By Brittany Rogers
Above image courtesy BYU–Hawaii
A pioneering first-generation college student is basking in all BYU–Hawaii has to offer.
As Tahitians tell it, the mana chose local surfer Kauli Vaast to win Olympic gold last summer. When it was his competitors’ turns, the ocean calmed.
“The mana is this power, this force, in the Pacific Islands,” explains BYU–Hawaii student Johann Faana-Kong, who manned the event as an intern for the government of French Polynesia.
Faana-Kong says he too has been propelled by the mana and, moreover, by the Spirit, starting with his conversion to the gospel at 13. He felt called and chosen to serve a mission in Tahiti. And he is guided still, he says, as a student at BYU–Hawaii, where he attends on the prestigious Pacific Area Scholarship (PAS).
“I feel like a pioneer,” says Faana-Kong, both as a first-generation college student and as a convert. His parents separated when he was young, and Faana-Kong was raised primarily by a nanny who shared her Latter-day Saint faith with him. At 12 he wanted to be baptized. “My father totally refused,” he says. But over a year, his father softened and consented.
Following his mission, Faana-Kong yearned to study at a Church school, but affordability was an issue. The PAS made BYU–Hawaii a real possibility.
The full-ride scholarship is offered to only a limited number of top scholars applying to BYUH each year, says James Faustino, dean of students at the university. “That was Johann.”
As Faustino describes him, Faana-Kong, at 6'2", is quiet and pensive, “just a gentle giant.” But BYU–Hawaii, says Faana-Kong, has drawn him out of his shell.
“It’s a bubble of good vibes,” he says—a small campus where everyone comes to know everyone. And for an incredibly international student body, the university’s thriving cultural club scene scratches an itch.
“When you’re part of a club, you have a taste of home,” says Faana-Kong, who presided over the Tahiti Club for a year. No citizenship or other ties to a culture? No problem—the clubs are open to everyone. Faana-Kong is also a proud member of the Latin America Club, performing the bachata with his wife, Melanie, and Latino students at the university’s annual Culture Night. The energy at the event is electric, he says: “You lose your voice the week after.”
Faana-Kong has loved his political science major, especially presenting at undergraduate research conferences on how religious diversity impacts political stability. In equal measure, he loved taking BYU–Hawaii’s family-history course—the most popular religion elective at the university.
Suzanne Bowen, who teaches the course, says, “Many students come with a blank canvas. A lot of them are first-generation members and don’t even know who their grandparents are.” The description fit for Faana-Kong. Polynesian ancestry, says Bowen, is more of an oral tradition.
For a course assignment, Faana-Kong interviewed his much older father, now in his 80s. “It was incredible to see him form a closer relationship with his father,” says Bowen. “Genealogy is not supposed to be lonely.”
Faana-Kong and his wife performed ordinances in the Laie Hawaii Temple on behalf of family members they found in the class. They also fill shifts as temple workers. He says it’s his way “to give thanks to Heavenly Father” for his time in this place.
Through the camaraderie, on-campus employment, clubs, temple service, and classes, Faana-Kong says he had “everything you need to grow as a student.” And he learned to surf, to boot. BYU–Hawaii is uniquely preparing him to return home to Tahiti, where he hopes to start a business one day, creating more jobs.
“I love the idea of building Zion where you live,” he says. “We truly bear that responsibility of coming here, getting our education, and building our armor to be able to go home and serve.”
