BY LAWRENCE NITZ – Four University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa students will be spending the Spring 2011 semester in Washington, D.C., as Fellows interning in all four offices of the state’s Congressional delegation. The students are:
Sean T. Callahan, 26, of Kailua, who is serving in the office of U.S. Representative Colleen Hanabusa. Callahan, a senior who will graduate in May with a B.A. in Economics, served with U.S. military forces in Djibouti (Africa) as a logistics coordinator for a private global engineering contractor before returning to college.
Elyse C.N. Oyama, 21, of Kailua, who is serving in the office of U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka. Oyama, a senior who will graduate in May with a B.A. in Economics Honors and Psychology, is president of the Golden Key International Honour Society on campus, and a Peer Advisor Leader at Mānoa Peer Advisors and a Peer Advisor at the Pre-Health/Pre-Law Advising Center.
Sun Young “Kelly” Park, 21, of Hawai‘i Kai, who is serving in the office of U.S. Representative Mazie Hirono. Park, a junior who intends to graduate in 2012 with a B.A. in Political Science and Economics, is a mentor for the children of inmates through Keiki O Ka Aina, and an officer of both UH Mānoa’s National Society of Collegiate Scholars and the International Golden Key Honour Society.
Edward Y. Toyozaki, 22, of St. Louis Heights, who is serving in the office of U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye. Toyozaki, a senior who will graduate in May with a B.A. in Speech-Communication Honors, worked as an office assistant in the state House Majority Staff Office in his freshman year in 2008.
“Crucial to the mission of UH Mānoa is giving our students the opportunity for real-world experiences that will help prepare them for their future careers,” said Reed Dasenbrock, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. “The Congressional Intern Program, which will give our four students the opportunity to participate in national politics at the highest level, shows that Mānoa can be a tremendous jumping-off point to experience the rest of the world.”
Scholarship funding covers a full semester’s tuition and earns each intern 15 credits toward graduation. Also covered are the costs of air fare to and from Washington, D.C., paid dormitory housing, a food and winter clothing allowance, and a stipend for incidentals.
In addition to its Congressional Intern Program, UH Mānoa will place 10 student interns in the 2011 session of the Hawai‘i State Legislature and a student intern in the city Department of the Prosecuting Attorney.