<Begin Segment 25>

TI: So when you are going through school, did you always think that you would return to Hilo, or were you thinking of other, other options?

HH: No, no. Return to Hilo.

TI: Now why is that? Why did you think you would always return to Hilo?

HH: Return to Hilo and contribute to the family. What choice do you have? [Laughs]

TI: So you were, I mean, there are other people who, they go to college and then they...

HH: They're on their own.

TI: They're on their own, and they do other things.

HH: No, no, we have an obligation.

TI: Because you're, did your parents pay for your college?

HH: Oh, yes.

TI: And so when you return to Hilo, what did you do, after you're a college graduate, what did you do?

HH: Well, I was, I started working for the state as a social worker, and I saw the other side of Hilo.

TI: So describe that. What do you mean by seeing the other side of Hilo?

HH: Well, the side that's poorer than us, and the side that made a lot of bad choices.

TI: So did that surprise you? Is that something that you had not known about?

HH: Oh yes. Yeah, that surprised me. And so I say I see the other side of Hilo. We were poor, but, you know, you're very protected. You don't have that much criminal activities.

TI: And so how long did you work with the state?

HH: I finished thirty years and I retired.

<End Segment 25> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.