A Milestone Moment for Graduating Seniors

Congratulations to Assets School Class of 2026! High school seniors crossed the graduation stage on May 16, marking the close of one chapter and the beginning of another.

Head of School Ryan Masa reflected on the uncertainty of the world our graduates are entering with an enduring image: the honu, or Hawaiian green sea turtle. When honu hatch, they instinctively move toward the light, then navigate vast oceans by sensing the earth’s magnetic field. "They have been doing this for 120 million years," he said, "not by knowing what was coming, but by staying oriented to something deep and true inside themselves." In a world that is “loud, fast, and genuinely uncertain,” Mr. Masa urged graduates to “know what orients you when everything else feels like noise.” At Assets, that foundation comes down to three simple but powerful principles: being curious, being kind, and being useful.

High School Principal Nikki Hamai Sakai reflected on the journey that brought students to graduation, comparing them to lotus blossoms. “Lotuses take firm root in the depths of muddy pools and ponds, their stems reaching upward to break through the top of the water," she shared. "Though the water around them may be murky, the blooms emerge and find form.” She reminded graduates that their path was not always easy or pristine, but one of persistence - driving toward a light they could not always see, yet continuing to rise all the same. She closed by offering three lessons of the lotus: to embrace the mud, where challenges and uncertainty become the nutrients for growth and the strength of today; to rise above the surface, refusing to let the environment define or stain who you are becoming; and to bloom on your own timeline, with each petal opening in its own time to reveal a unique beauty at exactly the right moment.

Among our graduates, 100% who applied to college were accepted, and they brought in a staggering $912,181 in scholarship offers. Twenty-one graduating seniors will remain in Hawaii, 12 will pursue their next steps on the mainland, and one is venturing internationally. Students were accepted to the following two- and four-year institutions:

Congratulations, Class of 2026!