LIHU‘E — Even the offer of lunch was not enough for Asaka Herman, or John Balbin to take the microphone on the Hawaiian Airlines flight, Saturday.
“I tried,” said Tina Albao, the Kaua‘i coordinator for the Boys & Girls Club. “I told them I would buy lunch if they could get Tavia Rapozo to announce herself.”
Rapozo, a senior at Kaua‘i High School, was on her way home after finishing as a finalist in the Boys & Girls Club Youth of the Year competition where she faced six other competitors from the various Boys & Girls Club on O‘ahu.
“I was too tired,” Rapozo said of the day-long competition where she had to present her speech as well as face interviews by a panel of judges. “It took the entire day, and I was just too tired. Perhaps, if it were another time, I might have done it.”
Instead, she faced a group of enthusiastic congratulatory youth, Monday when the B&G Club, Lihu‘e Clubhouse set up special congratulatory decorations and banners.
“She still has to wait until March 1 to find out where she will end up,” Albao said. “They go to a luncheon at the Aulani resort, re-present their speeches and face the judges, again. If she is successful, they will announce who will advance to the state competition that takes place on March 31 against other Boys & Girls Clubs from the neighbor islands and the military.”
Rapozo said she had a good support crew heading to the start of the competition.
“Asaka and John Balbin who taught me dancing were there,” Rapozo said. “I had a cousin show up, and Jessica Herman, last year’s finalist, also came. She was a great help, listening to my speech, cleaning it up, and asked me some of the questions she got from last year’s competition. I thought I would be stressing out. But no, I felt really grateful — thankful for the opportunity, and all those people who supported me.”
She said the interviews felt more like conversation.
“I cried during the first question,” she said. “The question was ‘What does success look like to you?’ It was about impact and making a lasting legacy. I started talking about my grandfather who was a very giving person, and lost it.”
Albao said while waiting on the March 1st luncheon, Rapozo will clean up her speech even more.
“The rest of the time, pretty much it is how it is — we plan on setting up a Valentine’s shop for the club members a little later in the week,” she said. “There is a lot to do.”
