Homeland: Chuuk, FSM High School: Dobson High School, Mesa, AZ College: Arizona State University / Barrett Honors College Major: Medical Studies Minor: Family & Human Development Status: 3rd Year Pursuing: Bachelor’s Degree
Biography
Pualani is a Chuukese undergraduate student at Arizona State University and is part of the prestigious Barrett Honors College majoring in medical studies with a minor in family and human development. She graduated from Dobson High School in 2021 in the top 1% with honors in her graduating class of 494, a New American Scholar and Obama Presidential Scholar. She plans to obtain three degrees from the College of Health Solutions, The College of Liberal Sciences & Arts, and the Barrett Honors College before pursuing medical school.
Pualani’s has long-term goals and passion one of which is to return to Chuuk after completing medical degree to alleviate some of the needs in Chuuk: lack of medical resources, limited knowledge about healthcare prevention, local doctors. Her short-term goal is to be pursue her passion about helping others especially the Pacific Islanders. Currently at ASU, she work with three organizations on and off-campus including the Arizona Liaison for Pacific Islanders, the Arizona Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander organization and Asian Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander club. She volunteers with the first AZ Liaison and AZNHPI with raising awareness for our Pacific Islander community within Arizona in social justice, health access resources, and climate change awareness. Her role is to help create information about and outreach to Micronesians.
With the on campus club, Pualani serves as the communication director to promote and the club to incoming or current students of Asian or Pacific Islander descent. She creates blogs, information guides, and posts on raising awareness and creating a space for the AAPI community at Arizona State University.
Inspiration
The thing that most motivates me about Dr. Joakim is that despite his health issues, he continues to fight for and represent Micronesians in a place where racism against them is pervasive. Normally, it’s encouraged to stay home and relax in these kinds of situations when there are health dangers, but despite having spine surgery, he continued to be active in the community.
His efforts to improve the welfare and health of Micronesians motivate me to spread awareness of health issues among my community’s Micronesians. The fact that he’s a Micronesian and originally from the tiny island of Ettal proves that I can succeed too. Everything is feasible despite the size of where I came from, and Joakim opened my eyes to the things I can do for our community in the health field.
Legacy Project
A topic and a need that always struck me in our community is the safety of practicing an individual’s health. One of the most prominent factors within our Micronesian community is access to healthcare and maintaining good health practices. I’ve seen this in Hawaii and in Arizona, on how our community lacks aid and certain resources. I’ve had family members tell me that they don’t know how to get insurance or understand the different types of insurances. It’s something that needs to be addressed, because when people don’t know how the healthcare system works, it affects their health and health practices.
As I currently work on my research for my senior thesis, I hope to continue my project and aid my data towards our community. Use what I know and make health information accessible to our Micronesians. Teaching health education and information can really help our people teach themselves and their families on better ways of living. Even with serving health education to the people, we can also input health resources within the hospitals to rebrand ways to bring in the best and most ethical practices of healthcare towards my home island of Chuuk and the rest of the islands as well. By educating our people first about how to be healthier and what resources are available for them, it can increase knowledge towards those who need it the most.
By seeing health components in the individual’s perspective, they can use that to good use. We can start small on the micro scale and serve health information to small sectors of individuals who may need it the most, and slowly branch off there to give or make resources that our people understand and can use when in need. As we grow in educating our people about health, we can then slowly grow on the macro level to serve everyone, and make health resources available and known. Dr. Joakim’s legacy in the health area was to make sure that health equity was provided within the Micronesian community. No matter what your background was, which island you were from, your economic status, and who you were as a person; the access to getting the best healthcare was something that he strived for. I want to continue his legacy by making sure that our Micronesians have access to healthcare, give the best format of health information in ways that can be accessible to them, and slowly branch health information into hospitals and classrooms back home. By knowing the love that he had for making sure his people had the best health, I will work hard by continuing his legacy and continue forth in making sure that our people have access to health resources that can benefit their ways of living within the states and back home as well.
Pualani Harper
Meet the Scholars
Sponsor a Scholar
Homeland: Chuuk, FSM
High School: Dobson High School, Mesa, AZ
College: Arizona State University / Barrett Honors College
Major: Medical Studies
Minor: Family & Human Development
Status: 3rd Year
Pursuing: Bachelor’s Degree
Biography
Pualani is a Chuukese undergraduate student at Arizona State University and is part of the prestigious Barrett Honors College majoring in medical studies with a minor in family and human development. She graduated from Dobson High School in 2021 in the top 1% with honors in her graduating class of 494, a New American Scholar and Obama Presidential Scholar. She plans to obtain three degrees from the College of Health Solutions, The College of Liberal Sciences & Arts, and the Barrett Honors College before pursuing medical school.
Pualani’s has long-term goals and passion one of which is to return to Chuuk after completing medical degree to alleviate some of the needs in Chuuk: lack of medical resources, limited knowledge about healthcare prevention, local doctors. Her short-term goal is to be pursue her passion about helping others especially the Pacific Islanders. Currently at ASU, she work with three organizations on and off-campus including the Arizona Liaison for Pacific Islanders, the Arizona Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander organization and Asian Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander club. She volunteers with the first AZ Liaison and AZNHPI with raising awareness for our Pacific Islander community within Arizona in social justice, health access resources, and climate change awareness. Her role is to help create information about and outreach to Micronesians.
With the on campus club, Pualani serves as the communication director to promote and the club to incoming or current students of Asian or Pacific Islander descent. She creates blogs, information guides, and posts on raising awareness and creating a space for the AAPI community at Arizona State University.
Inspiration
The thing that most motivates me about Dr. Joakim is that despite his health issues, he continues to fight for and represent Micronesians in a place where racism against them is pervasive. Normally, it’s encouraged to stay home and relax in these kinds of situations when there are health dangers, but despite having spine surgery, he continued to be active in the community.
His efforts to improve the welfare and health of Micronesians motivate me to spread awareness of health issues among my community’s Micronesians. The fact that he’s a Micronesian and originally from the tiny island of Ettal proves that I can succeed too. Everything is feasible despite the size of where I came from, and Joakim opened my eyes to the things I can do for our community in the health field.
Legacy Project
A topic and a need that always struck me in our community is the safety of practicing an individual’s health. One of the most prominent factors within our Micronesian community is access to healthcare and maintaining good health practices. I’ve seen this in Hawaii and in Arizona, on how our community lacks aid and certain resources. I’ve had family members tell me that they don’t know how to get insurance or understand the different types of insurances. It’s something that needs to be addressed, because when people don’t know how the healthcare system works, it affects their health and health practices.
As I currently work on my research for my senior thesis, I hope to continue my project and aid my data towards our community. Use what I know and make health information accessible to our Micronesians. Teaching health education and information can really help our people teach themselves and their families on better ways of living. Even with serving health education to the people, we can also input health resources within the hospitals to rebrand ways to bring in the best and most ethical practices of healthcare towards my home island of Chuuk and the rest of the islands as well. By educating our people first about how to be healthier and what resources are available for them, it can increase knowledge towards those who need it the most.
By seeing health components in the individual’s perspective, they can use that to good use. We can start small on the micro scale and serve health information to small sectors of individuals who may need it the most, and slowly branch off there to give or make resources that our people understand and can use when in need. As we grow in educating our people about health, we can then slowly grow on the macro level to serve everyone, and make health resources available and known. Dr. Joakim’s legacy in the health area was to make sure that health equity was provided within the Micronesian community. No matter what your background was, which island you were from, your economic status, and who you were as a person; the access to getting the best healthcare was something that he strived for. I want to continue his legacy by making sure that our Micronesians have access to healthcare, give the best format of health information in ways that can be accessible to them, and slowly branch health information into hospitals and classrooms back home. By knowing the love that he had for making sure his people had the best health, I will work hard by continuing his legacy and continue forth in making sure that our people have access to health resources that can benefit their ways of living within the states and back home as well.