August 2011 - Kauai Island Utility Cooperative

30 KIUC CURRENTS
By John Medeiros
Mr. Medeiros
Goes to Washington
As the Youth Leadership Council representative
for Hawai‘i, Medeiros learns and shares some
valuable lessons.
I’m John Medeiros, delegate for the state of
Hawai‘i, from the island of Kaua‘i. I’d like to first
thank Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative, NRECA and
the redshirts of the Youth Leadership Council for
such an amazing opportunity. From someone who
experienced it all firsthand, I can honestly say it is
a blessing. I’d like to extend my gratitude to Aunty
Anne Barnes, Aunty Shana Read and the rest of
our chaperones, who kept us under control.
I’d also like to give a friendly warning: I
generally speak in anecdotes. On Kaua‘i we’d say a
person can “wala’au planny.” And trust me, I
wala’au plaaaanny.
With that said, I recall a particular summer—
seventh grade, so a good four years ago—the
eighth­graders at our school were allowed a quote
under their yearbook picture. Something short,
and most times it’d be a representation of a jersey
number, a shout­out to a best friend in the corner
of a page or a relationship, an inside joke … that
kind of thing. So I was pleasantly surprised—and
amused—when I read this one, and its exact
words are stuck in my memory to this day:
“Children are the future. Scared?” I thought it was
perfect. Short, bittersweet, clever, hit the heart
and the mind with one stone. And, I must say, it
troubled me to think that someone my age,
somewhere, will one day become the president.
Someone my age is going to become a corporate
billionaire in charge of people, assets, money. So,
yes, in answer to that question, I was scared.
But this Youth Tour changed my frame of mind
for good. Everything was different. Everything was
new to me, a brand new experience. The
atmosphere of the place was unique,
overwhelming, worlds apart from the home I
knew … and I loved every second of it. They said
it’d be the trip of a lifetime. They were right. They
said it’d be a journey, an adventure, even. All an
understatement. My understanding of the world
around me was tested. All of the conclusions I had
drawn were out the window. And all this
difference, all this change, tends to grow on you.
So, time for some background. The four
delegates from Hawai‘i met up with 34 from
Kansas, and formed the Hawai‘i­Kansas
Delegation. Those Kansans … they are an
incredible group of people. More aloha than a
majority of the people I know in Hawai‘i, and
that’s seriously saying something. Humble,
respectful, funny … all of them, every single one!
You couldn’t help but have fun in their company,
and when we had to leave them, we were crying
buckets. Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t there for
the socializing. But often what can make or break
a trip are the people you spend it with—and man,
they made it. The monuments, memorials, they
took our breaths away. But the friendships we
made were monumental and memorable in
themselves.
For the youth from Hawai‘i, our tour started
when we arrived in Kansas. Now, I’ve been to the
mainland a few times, but I’ve only ever visited
two locations: Disneyland in California and Disney
World in Florida. Not too bad. That’s both ends of
the country covered. But I’ve never been
landlocked; I’ve never stepped off a plane and
asked myself as I looked around, “where’s the
ocean?” The longest drive I’ve ever been on was
two hours—and that record was set on the Youth
Tour. On Kaua‘i, everyone knows just about
everyone. The system that Kaua‘i’s citizens go by
to communicate with each other has been
dubbed “The Coconut Wireless,” where word of
mouth spreads faster than tornado winds.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch … ha … what
really hit me was how different we Hawaiian­
Kansans could be from one another, and yet how
close we became. When a few of them told me
they had never seen the ocean before, I had to