Lucena “Lucy” Gaceta has become the first University of Hawaiʻi student from the Lānaʻi Education Center (LEC) to earn a bachelor’s degree from UH Maui College. She completed her degree in applied business & information technology this spring, marking a major milestone for both the small center and her personal academic journey.
“I’m the first in my family to ever get a bachelor’s, and the [LEC] admin staff have always been very, very supportive, especially when I had to apply for classes overseas,” Gaceta said. “They’ve had a huge impact on my success.”
LEC Director Pamela Alconcel said, “Lucy was tenacious and made a commitment to finish her bachelor’s degree. She would come to the center on her days off of work and study diligently—and she did it!”
In the beginning
After graduating from Lānaʻi High School in 2013, Gaceta began her studies at the UH center just across the street.
“It was the easiest option,” she said. “And it’s also very forgiving—I took really long breaks, and then I came back to it, and it was very easy to re-enter.”
She earned associate’s degrees in liberal arts and business management from UH Maui College in 2019. Her academic path was far from traditional. Gaceta paused her studies multiple times, lived abroad in Israel and New Zealand, and even got stuck overseas during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was visiting [New Zealand] over Christmas break, and then in March [2020], they closed the borders,” she recalled. “I did on-and-off online, but I didn’t make real good headway.”
However, she persevered. “I think having this degree has made me realize that I am not always consistent, but I am very tenacious.”
Already in management
Gaceta did not participate in UH Maui College’s commencement on May 15, because she was working at her job as the site manager for NAPA on Lānaʻi.
“It’s helpful that I do have this degree,” she said. “It makes things a lot faster than if I didn’t have this degree and I didn’t know Excel.”
Looking ahead, she’s considering further studies in data analysis and exploring how AI will impact the business world. For Gaceta, the Lānaʻi Education Center made it all possible.
“The aunties there are very, very helpful, and they have no judgment,” she said. “They’ve had a huge impact on my success.”
—By Kelli Abe Trifonovitch
