“My existence is a miracle. I was given a second chance at life,” said recent Honolulu Community College graduate Camille McComas. “I’m a recovering addict, and on the Fourth of July, I made four years on my healing journey.”
The 38-year-old single mother credits Honolulu CC and her 4-year-old daughter Brooklyn with helping her to overcome decades of toxic addiction and thrive. She will start at UH Mānoa in fall 2023 to study public health after earning her AA degree in May,
McComas shared some of her journey, from the depths of despair to the hope that education has provided, with the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents in May, and said, “…five years ago if someone were to tell me that I would be standing in front of you all, I would have laughed at the idea. …five years ago, I was lost in a vicious cycle of addiction, toxic relationships and dreadful decision making. I was unrecognizable to my family.”
But that changed with the birth of Brooklyn and her subsequent admission to Honolulu CC. Her accomplishments include serving as president of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, becoming a student advocate for the Collegiate Recovery Leadership Academy, and receiving awards from Soroptimist International and the American Association of University Women. She served as a peer mentor for Poʻi Nā Nalu (Honolulu CC’s Native Hawaiian career and technical education program), which McComas called her “forever home.” In addition, she worked as a student assistant in the counseling office and interned at the UH Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine, where she conducted cardiovascular research.
Healing at Honolulu CC
“I don’t even think words can describe what Honolulu Community College has done for me,” she said. “They’re a part of my healing. They’re part of not just my schooling—they’re family to me.”
Nicole Mitani, an academic counselor at Honolulu CC, is one of many who supported McComas through her college journey. Mitani answered McComas’ initial phone inquiry and eventually helped her to get financial assistance from the Bridge to Hope program and a student job in her office. She teared up as she reminisced.
“I think for other students to hear her story is in itself a big lesson that you can do it—that any student can do it, if you have support and the right people to help you,” Mitani said.
Native Hawaiian Counselor Kahale Saito agrees that McComas has been an exemplary student and applauds her plans to continue to serve as a peer mentor for Poʻi Nā Nalu students.
“I feel like her past experience is really fueling the path that she’s on academically and personally and how she will impact, our community and our lāhui, for our people here in Hawaiʻi,” Saito said. “Camille is just gonna be a heavy hitter in our community, when she gets through with her academics.”
Navigating with her ‘North Star’
While McComas attended classes and worked at the Honolulu CC counseling center, Brooklyn (whom McComas refers to as her “North Star”) flourished steps away at the campus’ Keiki Hauʻoli Children’s Center.
“Brooklyn changed my life,” she said. “She was my second chance. Before her, I was in a very dark place.”
This fall, McComas will begin working on a degree in public health at UH Mānoa. Her long-term goal is to put it to use to help Native Hawaiians with their health.
“I’m going to look to the past so that I can find solutions for the future,” she said. “As a Hawaiian, we are plagued with heart disease and diabetes, and I hope to figure out a way to get our people to want to eat healthier, have [a] healthier lifestyle.”
She’s doing it for her community, for herself and for her daughter.
“I know the importance of education for me to be able to pay my bills. It’s expensive to be here in paradise to be able to provide for my family,” said McComas. “It’s important and I hope to instill that in my daughter that to have a bright future will require you to have a college degree.”
—By Kelli Abe Trifonovitch
