Vaeanui Peck just turned 18 years old and already has made an impact in her community. She has top universities asking for her to go to their school and at least $40,000 in scholarships. Vae is currently a high school senior at Kahuku High and Intermediate School and she will graduate next month as Valedictorian and at the top of her class. She excels at everything she strives for whether it is growing hydroponic lettuce at her internship at Kualoa Ranch or sewing her own swimsuits to surf in.
Vae grew up in the tiny town of Kaaawa on the east shore of Oahu. She does not like to spend money and instead spends her free time outdoors in the ocean or hiking the mountains behind her home. Excelling in school is not something that comes easy, but Vae was determined and dedicated. She said, "I really want to move off the island and go to a great university to study something in the STEM (Science Engineering Math Technology) field. I have been interested in science from a young age. I know it is not as common for girls to be engineers but that is one of the reasons why I am excited to pursue it even more." Vae attended PAC-STEP (Pacific Summer Transportation Education Program) in 2021 which is a STEM program for high school students to further their interest in the field. It is organized by the Hawaii Department of Transportation and takes place on the University of Hawaii Manoa College of Engineering campus. Vae said, " I absolutely loved this program and it made me so excited to go to college because we spent a week staying there at UHM. It was really cool to meet so many local girls like me that want to have a career involving science."
Recently, she had been accepted into Yale for the Class of 2027 and is wanting to become a bulldog. However, she has many schools that have accepted her into the upcoming freshmen class such as Santa Clara University, Carleton College, Swarthmore College, University of Southern California, Harvey Mudd College, University of San Diego, and Colorado College. A few of the colleges have offered full-ride scholarships to Vae including Santa Clara University, Carleton College, and Swarthmore College.
Watch the video to learn Vaeanui's tips and tricks for getting college scholarships.
Vae works as an intern for Kualoa Grown, a part of the famous Kualoa Ranch that grows agriculture, aquaculture, and stewardship. She works with 45 other staff members to grow local food, raise over 60 different types of plants, and oversee the five areas of protein production at the farm. Vae said, "I love that my job produces food that gives right back to the community. I want to help my home state and come back to the island when I become a mechanical engineer. I want to use my degree by applying it to sustainable systems like renewable energy."
Some of the food and plants growing at the ranch are shrimp, beef, ulu, papaya, cacao, and pork. Vae has worked on growing vegetables and fruit such as hydroponic lettuce, radishes, strawberries, and tomatoes. She recently completed a propagation trial of sea asparagus which yielded an 85% survival rate. Vae is also working on the completion of her A-frame saltwater hydroponic system. This will be Kualoa's first vertical saltwater hydroponic system for growing lettuce.
Vae taught herself how to sew and design swimsuits, as well as how to crochet during the pandemic. She said, "Having high school online and being stuck at home made me bored really fast. I wanted to do something creative and fun for myself." Vae has not turned either of her hobbies into a side business yet, but she is interested in pursuing that in the future. "Right now I am focused on going to college and getting money to move off the island. I make suits and crochet items for my friends and myself, but I have gotten comments and requests to sell my stuff, so maybe I will." Another side hustle that Vae pursued in the last few years was modeling swimsuits for her friend's business Holopali Surf. Vae has no intention to leave engineering and enter into the modeling industry. She said, " I just wanted to support my friend's small business and have fun".
Watch as Vae crochets a pair of leg warmers and shows the stuffed animals she made!
She is currently leaning towards committing to Yale and moving to New Haven Connecticut. She had visited the U.S Mainland for the first time last fall and was flown out by some of the schools she had applied to tour the campus. Vae had never experienced seasons before her trips. "I was so cold when I went to the east coast in the fall. I was not expecting it to be so beautiful though. Everything looked like the show "Gilmore Girls" during the fall since it takes place in Connecticut. I know that the main character Rory goes to Yale and she was also Valedictorian of her high school. My friends joke that I am going to be Rory Gilmore if I do go to Yale." She finds out which scholarships she will receive within the next few weeks and hears back from the rest of the schools she applied to soon. Whatever path that Vaeanui follows, it will be a great one.
Credits:
Created with an image by progressman - "Rough stormy blue ocean waves"