Kapiolani Community College

U.S.A. Hawaii

Published

Hi,

I am just trying to get some clarity on Kapiolani's RN program. I am a military spouse and am new to the island, so I called this college and was told that they do not take non-residents. Well do they mean non-resident because I have not been here a year yet or do they mean never? I just don't want to waste my time trying to get into this school if I don't have a chance at all.

Slobgob

184 Posts

My understanding is that you have to establish residency by living here a year, filing taxes, paying bills, ect...

KCC was founded to educated the people of Hawaii, and such, their nursing school's mission is to help fill nursing jobs here.

If you've spent anytime here, you'll find that a LARGE percentage of new arrivals from the mainland spend 1/2 - 2 years here... and then go back. If you were KCC, you'd notice these trends and be less likely to spend ALOT of money training a transient student who's simply going to move back after graduation.

That said... kick off your slippers, apply everywhere, hit the beach, and I promise that 1 year will fly by. =)

mcubed45

434 Posts

if you choose to pursue KCC be sure you clearly understand the steps towards establishing residency. military family members are allowed to pay resident tuition rates but this IS NOT the same as being an actual resident.

if this policy seems unfair, consider that the total tuition cost for a student of KCC's ADN program comes out to around $10k. the actual cost to the school for training an ADN student is in the $50k range IIRC. so yea.

worf

133 Posts

Specializes in LTC & Med-Surg, L&D, Pre-Op Clinic.

UM, they mean never...take it from someone who tried! I am a military spouse and I had all the pre-reqs completed, went in, and I spoke to the nursing counsoler and he said, of great, it looks like your on the right track...on and on...how my GPA was good, and such then I said, oh, yeah, I have just established residency because my husband is in the military...then he changed his story...he said well we don't really accept non-residents. He told me that the school looks at the intent for your residency which yours would be just to finish nursing school...he went as far as to tell me I could talk with my husbands command and drop my dependancy status live on my own or a year and then possibly then I could apply ( I looked at him like he was nuts...drop my dependancy?? Ha, housing, commissary privelages, medical, daycare & after school programs...I don't think so...) I said thank you, and I left. The next day I decided to go to Manoa and look into appling there even though it is one year longer. The way I look at it, you can waste a bunch of time trying to get in KCC, and never getting in, or you could go to manoa, one year longer and get it over with faster...I applied, at Manoa for fall '09 with all my pre-reqs done with 4.0, with a good entrance exam score and I start in August! They don't care what your residency status is, just your grades and test scores...Good luck to you.

augiebear

52 Posts

I don't know why non-residents trying to get into KCC are so disgruntled about them not really accepting non-residents...they will accept non-residents if there are no other applicants that are residents which equals to about never. The previous posts explained it well..STATE funded program= STATE residents first..what don't you people understand? To the above post, it IS true that you want to establish residence just to get into the nursing program..then you would eventually leave the island and Hawaii's state money, which I don't know if you noticed is pretty scarce, will not be staying in Hawaii. get over it..

JOLIEDAME

59 Posts

You know, I am just so sick and tired of people hiding behind the computer! If you ask a question for clarity...it seems as if there are always a select few of individuals who have to flex their lack of social skills or ability to respond with respect for the forum. And since we accompany our military spouses to and from place to place while possibly missing out on our own educational needs, the places we go always seem to have the most ungrateful, misunderstanding, cold-hearted citizens for no reason in my opinion. The way I see it, if they don't want to accomodate other people then why do we even have to tour in these locations. Hawaii is a part of the UNITED States of American and things are just so different here, so thanks to the respectful responses and to hell with the others. And yes, you can get back behind your computers and type away because I'm done reading.

Lisa From Maui

143 Posts

Joliedame:

You wrote that you are new to the island. So, I'm guessing that you need:

understanding & empathy because it's hard to be the new person in town

compassion because you're in the middle of an ocean, trying to support your husband

support because you're new to the island, and need help getting started

consideration & respect because you're a human being too.

You also wrote, about "lack of social skills," "unable to... be respectful," "ungrateful, misunderstanding, cold-hearted citizens" and "to hell with the others."

Joliedame: Insulting people, calling them names, and lashing out at them is probably not going to get you the understanding, empathy, compassion, support, consideration and respect that you need. ESPECIALLY not on the islands.

If you want understanding, empathy, compassion, support and consideration, you might want to try another way.

With respect,

Lisa

P.S. A message to other nurses living on the islands... just in case you're thinking about responding to Joliedame by calling her names... PLEASE DON'T! Please, don't attack her in any way. PLEASE, PRACTICE ALOHA. MAHALO.

JOLIEDAME

59 Posts

I appreciate the empathy Lisa from Maui! However, I must clarify my earlier comments. I was referring to the individuals who have internalized my initial question/concern about KCC and thus responded in a negative tone. I was merely stating that it was unnecessary. Nonetheless, you have helped me to see that I will not get the type of response I so desire if I do not give it out. Its just that when you are tagging alongside your spouse and at every tour you attempt to go to school and then on the next tour its a whole different set of rules...it gets a little bit more frustrating. Also, I assumed that because Hawaii is still apart of the USA that it would operate in our favor, but I was mistaken in this instance. Anyway thanks Lisa from Maui for listening and understanding.

Lisa From Maui

143 Posts

joliedame:

please understand ... hawaii is a part of the usa because the u.s. invaded hawai'i and kicked the queen off her throne. (realistically, if the u.s. had not invaded, japan probably would have.) many newcomers don't realize that the us military did the exact same thing here as they did to the native american indians. invaded, kicked them off their land. brought the white man colds & flu, which killed countless hawaiians, almost wiped them out. "how-lees" are still doing it today. (yes, i'm ashamed to admit, since my husband took a good-paying job here, he and i are somehow in this category). rich people from all over the world come here, buy multi-million dollar houses, and live in them 2 weeks out of the year. outsiders have been doing that for 100 years, and have driven up the cost of real estate. middle-class workers who have lived here all their lives can't buy a house because they make too little, and houses cost too much.

in the 1940s, the us military started bombing the island of kaho'olawe. the 'aina is sacred to the locals. the military was destroying mother earth! the hawaiian people asked nations from all over the world to stop bombing kaho'olawe. canada and many other nations agreed. the us military said, "hell no! we're gonna do what we want to do!" it took years for the locals to get the us military to stop.

somebody told me that there were no mosquitos on the island until the white man came. a princess would not sleep with a captain of a ship; the captain wanted revenge, so he brought a bucket full of mosquitos here from the mainland, and released them. and that's why the island have mosquitos. (does anyone know if the story is true?) wouldn't suprise me if it was true.

joliedame, the more you read the history of hawai'i... the more you realize how much harm outsiders have done to the locals... the more you'll understand why people are treating you like they are. it's nothing personal, nothing having to do with you. it comes from 100s of years of "how-lees" disrespecting the land, the sea, the people, the culture.

the more you understand the history here, the more compassion you'll probably have for the locals... the more compassion you'll show them... the more compassion you'll get in return.

lisa ;-)

Lisa From Maui

143 Posts

joliedame:

for the empathy... you are absolutely welcome.

i moved here because my husband was offered a job on maui. the universe pretty much dropped a job in his lap & said, "you're going!" i could have veto-ed it. said, "no, we're not moving!" but... long story short... i couldn't do that to my husband. it would have been completely selfish of me & unfair to him. he is working only 40 hours/week here (i was doing 70 back home) and has half the stress here. again, i did it for him. said goodbye to everything and everyone important to me, moved to an island, isolated, no friends, no family, no chance for work. (i'm an lpn and can't even find a place to volunteer!) more importantly, i firmly believe it's spirit's (my higher power's) will to move us here, and i wan't about to say no to him/her.

so yeah, i completely understand how hard it is! been there, done that, still doing it! we moved here in january. just last month, i was talking to a friend, crying, (bawling!) and i said, "i never asked for this." and then, after getting all the tears out... a week later, something changed, and i now feel less sad, more comfortable, more welcome here.

i re-read slobgob & mcubed. i didn't see anything negative. they see it through the eyes of the college.

slobgob wrote: "kick off your slippers, apply everywhere, hit the beach, and i promise that 1 year will fly by." you might not see it, but that's his (her?) way of helping you... telling you to relax and enjoy what the island has to offer.

i read augiebear. he/she wrote, "get over it." joliedame: if you focus on what you have in your life, you'll probably create happiness for yourself. if you focus on what you lack, you'll probably create frustration inside of you. if you focus on augiebear, you'll probably create anger in your life. if you focus on frow, me, and other posters, you'll probably create peace in your life.

if i was you, i would send a great big thank you to frow. send her a private email and get her phone # !!! do you realize... that her email and the info she shared might save you 1 to 2 years of effort??? do you have any idea how valueable that one post might end up being to you?

jolie wrote: "you have helped me to see that i will not get the type of response i so desire if i do not give it out." i'm sincerely thrilled to see you write that! i wish more people understood that they create their own lives, they create their own reality. they get what they give.

if you:

1. focus on yourself, writing about "tagging alongside your spouse and at every tour you attempt to go to school and then on the next tour its a whole different set of rules...it gets a little bit more frustrating" and

2. you don't talk about how other people are messed up / screwed up / dysfunctional... then

3. you're more likely to get the understanding & support you need.

you might not get it from augiebear, but you might get it from frow, myself, and other people on this forum. today, you might not see that slobgob & mcubed are helpful. six months from now, you might see they helped you a lot by helping you understand the culture, and understand why people are doing what they're doing. and helping you understand it's not about you. anyone in your situation would be going through the same thing.

a suggestion... read these forums!!! not just for the last month. read questions and answers people have posted for the last two years! i've been here 7 months. this forum has been a wonderful resource for me. has helped me learn a lot. has helped me adjust to life here.

joliedame: aloha & e komo mai ! -- lisa ;-)

Slobgob

184 Posts

Dang Lisa... you certainly don't hold back any. =)

Oh, by the way, what the heck is a how-lee? *grin*

Lisa From Maui

143 Posts

slobgob:

*big smile, ear to ear* yes, thanks for noticing. i try to be straight forward, upfront, and compassionate, all at the same time. ? how am i doin' ?

to answer your question: *smile*

haole noun the word, from the hawaiian language, that means outsiders or foreigners. in other words... what locals call people who come to hawai'i from other lands, usa, japan, phillippines, canada, europe, mexico, etc.

how-lee noun the hawaiian word for outsider or foreigner, when lisa doesn't want to take the time to look up the proper spelling at dictonary.com *big smile* -- lisa ;-)

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