by HFC Staff
Commencement marks the literal beginning of another life chapter for thousands of students graduating this season from Hawaii high schools, colleges, and universities.
But it may also be the end of another educational service, as Hawaii Filipino Chronicle’s journalism scholarship program is now on pause.
The Chronicle has awarded a total of $10,000 for the higher education of local Filipino journalism and mass communication (JMC) students.
The newspaper, which celebrated its 30th anniversary last year since it was first published on Oct. 1, 1993, had hoped to help more students finish their college degrees and jump-start their careers by continuing its annual journalism scholarship program.
“Unfortunately, the pandemic has affected our efforts to do more fundraising for our scholarship and we must pause it indefinitely,” said Dr. Edna Bautista, chair of the scholarship committee.
“However, since 2019, the Chronicle has been able to help four young local Filipinas financially and give them the opportunity to use what they learned in their classrooms and apply their writing skills in our newsroom. Their published clips in a real community newspaper and not just school assignments enhanced their resumes and job portfolios and gave them real-world communications experience.”
Commencing The Scholarship Program
The journalism scholarship was set up during the Chronicle’s 25th publication anniversary because Chona A. Montesines-Sonido, publisher and managing editor of the newspaper, was concerned about the under-representation of Filipinos in JMC in general.
Declining enrollments in JMC schools negatively impact the number of qualified graduates entering the workforce. The Chronicle hoped that the journalism scholarship program would be a good motivator for local Filipino students to study and work in Hawaii’s media and reverse the situation.
“We need future Fil-Am writers and leaders in the fields of journalism and mass communications. We are short of Filipino journalists who will continue our work and serve the Filipinos and our community at large in the future,” Sonido said.
“We need good journalists who are the ‘eyes and ears of the community’, and the Chronicle believes that we must build a pool of journalists in the future to safeguard our democracy and create a group that reports ‘checks and balances’ actions happening in the government and around us,” Sonido continued.
“With good reporting in place by well-trained journalists, we can secure a fair, informative and steady flow of news in our community and around the world. It is important that we support these students who are preparing for their future in the JMC field.”
Four Filipinas Win $2,500 Scholarships
Since the scholarship program’s inception, the Chronicle has been able to offer financial help to college students of local Filipino heritage majoring in JMC fields at four-year accredited universities in the state of Hawaii.
The four Filipinas who won the $2,500 scholarships were:
2019: Alyssa Laureta (née Acob), Kapolei
2020: Brenna Flores, Waipahu
2021: Jasmine Sadang, Ewa Beach
2022: Lizette Nolasco, Aiea
Laureta double-majored in Integrated Communications and Mass Communications and graduated (virtually at the height of the pandemic) in May 2020 from Hawaii Pacific University (HPU).
She got married in December 2022 to Vien Laureta and both serve as campus ministers for Every Nation Campus. Laureta also worked as the digital media manager for Pearlside Church.
Flores, a Communication major with a Marketing emphasis, graduated in May 2021 from Chaminade University. She currently works as a local-based project coordinator for TransPerfect, a global company that provides translation and language services.
Sadang was a Communication Studies and Practices major who graduated within 3½ years in December 2022 from HPU. She did a couple of marketing internships and was a corps member for Teach for America Hawaii before becoming a 7th grade English teacher for Ewa Makai Middle School.
Nolasco, the Chronicle’s most recent scholar, just graduated last month from Chaminade with a degree in Communication with a Mass Communication concentration.
All the scholars were honor graduates. Links to their biographical profiles, articles they wrote for this newspaper, and feature stories on their graduation may be searched on the Chronicle’s website.
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