Maui Observer: College On Maui

Ever wonder what it's like to go to college on Maui? Yes, there is an institution of higher education on Maui. It is the University of Hawaii, Maui College. Like the University of California, there are UH colleges on many of the islands, with the main campus on Oahu - University of Hawaii at Manoa. I too was curious about college on Maui, so I ventured on campus to observe and report. Now I've been out of college for almost a decade, but jeez, lots of things haven't changed. Let's take a journey.

Well, when I first started walking around campus, I was shocked to find it relatively empty. Nary a soul in sight in all directions. They must all be in class I said to myself. I did see this student walk by the universal student events kiosk. We all remember these right? "Friday night - Alpha Masta Beta House - Toga Party. Get wasted and pray to the porcelain gods until dawn."

Here's the emergency - in case you're (most likely a girl) wandering home from the library and you find some dude trailing you or who knows what - pole with the flashing blue light. Oh, the images are filling my once cavernously empty headspace with memories of days gone by, way by...

Ah yes, the campus bookstore. Do they still charge an arm and a leg for books? I remember we had the option to buy used books cheaper.

Now, when I look at this photo, all I'm staring at is that little white apple with a bite taken out of it. Remind me to befriend a local UH Maui student so I can get them to buy me the new Adobe Creative Suite CS5 dirt cheap...

Continuing on, I finally found some action in front of the student cafeteria. I should have known. If you are a college student, and I wanted to get your attention, I need to position myself in between you and your voracious appetite. In front of the cafeteria, there was a kind of hybrid health/career fair going on.

Clearly, these little munchkins aren't college kids, but they're enjoying some kind of sock puppet anti-drug show. Good to get this message across young, because Maui has a SERIOUS Meth/Ice problem.

I don't really remember why I took this photo, except for the fact that yoga has something to do with health. Yeah, that's it, yoga's healthy, very healthy...

Here's the career part. Want to join the Maui fire department? All I caught from this conversation was that the students were curious what level of math is required for the MFD, and the fireman stated algebra is needed to calculate water volumes.

This nursing student sat me down and as reciprocation for catching her off guard and snapping this photo, she took my blood sugar level. Yes, she actually bled me. When she asked if I had eaten anything earlier, I thought about it and quipped I ate a chocolate croissant. I expected my blood sugar to be at diabetic levels, but my level was luckily a normal 85. Whew. I didn't want to get the lecture from her.

I walked into the cafeteria and I instantly went back to 1997. Oh man. I don't need say much more. I'm sure all of you have your own cafeterias tucked away in memory lane.