Bree Kaneakua
2014 Recipient of the Nanea Scholarship
Bree Kaneakua is a small town girl from Hilo with a big dream of becoming a pediatrician.
“After high school, I shocked my family by deciding to attend Creighton University all the way in Nebraska,” said Bree, a 2013 Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i graduate. “It was a bold decision but the university’s pre-med program is one of the best and I was willing to take the chance.”
The distance from home was one thing, but the cost of such a school was another. With the help of the Nanea Scholarship, she received funding for each of her four years at Creighton, which allowed her to focus on her studies and graduate magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a pre-medical emphasis.
Currently, Bree is awaiting acceptance into either the John A. Burns School of Medicine at UH Mānoa or Creighton’s medical school. Although she is excited yet terrified of the years to come as a medical student, she knows that the Nanea Scholarship got her one step closer to achieving her dream.
“It wasn’t easy but the multi-year scholarship made it easier to pursue my dream of becoming a doctor. Mahalo nui to the donors. They’re helping to build the future leaders of our lāhui and strengthening our Big Island community one scholar at a time.”
