Finding happiness

Jessica Birch shares how she finds happiness from growing up in Maui to attending BYU–Hawaii

BY HAILEY HUHANE

From the joys of growing up in the islands to attending BYU–Hawaii and working at the Polynesian Cultural Center, Jessica “Jess” Birch, a sophomore from Maui fulfilling her science credits to transfer to a nursing school, shared the ways she has found happiness throughout her life. To her friends, Birch is an example of “leaving people better than you found them,” a motto she continuously tries to live by.

A friend and co-worker, Pohai Miyamoto, a sophomore from Lahaina on Maui majoring in elementary education, said, “It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, Jess will always greet you with open arms and the warmest smile.”

As Birch reflected on her childhood, she said, “Growing up here is the best. I want to raise all of my kids here because growing up here was just so fun.”

Birch recalled running through the sugarcane field behind her childhood home, picking fruit from trees and going to the beach often.

She said, “It’s a different kind of lifestyle. We’re just running outside barefoot all day, and it’s actually what I want my kids to experience. I remember sitting outside and husking coconuts for hours after school.”

Birch said she would sell the coconuts to the golfers at a nearby golf course and joked this was proof she was born to work in the Samoan Village.

She also cherishes the community in which she was raised. She said, “Another thing that I love about being here in Hawaii is that you just know everybody. Everywhere you go you see people you know. It is such a tight community where I’m from.”

She said while serving in the Utah Salt Lake City West Mission, she struggled without this sense of community. “I realized on my mission that not everybody has that.”

Birch said, “I feel like I was the happiest growing up because I always had so many people I felt love from.”

Whether it was at school, church or in her neighborhood, she said she felt a constant sense of unity. She said, “Everyone feels like family, so it’s hard not to feel good all of the time.”

Being raised in Hawaii, Birch learned quickly what it means to live with aloha. She explained, “Living in the islands, everybody takes care of each other. If you see somebody on the side of the road trying to push their car, you jump out of your car and help them.

“It’s holding the door open for someone. It’s the spirit of looking out for each other and wanting the best for each other.”

To her, the word aloha means being aware of other people, serving them, and loving them.

Once Birch became a student at BYUH she said she found joy attending school with fellow Latter-day Saints from all over the world.

“My testimony has been strengthened so much knowing that people are coming here from Mongolia and New Zealand and Mexico, and the gospel is the same in all of those places.”

Birch said she enjoys attending BYUH because she is able to feel the spirit frequently. She said, “I sit in sacrament meeting with people from like 40 different places all singing the same hymns and worshiping the same God. The gospel brings us all together and makes the world feel so small. “For me, that makes my testimony so strong, knowing that the gospel is true everywhere. You can feel it so strongly here, even when you’re not at church.”

While attending BYUH, Birch has worked at the Polynesian Cultural Center. She works as a tour guide where she finds happiness interacting with guests. She said, “When you work at the PCC, you’re obviously interacting

with guests a lot. As a tour guide, I get to be with them all day and help teach them about all of these wonderful cultures. I feel like most of my joy comes from being with my co-workers and all of these families who come from different places.”

Every day at work, Birch said she seeks to share the same spirit she has been able to feel throughout her life. “Being from [Hawaii], I want them to feel aloha, and I want them to feel the spirit.

“I want them to feel love when they come to the center. Even if they don’t remember all of the facts about the PCC or the different islands … I at least want them to remember how they feel there,” she said.

Micah Pascual, a sophomore from the Philippines majoring in human resources and supply chain management and a friend of Birch’s, said, “One word I would say best describes Jess is ‘Christlike.’

“She is the kind of person who exemplifies the true meaning of that word. Jess is always there willing to help other people and she never asks for anything back.”

Birch advised the best way to find joy is by serving others.

“I feel like that’s something anyone can do. If you’re having a hard day, just turn outward. Serve others, and you will feel happy.”

Pascual said the thing he admires about Birch is her thoughtfulness.

He said, “I love how she thinks of other people. I love how she gives service to others, and you’ll never hear her complaining at all.

“For her, she is doing it because she loves it. She’s happy seeing that she can do something good for other people and make them feel the love they need.” •

Living in Hawaii: “It’s a different kind of lifestyle. We’re just running outside barefoot all day, and it's actually what I want my kids to

experience.”

-Jessica Birch