From Seeds to Sowers — SEEQS Alumni
Kainoa Chong
Aloha my name is Kainoa. I graduated from SEEQS in 2015, then I went to Mid Pacific Institute. Currently, I work for the woodworking company Martin & MacArthur as a craftsman. I like to play water polo and surf.
What are one or two experiences from your time at SEEQS that inspired a new passion or helped you further develop your interests?
We had a great art program where we could do whatever we wanted. I really enjoyed that creative freedom, it helped me find the medium I enjoyed working with the most. I remember building something almost every other day. At least once a week, building some sort of thing – it was very project heavy. So you build a little model of an aquaponics system or how a solar panel works, that type of stuff. I felt like I really enjoyed that process.
What was your favorite memory from an EQS class at SEEQS?
I remember going on a field trip to a farm on the west side where we learned how they aren’t using monoculture to produce food at scale. They had a wide variety of plants and farming methods I enjoyed learning about.
I also remember a project where we thought about natural ways to store food, and we talked about earth cooling where we'd just dig a hole in the ground and then just have a whole bunch of sand, and then put like a insulating tube in it and then that way you can use geothermic conditions underground. Like past the first three or four inches where it’s warm, but after that it cools down rapidly. And you can if you can tap into that lower heat source, so you can have an energy free refrigerator in your backyard.
What sustainability skill is the most meaningful to your life since SEEQS? To your current activities?
The main skill I got from SEEQS would be the mindset where failure isn’t an end, it’s a wall in the maze to success. It might be a dead-end, but there’s no shame in back-tracking and going forward.
How did SEEQS change or deepen your understanding of sustainability and its importance to our community and world?
Before I went to SEEQS I had considered sustainability, but it was more of a nebulous concept. The school helped me understand that there are things I could do to help with sustainability like volunteering for beach cleanups and farm restoration.
I feel like SEEQS taught me more how to engage in a problem with multiple views because everybody would be like, “Okay, hey, we have a beach cleanup or a pollution problem. It's your choice to approach how to solve it.” And every kid had their own slight variation or crazy idea to clean up the beach or pick up trash from the river or a more efficient way of cooling something down.
Brag about yourself. What is one achievement (or multiple) you've accomplished since SEEQS that you are proud of, big or small?
I am a now working Professional Woodworker for Martin & MacArthur. I have an award-winning piece for “Up And Coming Artist of the Year.”
What do you wish more people knew about what it means to be a steward of planet Earth and a healthy, effective citizen of the world?
I would say the first step is to extend both your awareness and empathy to the environment and realize that we are in a symbiotic relationship, where both of us need to thrive in order to succeed if we wish to continue on as a species.