Fellows mentioned in this story:
Diane Paloma
Yunji de Nies

From Hawai‘i News Now:

For Dr. Diane Paloma, place is everything — Hawai‘i is both her foundation and her source of strength.

She still lives in the Aina Haina home where she grew up, surrounded by neighbors she’s known her whole life. “Just last weekend, my neighbor’s oven broke,” she laughs. “She had to make banana bread, so she called us up and she said, hey, can I use your oven? And we’re like, absolutely. Do you think you can drop off a loaf of banana bread with that? We’ll take that as payment.” That small exchange, she says, captures what growing up in Hawai‘i means to her: enduring relationships, deep roots, and community that cares.

The eldest of three, Paloma attended Kamehameha Schools — a choice her father made to connect her to her Hawaiian roots. “My dad is pure Japanese, my mom is Chinese Hawaiian, and I remember dad saying you know what Diane, I gotta send you to Kamehameha so you can learn about your Hawaiian side,” she said. “It was a great, great foundation for me. I love performing arts, so of course, like music, mele, hula, art was really a big plus for me.”

After earning a degree in physiological science at UCLA, Paloma planned to become a physician. But when she didn’t get into medical school, her path — and perspective — changed. “I sat down with my parents at the kitchen table, and it was almost like this formal apology,” she said. “But it was my dad who said, ‘No, I think I owe you the apology because we just put you in that profession.’ That early failure was probably, yeah, literally probably the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Watch at hawaiinewsnow.com.