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Holomua Elementary Vice Principal Receives Kawaguchi Award
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garden at home has been very helpful in bringing him back to the present moment and finding joy at home.
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Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo, a Buddhist nun and professor at University of San Diego, offered several Buddhist truths that may bring comfort during these times of uncertainty.
The first, said Tsomo, is that life is inherently uncertain. “Life is never satisfactory,” says Tsomo. “Why are we surprised? Whoever said that life was supposed to be a bowl of cherries? It cannot be. But we live in an illusion; we live in a dream world.” The more we can embrace the uncertainty of life, the sooner we will be able to find peace, says Tsomo.
The second truth is that of impermanence. Nothing in life is permanent, yet we continuously grasp for happiness outside of ourselves. We rely on things that are continuously changing, continuously evolving to keep us happy.
Acknowledging impermanence is a very important step to finding happiness, believes Tsomo.
“It asks us to acknowledge our own frailty,” she explains. “As human beings, we are actually very fragile. At any moment, it can be ‘poof’ and we’re off to the next life. This body is actually very fragile.”
When we can come to that harsh realization and be honest with ourselves about our own vulnerabilities, it frees us up to rest content in the present moment and set aside all of our fears.
Despite the hardships, there are many silver linings to come out of this pandemic, offers Tsomo.
“It’s a disaster, and it’s especially a disaster for the poor,” says Tsomo. “But it also has the benefit of making us reframe our lives, stepping back and taking a closer look at our priorities. All of the things we’ve been wrapped up in, maybe they’re not as important as we thought. This pandemic can be a teacher.”
Tsomo believes a good first step in shifting priorities is to focus on love.
“Everyone loves to talk about love—now all we have to do is practice it,” says Tsomo. “We may sometimes get so wrapped up in our own pursuits that we forget about the other 7.5 billion human beings out there, not to mention the billions of fish and insects and animals. We can send loving kindness to all of them. This helps us feel love in our hearts, and this love overcomes so much of our anxiety and depression.”
EACH YEAR, THE KATHY KAWAGUCHI AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP IS PRESENTED TO AN EXEMPLARY
LEADER IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION IN HAWAI'I. THIS YEAR’S
AWARD WENT TO JOYCE YANG, VICE PRINCIPAL AT HOLOMUA ELEMENTARY IN 'EWA BEACH.
“Ms. Yang is a dedicated leader in Hawai'i’s educational community,” says Dr. Dale Fryxell, dean of the School of Education and Behavioral Sciences at Chaminade University. “She leads with intelligence and integrity, and she helps instill these attributes in others. We are honored to be able to present her with this cherished award this year.”
The Kathy Kawaguchi Award was created in 2016 in honor of the late Katherine Takeko Kawaguchi. Before passing, Kawaguchi had an extensive career in education and served as director of Leadership and Education Projects at Chaminade University for nearly a decade. She launched and led two major programs at Chaminade: the Castle K-16 Engineering Pipeline Project and the Office of Naval Research Project and Educational Leadership Program.
At her celebration of life at Chaminade University in 2016, Bro. Bernard Ploeger, S.M., then-university president, and Dr. Dale Fryxell honored Kawaguchi with a special plaque that inaugurated the annual award.
The award is presented each year to an individual who has demonstrated the highest level of professionalism in education and has served as an exemplary leader and stellar role model. Ms. Yang joins Elton Nobuo Kinoshita (2016), Derek K. Santos (2017), Thomas J. Cox and Ken Kakesako (2018) and Diann “Dolly” Wong (2019) in receiving this award.
Pictures, from left to right: Hans Chun (Director of Graduate Education Leadership Programs, Chaminade University); Dale Fryxell (Dean of the School of Education and Behavioral Sciences, Chaminade University); and Joyce Yang (Vice Principal, Holomua Elementary School)
