed AIM-AHEAD—Chaminade hosted a special virtual symposium in August aimed at better understanding the uses of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in health and what changes are needed to improve health equity in the Pacific.

Dr. Claire Wright, an associate professor at Biology at Chaminade, said the symposium was about beginning a conversation—and ensuring Pacific voices are part of it. “We wanted to engage the community and understand some of the things that are really important to them,” she said.

“We think it’s kind of science fiction but there are many elements of health sciences that machine learning is already used, like diagnostics, surgery, prognosis, and driving health plans. But the data used to run those algorithms is not representative of our population in Hawaii.”

So is that a problem? And if so, how much of a problem?

That was the question tackled during the event—and the topics covered could help guide the development of best practices and ethical guidelines nationally. AIM-AHEAD, which organized the symposium with Chaminade, is funded by the National Institutes of Health and focused on increasing diversity among AI and machine learning researchers to ultimately improve the technologies in health applications, starting with electronic health records. The initiative’s acronym stands for the Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity.

Chaminade Data Science Director Dr. Rylan Chong delivered the opening keynote at the symposium, urging attendees to consider how bias makes its way into algorithms and machine learning programs at various points in the process—from the bias that researchers bring to biases baked into “norm studies.”

Dr. Melissa McCradden, who is a bioethicist at the Hospital for Sick Children (affiliated with the University of Toronto), built on those themes in her keynote. She said the conversation happening around algorithmic bias, including in healthcare, is ultimately about “doing better science.”

“One of the major misperceptions is because AI uses so much data … that it’s ultimately leading us toward a place where we’re modeling objective truths about the world,” she said. “But we need to be really, really cautious about assuming that more data can get us closer to objectivity.”

Instead, she said, communities need to work together to make “values-based choices.”

And then, McCradden added, those choices need to be evaluated for their impacts.

Importantly, the symposium also included listening sessions so participants could weigh in on where inequities are now—and how technology might help to address them—rather than make them worse.

“These tools are already being used, but we don’t know the power of them for our communities,” Wright said. “Before we go too far down the line, we want to make sure that some of the folks who are underrepresented have the opportunity to be involved in the conversation.”

She added, “Let’s direct the quality of our own healthcare. Let’s tailor it to fit our needs.”

Alumna Continues Her Dream to Medical School Through Articulation Agreement

September 23, 2022 by University Communications & Marketing

Growing up in Waianae, Donna Cottrell ‘22 says she felt the sting of healthcare inequality firsthand.

It wasn’t just that care was difficult to access.

“It was that a lot of times, our voices weren’t heard,” she said.

The experience (and her drive to change it) is what drew her to the field of osteopathic medicine and a career where she could consider the whole patient—mind, body, and spirit. And this summer, she moved to Arizona to pursue her dream at A.T. Still University’s Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine.

The Biology major said she took advantage of Chaminade’s articula t ion agreement with A.T. Still University to secure early admission to the prestigious program. She was also awarded a merit-based Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship for her studies, which will cover all four years of her medicine program’s tuition.

Needless to say, she’s a little excited.

“The day they called me to say I’d gotten in, I was over the moon,” Cottrell said. “I just ran to my grandma’s room and was just screaming, ‘I got in! I got in!’ This was my biggest dream and I got it.”

Finding community

Cottrell and her siblings were raised by their father, a fish diver.

“He didn’t graduate from high school,” said Cottrell, but instilled a strong love for education in his children. Cottrell said she felt inspired to succeed so she could strike out on her own and attend college.

She also knew what she wanted in a university: small class sizes, a strong sense of community, and opportunities to connect with professors and mentors. She found all that at Chaminade, she said, and enrolled after graduating from Wai ‘anae High School. After a search of Chaminade’s website, she also applied for—and received—the Ho’oulu STEM Scholarship to cover four years of tuition and other costs.

“It’s not just a scholarship, it’s a community,” said Cottrell, of the Ho’oulu program, which offers participants career development, paid internships and culturally informed service-learning projects.

“The Hooulu program has been a huge help.”

Donna Cottrell '22 at UCLA — *^{Donna Cottrell ’22 at UCLA summer health professions program}*

As she participated in Ho’oulu offerings, Cottrell also made progress on her academic goals and embraced her newfound independence. She moved into the dorms. She started making friends. And she juggled a busy schedule. “It made me stand on my own two feet,” she said.

And after wrapping up her freshman year, she got a summer experience that would solidify her dream of going into healthcare. Through Chaminade, she applied for and got a spot in a summer health professions program at UCLA for students from underrepresented communities.

During the program, she shadowed doctors and learned from her peers.

She also gained something else: Confidence.

‘I want to be able to help’

Cottrell realized she really did have an opportunity to make a difference—and to help her own community and places like it. She was also inspired by a more personal experience: her younger brother was born with a serious heart condition and required treatment on the mainland. She remembers watching the doctors and nurses and arriving at this thought: “They could do something.”

“That kind of drew me in. I want to be able to help,” she said, adding her brother is now doing great.

In her sophomore and junior years, Cottrell started working with her advisors and mentors at Chaminade. She said the university’s articulation agreement was a perfect way to prepare for a big challenge—and a big opportunity. It meant a guaranteed interview with the graduate program of her dreams. “It took the stress off so I was able to focus on my grades and on succeeding,” she said.

Cottrell said one of the reasons she chose A.T. Still University’s School of Osteopathic Medicine is because the program puts a special emphasis on health disparities. During her junior year, she was also given the chance to shadow a pediatrician for six months at Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center to get a taste for what it’s actually like to serve the community where she grew up.

It got her excited about the future. But right now, she’s a little more focused on the present—and thriving in medical school. In May, after receiving her Chaminade diploma, she became a first generation college graduate. The next box she’s going to tick in life: “I’m going to be the first doctor in my family.”

Harnessing the Data Revolution Through a $10 Million Grant

September 2, 2022 by University Communications & Marketing

Dr. Rylan Chong, director of Chaminade’s Data Science program, calls it nothing less than historic.

In early August, the National Science Foundation (NSF) INCLUDES Alliance selected Chaminade University to lead a groundbreaking $10 million grant project aimed at creating new opportunities in STEM and data science careers for historically underrepresented populations across Hawai‘i and the Pacific Region.

The grant announcement, Chong said, is one of those moments that educators will look back on in a decade or so and recognize as a turning point—the beginning of new initiatives that opened doors for students, the institutions that serve them, and nonprofit and business communities in the region.

“This is about leveling up, addressing capacity in the workforce and making sure our low-income and underrepresented students have an opportunity to bring their perspectives to data science,” Chong said, adding that welcoming diverse populations into data science will ensure their voices are heard.

“You can apply data science to every field—education, healthcare and mental health, environment science and climate change, and criminal justice,” he said. “It’s not just about crunching numbers but ensuring the numbers reflect different viewpoints and getting those numbers into the right hands.”

That’s why the Data Science program at Chaminade doesn’t just want to prepare students for competitive careers at the Googles and Amazons of the world. “We also want to find opportunities for students working in grassroots and community organizations, being able to contribute to projects they’re interested in while making a difference to the places where they live,” Chong said.

The competitive NSF grant is one of the largest Chaminade has ever received and reflects the strong data science work and foundational programs already in place at the University.

With the transformative funding, Chaminade’s United Nations-affiliated CIFAL Honolulu Center will spearhead the launch of the university’s new Alliance Supporting Pacific Impact through Computational Excellence (ALL-SPICE) with a consortium of partners, putting a strong emphasis on leadership for sustainable development and efforts aimed at tackling the growing impacts of climate change.

“Chaminade University is really quite honored to lead this important initiative charged with empowering STEM leaders for tomorrow from across Hawai‘i and the Pacific, equipping them with the cutting-edge tools they need to drive sustainable development projects,” said President Lynn Babington, PhD.

“This grant is part of a collective and exciting effort to meet a pivotal moment in our history by expanding opportunities to a new generation of change-makers. Our mission of service is foundational to everything we do at Chaminade and so we are proud to drive a culturally informed initiative ultimately designed to help build healthier, more resilient and socially just communities.”

The first ALL-SPICE programming and opportunities launched in the Fall.

Dr. Helen Turner, research director of the Chaminade United Nations CIFAL Honolulu Center and a professor of Biology, is principal investigator for ALL-SPICE along with Chong. She said the funding will focus on three central efforts: bolstering training and educating, conducting data science research on sustainable development projects, and building capacity (including infrastructure) for data analytics in Hawai‘i and the Pacific.

“This work takes a village,” Turner said, adding the grant was the result of years of collaboration between Chaminade and other institutions to step up programming and underscore the importance of data science to the community. The Chaminade-led consortium includes the University of Hawaii Data Science Institute, East-West Center and the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC).

“The National Science Foundation identified the power of data analytics for education, research and industry. They use this phrase ‘harnessing the data revolution’ because right now we are all swimming in an ocean of data,” Turner said. “We can either drown as individuals, communities and society or we can swim and surf that wave—take data and turn it into wisdom, knowledge and action-based plans.”

Turner said that’s exactly what the Data Science program at Chaminade is focused on.

And the grant will exponentially increase that work, expanding opportunities to more students, community leaders and institutions so they can use data for the greater good. “Data and social justice go hand and hand. To me, it’s a very obvious and beautiful linkage,” Turner said.

For example, she says that health inequities are fundamentally a data problem—failing to get the right resources to the right people or not fully understanding the root causes for gaps in care. Environmental problems, economic development, educational gaps can be approached similarly.

“Because a big piece of this is meeting the needs of the community,” she added. “No university in the United States can keep up with the pace of demand for data scientists. We want our students to succeed, but we also don’t want our own organizations in Hawai‘i to be left behind.”

That’s why the grant will, in part, fund research or hands-on internships for students. Already, Chaminade students in data science are working on a plethora of important projects—looking at everything from maternal mortality in Pacific populations to recidivism in Hawai‘i.

“If you ask what is a data scientist, the answer is everything,” she said. “With data science, students undoubtedly can follow their personal passions and make a positive impact. This is ultimately a vehicle for students’ passions to change the world. It’s also about democratizing our relationship with data.”

CIFAL Honolulu Executive Director and Dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Dr. Gail Grabowsky said data visualization and interpretation are a central focus of the grant’s programming. That’s because it’s not enough to analyze the data. Helping the community (especially non-data scientists) understand what the data says is just as important.

“We think data alone will change the world and it won’t,” said Grabowsky, who is also dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Chaminade. “What will change the world is many people working together on shared goals, using data along the way to inform policy and guide next steps.”

She added that CIFAL Honolulu envisions the Pacific Ocean as a “connector,” helping to spur conversations around both modern approaches and traditional knowledge and practices. Indigenous ways of knowing, Grabowsky added, could also bring about new perspectives and questions.

Dr. Lance Askildson, Chaminade provost, called the grant and its potential impact “incredibly significant.” He added, “This is really about creating a network of institutions across the Pacific, of which Chaminade is the lead, to provide education, training and research.”

He said a key part of the funding is working with community stakeholders to help them tell their own community stories with data. “Particularly here in the West, there is a tremendous amount of data being collected on us at all times of the day,” he said. “Being in control of your data is just like being in control of your Facebook profile—it’s a chance to tell a story with greater integrity that prioritizes your needs.”

ALL-SPICE co-Principal Investigator Dr. Kelly Gaither, the director of health analytics at TACC and a professor of Maternal Health at the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, first started hearing about Chaminade’s work in data science in 2005 as part of a grant review committee.

What struck her the most, she said, is there was no tension between the pursuit of data science and traditional Hawaiian and Pacific knowledge and ways of knowing. “Chaminade was really trying to chop down any notion that Hawaiian science is not science,” she said. “This is the true definition of capacity building. Chaminade is really leading this, one community stakeholder and one student at a time.”

Gaither added she’s especially excited about the workforce opportunities the grant has to offer.

“We can dream big, peacefully coexist and all move forward,” she said. “That’s what is possible.”

Pre-College Summer Institutes 2022

August 30, 2022 by University Communications & Marketing

“Cooking with Chemistry”

“Think Like a Champion”

“Psychology of Happiness”

Those might sound like great reads—or fascinating TED Talks.

But they were actually some of the engaging and hands-on courses offered at Chaminade University over the summer to groups of Hawaii high schoolers. The students were participants in Chaminade’s Summer Institutes, made possible at the university thanks to a partnership with the federal GEARUP program.

The workshops are designed to give high school students a taste of college—and get them hooked.

Participants this year for the seven, two-week sessions included ninth to 12th graders from Farrington, Kaimukī, Ānuenue and McKinley high schools. And in addition to going on field trips and tackling fun projects, they got the chance to attend co-curricular sessions on college readiness. The topics covered everything you’d need to know as you prepare to graduate from high school and plan for college, including applying for financial aid, navigating admissions and student life.

Pure Imagination

Aaron Williamson, assistant professor of Accounting, taught a session called “The Successes of Pure Imagination: Business Development and Entrepreneurial Mentorship.” He said the course was designed as “an immersion into the world of entrepreneurship”—from business plan development, brainstorming sessions, strategic thinking skills-building and the application of “principles of success” in daily life.

“The entire process of teaching the course was memorable—from idea inception to business plan presentations,” he said. “Having a small part in assisting students to see how an idea can impact the world and developing theoretical businesses that will be on the streets of tomorrow is so enjoyable.”

Cooking with Chemistry

In Dr. Francis Sakai-Kawada’s “Cooking with Chemistry” course, students tie-dyed their lab coats to better understand the chemistry of dyes, made their own bars of soap as they explored the properties of saponification, and took chemistry into the kitchen to make butter, mayonnaise, boba and ice cream.

“The goal was develop activities that were hands-on and engaging,” he said. “We had the creative license and flexibility to tie underlying scientific and chemistry concepts to every activity. Our priority was to incorporate an element of fun. We wanted our students to see that so much of what we deal with in our daily life can be related to chemistry, from food to household cleaning products.”

Kawada added that students started the course a little shy, but slowly opened up.

And the highlight of the session: visiting the IL Gelato Factory to talk story with owner Dr. Dirk Koeppenkastrop (a fellow chemist), who discussed his path from a chemistry lab to studying the art and science of gelato in Italy and the “perfect ratio of ingredients” that goes into the sweet treat.

Psychology of Happiness

Dr. Abby Halston, an assistant professor of psychology at Chaminade and clinical director of the university’s Marriage and Family Counseling program, taught the “Psychology of Happiness” course—which incorporated everything from guided meditation and breathing to personal journaling.

Students also put together personal stress management plans, worked to identify their hopes and dreams for college and beyond, and participated in mock career development interviews. The group also got to go on a field trip to Beyond Monet, an immersive experience into the artist’s works.

“I wanted to create a fun and life-changing institute where high school students could gain deep personal insight into their psychological wellbeing while learning personal management skills that could be utilized throughout their lifespan,” Halston said. “We focused on understanding the keys to happiness … and the power of our mindset to achieving our hopes and dreams.”

She added, “I cannot wait until next summer’s institute!”

For the Love of Math

For the Summer Institutes course on “Creating Number Sense to Increase Love of Math,” Assistant Professor of Education Dr. Travis Mukina wasn’t just teaching math fundamentals, but un-teaching some bad math habits. “Most days consisted of mental math activities that forced students to view numbers in ways their elementary school teachers did not allow,” Mukina said. “We broke numbers apart, changed their values and accommodated for the change at the end of the problem.”

“Hands-on manipulatives were also used daily to allow students to visually see how the numbers were working with each other in multiple different strategies. Every activity ensured the students were learning from each other rather than from me. It was amazing to witness!” Mukina added.

He said one of the big takeaways for students was that math isn’t a set of rules and procedures to memorize, but about creativity and flexibility. Mukina also wanted participants to see how math can be used seamlessly in everyday life—and how even complicated things can be broken down.

“I feel so honored to be part of this summer institute,” he said.

Living Pono

For the “Living Pono” institute, School of Nursing and Health Professions Professors Dr. Jennifer Nafarrete and Dr. Edna Magpantay-Monroe covered a wide range of health topics—from nutrition to human anatomy and physiology to reproductive health. Along the way, students tried their hand at cooking, engaged in some friendly competition, and put together presentations to tackle big topics.

Magpantay-Monroe said students really enjoyed the concepts of emotional intelligence and mindfulness, and especially loved their field trip to Ho‘omaluhia Botanical Garden—where they were challenged to strengthen their ability to “notice” and “be with nature.”

“I really enjoyed being a source of information to these students—helping them realize self-care is important but they also need to be self-aware of what is happening around them,” she said. “Being with nature helped increase their capacity to be mindful and reduce their stressors.”

Nafarrete added she was also happy to give students actionable, healthy solutions they can use everyday—like recipes. “My thought process was to find fun ways to engage students into making conscious choices about their health while considering how it affects the environment,” she said.

Think Like a Champion

Dr. Guanlin Gao, associate professor of Economics at Chaminade and director of the Economic Education Center for Excellence, focused on personal finance literacy in her course, “Think Like a Champion.” She wanted students to walk away with a better understanding of how to handle money.

“We spent one day visiting a local financial institution to learn more about how they operate and contribute to managing personal finances,” Gao said. “We spent another day on a fun team competition that involved budgeting, shopping and cooking. We even played a game that was all about inflation.”

Gao said the point of all the exercises was to help students see how better (and smarter) financial decisions ultimately lead to happier lives. “Interacting with the students was my favorite part,” she said. “For many of them, our trip to a bank was the first time they’d seen an actual vault. During our cooking competition, they all made nutritious meals. The best part: they were so proud of themselves.”

Student’s Passion to Malama Ka ‘Aina Resonates Inside and Outside the Classroom

August 26, 2022 by University Communications & Marketing

Lihau Keoneula Stender ’24 loves the outdoors.

On any given weekend, she’ll hit the beach, go for a hike or volunteer for a clean-up.

That passion for Hawaii’s natural environment drove Stender to double-major in both Biology and Environmental Sciences at Chaminade. And it inspired her to put the skills and knowledge she was learning into action, both as a volunteer and as an intern at a hydroponics company in the islands.

“When I would go to the beach or hiking, I noticed a lot of people were not taking care of the environment like they should be,” Stender said. “I thought, ‘Maybe I should focus on that and do some good for the community.’ I really like helping out and feeling as if I’m part of the solution.”

Stender, who graduated from Punahou School and lives in Palolo, chose to attend Chaminade after being selected for Ho’oulu Scholarship. The scholarship covers all four years of tuition, and includes career development advising, connections to paid internships, wraparound academic support and service-learning projects.

“Chaminade is five minutes from where I live. I was super-excited about the scholarship and about attending a university with a strong Biology program. Here, I can stay home and save money,” she said.

Stender kicked off her Chaminade career at the beginning of the pandemic, which meant her first semester was online. To shake off stress, she’d get outdoors—and notice things she didn’t like. People leaving their trash behind on the beach, on hiking trails and along the side of the road.

She knew she needed to do something about the problem.

And she got the chance in one of her Environmental Studies classes when she participated in the Waiale’e Volunteer Workday, a special opportunity from the North Shore Community Land Trust to help restore native ecosystems and traditional Hawaiian agriculture. The volunteer day is held on the third Saturday of each month. And after her first volunteering experience, Stender was hooked.

“I’m continuing to volunteer with this project, which is so hands-on,” she said. “Most times, we’re clearing California grass and dead trees. Last month, I brought a friend of mine and we had so much fun clearing this little marsh pit. I just love doing manual labor sometimes. You feel like you’re helping.”

Stender also helps in another important way. Through Chaminade, she was able to secure a full internship with Bee’s Greens Co., an aquaponics company that sells their locally grown lettuce to Roy’s restaurants and other eateries and donates everything they can’t use.

Stender said she was delighted to learn the manager at Bee’s Greens is a Chaminade graduate.

And shortly after starting at the company, which operates an urban farm using vertical hydroponic growing systems, Stender realized the joy of caring for plants as they grow and thrive. “It helps me make that connection—between what I’ve learned and what I can do,” she said. “It’s one thing to learn about sustainable farming in the classroom. It’s another thing to actually help a sustainable farm.”

She added that her internship has gotten her to think about other ways that Hawaii could grow significantly more of its own food. Today, more than 90% of food sold in the islands is shipped in. But it wasn’t always that way. “We used to be very self-sustainable,” Stender said. “And we can do it again.”

As she continues her journey at Chaminade, Stender is also excited about life after college.

She’s not sure whether she wants to jump into the workforce or seek a graduate degree.

But she does know she wants to continue making a positive impact. “My advice to other young people is: if you’re not doing something good, you’re kind of hindering it, in a way,” she said. “Serving the community really benefits others and also yourself—because you’re growing, too.”