{"id":231742,"date":"2026-04-06T16:09:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T02:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=231742"},"modified":"2026-04-15T09:34:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T19:34:29","slug":"yeow-dream-deferred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/04\/06\/yeow-dream-deferred\/","title":{"rendered":"Dream deferred: Starting college after decades with scholarship help"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"Kriss
Kriss Yeow is now studying natural resource and environmental management, with a minor in botany.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For 48-year-old Kriss Yeow, receiving the Linka and Michael Mullikin Endowed Scholarship wasn’t just financial aid; it was the validation of a 25-year-old dream she thought might never come true.<\/p>\n

For much of her life, Yeow put the needs of others first, spending decades caring for her family. Her journey was also marked by geographic instability, forcing her to cycle through different educational systems across Malaysia, Christmas Island and Australia.
\nBut after settling in Hawaiʻi<\/span> nine years ago, Yeow realized it was time to take her turn.<\/p>\n

“It felt like I was making good on the promise my grandmother always saw in me,” Yeow said. “Grandmother never stopped believing that one day I would soldier on towards a higher education. Now I hear her telling me, ‘keep going, Kriss,’ until you get that degree.”<\/p>\n

\"\"
Kapiʻolani Community College students can apply for the Linka and Michael Mullikin Endowed Scholarship.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Drawn to Kapiʻolani<\/span> Community College<\/a> by its deep connection to Hawaiian culture and its welcoming, aloha-spirited environment, Yeow is now an undergraduate studying Natural Resource and Environmental Management, with a minor in botany.<\/p>\n

Resilient non-traditional students<\/h2>\n

None of this, she said, would be possible without the generosity of donors, such as the Mullikins. Yeow\u2019s journey is a powerful reminder of the resilience of non-traditional students, a demographic that Kapiʻolani<\/span> CC<\/abbr> is deeply committed to supporting.<\/p>\n

“Non-traditional students bring their wisdom and real-world experience to the classroom\u2014perspectives that high schoolers coming to college for the first time simply wouldn\u2019t have,” said Veronica Ogata, dean of Arts and Sciences. “It creates a beautiful dynamic where both generations learn from one another.”<\/p>\n

Read more ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ<\/abbr> Giving Day stories<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Complex financial barriers are often the defining factor for non-traditional students to achieve a college degree.<\/p>\n

“For students to continue schooling, finances have always been the number one issue,” said David Nāwaʻa<\/span> Napoleon, vice chancellor for Academic Affairs. “Scholarships absolutely level the playing field for students. Any way we can support our students through these scholarships is what we need to be doing.”<\/p>\n

On Giving Day<\/a>, your gift to the Mullikin Endowed Scholarship<\/a> ensures students like Yeow have resources to earn their degrees.<\/p>\n

Read more about the Mullikin Endowed Scholarship<\/a> and more Giving Day opportunities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donor support levels the playing field for non-traditional students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[63,660,71,1726],"class_list":["post-231742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-kapiolani-community-college","tag-student-recognition","tag-uh-community-colleges","tag-uh-giving-day","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231742"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":232364,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231742\/revisions\/232364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}