Being a 1st-Generation College Student as a Native Hawaiian

As the product of a past that goes beyond even our parents,

Our battles do not solely belong to us

Nor do our accomplishments.

Knowledge now granted unto us

Was once refused to our ancestors.

"Not American enough",

Simple words that denied them opportunity

Have since become our call to action.

So...

On the darkest of days,

Visions of calloused hands and brown, weathered faces come to mind

Along with these words:

"Tutu give us strength, for our blood is yours",

And our veins become vessels

For the iron that is their mana.

We are the first of generations past and the first of generations to come

To be practitioners of what was once denied to us.

Late-night study sessions are the prayers of procrastinators

Our sacred texts come in the form of study guides

And achievements are anointed with tears of joy and exhausted sighs of relief

And, together, we allow ourselves to rejoice

In a forbidden religion.