By Jesika Henson
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With all the hustle and bustle of the school year on a student’s mind, it can be difficult to just enjoy life and laugh a little. On Jan. 29, the students had the opportunity to see life in a whole new light when comedian Kevin Wanzer came to MHS with inspiration and laughter in tow.
“What I try to do is use comedy to, not attack, but to gain their attention in the beginning and enroll them in the message of how we treat each other,” explained Wanzer. “I love watching all these reactions, I love knowing what’s gonna be coming up, because a lot of people haven’t experienced comedy live, you know, they’ve seen it on TV and stuff, but they’ve never been an audience member to stand-up.”
After having the chance to hear Wanzer speak at the summer Student Leadership Conference, Student Activities Coordinator Janet Ward-Riehle was eager to have him speak here at MHS. “It really came from the students, because they, from that conference, got excited and wished that, ‘I wish my friends could see this, I wish my classmates could see this,’” said Ward-Riehle. “You know, someone comes to mind like, ‘They really need to hear that message.’” ASMHS President Senior Austin Ajimura added, “We were so inspired and realizing that he could come over, we jumped right on the opportunity and thought that what we were able to experience we gained so much and we wanted all the students at Mililani to be able to experience that.”
Since administrators’ priority has always been to cater to student interests, when the ASMHS council requested that Wanzer come speak, they listened. “It’s something that’s always student-driven, if the kids, the officers, the feedback from senate or advisory, if we don’t hear things or if they’re not passionate about it, then it doesn’t happen,” explained Ward-Riehle.
Wanzer was brought in with the goal of inspiring students in mind. “I think sometimes we either are taking life too seriously, we get wrapped up in the stress and pressures, we don’t always stop to appreciate others or sometimes we get very narrow-minded and forget that kindness is not that hard to do,” explained Ward-Riehle. Ajimura added, “I took away that although sometimes in life, you know, things come and go and it’s good or bad, there’s always something to be happy about and there’s always something positive, there’s always something to find the funny in.”
Students weren’t the only ones who were affected by Wanzer’s inspirational speech. He, himself, managed to get something out of it as well. “(Speaking at schools) gives me tremendous hope, because every single school is exactly the same. There are schools on this island that are so different (from) each other, the audience reaction’s identical. We really truly are connected as one,” said Wanzer. “I love that. I love the fact that it doesn’t matter (what your) socioeconomic (status is) or where you live, we all relate to the same stuff and there is no difference.”
Ward hopes to have Wanzer speak again in coming years, as well as seek out other guest speakers to inspire the MHS student body.
