When you think of the term ‘Honors Floor,’ what do you think of? Let me guess: a quiet hall with students studying behind closed doors. Am I right? That’s what I believed many students thought of so, I put this theory to the test, and what I found was, sadly, not too surprising.
As you may know, the top floor of the Hale Aloha Lokelani tower is reserved for mostly honors program students. If you didn’t know that, well, now you do. I’ve noticed that many students from other floors tend to avoid hanging around up here. Now, why could this be? I figured it was probably because of some preconceived ideas they had about the honors floor, and, sure enough, this was the issue.
I made a trip down the elevator to the 5th floor of the tower where I encountered just what I was hoping to find: a couple of students out and about on a Thursday night. I asked one student, Aaron, what she thought living on an honors floor would be like. She responded by saying that it would most likely be very quiet, peaceful, and, well, pretty much dead. I then asked her what she thinks honors students probably do when they’re in the dorms. She said that they’re probably studying and quietly listening to music with their doors shut. Of course, how could she know without actually living on an honors floor right? So, to solve this problem, I consulted a friend of mine, Bianca.
Bianca lives on the honors floor but isn’t a part of the honors program. She was the perfect person to ask what the honors floor is really like. I asked her what she thought living on the honors floor would be like compared to other floors. Like Aaron, Bianca thought that the honors floor was going to be a pretty quiet place. However, after she had lived here for a while, her ideas started to change. When asked what she thought of some of the other floors compared to the honors floor, she responded by saying, “I thought they were quieter than the honors floor and I thought the honors floor was more open. Our doors are almost always open and it’s pretty common to see us hanging around in big groups.” I then asked her what she thought was the biggest myth about the honors floor. “That we’re all stuck up rich kids. Not everyone is like that. I don’t care even if you are stuck up, you still had to work hard to get here. Not everyone is stuck up, not everyone is rich.” You’re right Bianca, working hard is big part of being a member in the honors program. That must mean all we do is study right? Turns out, that’s what a lot of people believe.
Back on the 5th floor, I asked another student, Noah, if he thought living on an honors floor would be boring. His response was, “Yes, because everyone is so serious about school.” Well, Noah, that’s partly true. Yes, us honors students are typically pretty serious about our studies, but that doesn’t mean that it consumes our lives. I asked one honors student, Brycen, how much time he usually spends studying. His answer was about 4 to 8 hours a week. Now, that’s only about 1 to 2 and a half hours each weeknight. Is that really so much? (Plus, most of the times I see him, he’s playing Call of Duty anyways, so who knows if he ever really studies!)
So, now that we’ve proven a couple of myths wrong, what’s so great about the honors floor anyways? Bianca says, “I really like it because everyone is very determined to do their best. It really motivates me to do better in school. I see people studying for hours to get assignments done. As soon as they get homework, they get it done. It pushes me to try harder on all my work.” Okay, maybe we’re a little serious about school but, after all, that’s what college is for right? When asked what he hopes to get out of college, Brycen said, “ A good education that’s worth my money.” But adventure is important too. Another honors student, Kai, said that when he’s not in class, he likes to hang out with friends, listen to music, go hiking on different mountains on the island, hit the beach in Waikiki, and just have a good time. Of course, he says that he always makes sure his schoolwork is finished before he goes out.
School is important to us honors students and that’s to be expected. But, what some people might not expect is that we still know how to have a good time. When coming up to the honors floors, you’ll most likely find us with doors open, music playing, and having a great time together. As honors student, Yasmeen, put it, the best thing about the honors floor is “We all get along. We’re friendly, we all like each other, and we’re awesome!”