I was born in 1970 and raised in Kaneohe. I attended Benjamin Parker Elementary School and Japanese school at Parker School right next door. I also attended Parker Methodist Church and took hula lessons from Aunty Noe Zuttermeister Lewis on Wailele Road. I grew up on Haunani Place and pretty much terrorized the neighborhood since I was sort of a tomboy. My neighborhood friends were Brett, Carrie, and Kevin Mau and Lisa and Barry Lau and we would often play hide and seek in the neighborhood's empty lots full of koa brush.

In my high school years at St. Andrew's Priory School for Girls, I was a "bookworm" because my parents showed me the value of an education at an early age. My favorite subjects were history, art, and English. In my spare time, I played volleyball and volunteered at the Castle Memorial Hospital. This experience was rewarding and enriching because I learned what it meant to "give back" to my community. I found it extremely fulfilling to help hospital workers and spend meaningful time with the patients, listening and learning from their life experiences.