Kauaʻi Community College sparks bright future for first-generation college graduate

When the right components are in place, all the circuitry is connected and a power source is available, it’s one spark when you hit the switch that brings even the most basic electronic device or system to life.

It’s brief — but powerful. Enough to cause conductivity, which allows electrical current to flow.

For Anson Lazaro, it was Kauaʻi Community College that wired together the education, tools and training necessary for a current of opportunity to flow, sparking a bright future in electrical installation and maitenance for the lifelong Garden Isle resident.

Lazaro is one of more than 160 students who walked across the stage to accept an associate degree or academic certificate during Kauaʻi Community College’s 2025 spring commencement — the college’s 60th annual — earlier this month.

He graduated with a certificate of achievement in electrical installation and maintenance technology.

His next step is to join the apprenticeship program offered by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents about 860,000 active members and retirees in a wide variety of field such as utilities, construction, telecommunications, broadcasting, manufacturing, railroads and government.

The union, founded in 1891 and one of the largest in the nation, would then cover the cost of Lazaro’s continued training and certifications — paving the way to his dream of becoming a licensed lineman.

“The certificate [in electrical installation and maintenance technology] gives students a door open into the apprenticeship that is not available to the normal person,” Kauaʻi Community College’s new electrical installation and maintenance technology instructor Veronica Rose told University of Hawaiʻi News. “It allows them to skip the first year of apprenticeship classes and bypass testing preliminary qualifications.”

Lazaro graduated in 2022 from Waimea High School and then left Hawaiʻi to play college baseball. He returned home, however, after finding the cost away from home on his own to be unsustainable.

That’s when his circuits crossed with Kauaʻi Community College and its Waiʻaleʻale Project.

A unique scholarship program funded by generous donors and community foundations, the project gives eligible Kaua‘i and Niʻihau residents the chance to give Kauaʻi Community College the old college try — take a few classes or even complete an entire academic program to receive a certificate or associate degree.

“The Waiʻaleʻale Project helped me be able to afford classes at Kauaʻi [Community College],” Lazaro told University of Hawaiʻi News. “The beginning goal was just to learn the foundation of what to expect in the electrical field.”

That spark quickly provided the conductivity to allow for his education to flow into a clear path forward, in part because of Rose, a 47-year veteran of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers unit in Phoenix, Ariz.

She brought valuable union connections and opportunities to share with her Kauaʻi Community College students.

The 2025 spring semester also marked the first time the director of the union’s apprenticeship program flew from Oʻahu, along with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers local business representative, to meet with Kauaʻi Community College students — creating a direct pipeline from the Garden Isle community college to apprenticeship programs.

Lazaro’s journey has been anything but easy though. Attending Kauaʻi Community College required commitment.

The drive from Waimea to the Līhuʻe campus is about 1 hour each way. Lazaro also works two jobs — averaging a combined 32 hours a week — as a crewmember for Kekaha-based Blue Ocean Adventure Tours and as a ramp agent for Alaska Airlines.

But his battery never ran out and he was able to carry the load and to make it to college graduation — an example he hopes can become a beacon for which others in his family strive.

“Graduating means a lot,” Lazaro said. “I’m the first in my family to finish college, and I hope my younger sister sees that and follows her own path to college.”

Waiʻaleʻale Program Coordinator Lahea Salazar told University of Hawaiʻi News that Lazaro has the right combination of drive, intelligence and interpersonal skills to excel and make a difference in the world.

“Truly, as a first-generation Native Hawaiian male, he has worked hard to stay committed to his college education with the determination to change his life,” Salazar said. “it is with no doubt that he is a bright light for others in his family and all those he meets!”