Aloha! My name is Nick, and I’ll be your tour guide for the day! Welcome to Hawaii!
A little bit about me: after several years of studying philosophy and traveling taking gap semesters to travel, I decided it was time to get serious; by which I mean, was I going to do for my career. I had always enjoyed learning and questioning things, hence why I pursued a degree in philosophy in the first place; and I loved it! Still, one can’t make a living sitting in an armchair and pondering the existence of the universe (unfortunately), so after careful consideration, I decided to pursue a master’s degree in Library and Information Science! Aside from my never-ending questioning, I’ve always been obsessed with old books and archival materials and could easily picture myself working in a library setting. Doing a bit of research into collages offering an American Library Association (ALA) accredited degree, I came across the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UH Manoa), and thought to myself “I love to travel (I had already studied abroad in Scotland), I love experiencing new cultures, and I’m all about that “Jimmy Buffett lifestyle”, so, after applying to the program, getting accepted, and getting all my business in order, I took the twelve hour one-way flight from JFK to Daniel K. Inouye International!
I spent the next nine months pursuing my degree, and enjoying as much of the island of Oahu as I could. Between classes and homework, I’d eat new foods, view countless new plants and animals, and spend nearly every Saturday swimming in the Pacific Ocean. It wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine though (even if the weather was). I found myself quite homesick in paradise, and the fact that I ended up in freshman housing surrounded by thousands of teenagers right out of high school certainly didn’t help to decrease my stress. Still, the LIS program was amazing and the University’s Hamilton Library was my sanctuary.
But I’m not here to talk too much about my university experience; undoubtedly, I’ll touch on it, but that’s a story in itself and there are still some hard memories. Besides, I’m a man of the people, and what the people want is fun in the sun! In case you could tell by now, I like to keep things informal; it’s tied into the concept of “Hawaiian Time” – purposefully choosing to be relaxed and take things at their own pace; why add to the stress of life? So join me as I show you how to live it up in the city of Honolulu, Hawaii!