Public & Human Services: College Counselor
Public & Human Services
College Counselor: Sheldon Tawata
by Mike Yoshiura
Sheldon Tawata wasn't supposed to graduate from high school, but he did…just barely. He wasn't supposed to go to college; but again, he did. And against all odds, Tawata obtained his master's degree; and as destiny may have it, today he's helping teenagers transition to college.
"In high school I was one of those kids on the periphery. Everyone thought I had a learning deficiency. I was grouped with the kids with behavioral problems, and I had classes with the guys that picked fights," said Tawata, who graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1991 with a 2.1 GPA. "If it wasn't for my sister, I wouldn't have gone to college.
The Right Turn
Sheldon's sister, Dawn, graduated from the Hawaiian Mission Academy in 1989, and being the older and wiser of the two, she forced her brother to Community College's (KCC) freshman orientation. Even though the siblings attend Kapi'olani had their typical rivalries, Sheldon looked up to Dawn, and he took her advice to heart. "I'm a passive person. She was going to college, and she was a role model for me. If my sister told me that I had to go to college, then that's what I was going to do."
In the fall of 1991, Sheldon attended his first semester at KCC. He enrolled in English 22, Math 24, Psychology 100, and Philosophy 100. Tawata was forced to take remedial classes in math and English, which was a result of his poor performance in high school. He eventually failed that Math 24 class, but there were signs of improvement. "I was lucky they didn't put me on academic probation for failing that class. It was a fresh start for me, and for some reason I did better than I did in high school."
A Family First
Sheldon and Dawn were the first in their immediate family to obtain a bachelor's degree, and oddly enough, both siblings found their calling in the human services field. Sheldon's dad completed two years of high school before opting out for the military. His mother got her associate's degree well into her forties, but only as a requirement to keep her position as daycare director at Manoa Valley Church. Growing up, higher education wasn't at the top of the to-do-list in the Tawata family. "I just didn't have that support you would need to be successful in high school. My parents were very good parents, they just didn't know how to push me or support me in that department. It's hard to push someone in something that you're not too familiar with."
Mentors Make A Difference
"I must have did something right in my past life because I met Rosie Harrington. She took me in as a kid who used to have this shaved head, facial hair, and who basically looked like a bum." Harrington, a former counselor with KCC's personal development unit, is the reason Tawata is where he is today. Sheldon left KCC in the fall of 1994, and Harrington offered him a part-time job as a peer counselor while he attended class at the University of Hawai'i.
The Apex
In 1995 Sheldon graduated from UH Manoa with a 3.41 GPA, miles away from that lackluster 2.1 high school GPA. In the fall of 1997 Sheldon was accepted to the counseling program at San Francisco State University. This marked a momentous occasion because no one in the Tawata family had ever gone away to college or grad school. Three years later, he left San Francisco with a master's degree and a yearning to give back to Hawai'i's teenagers.
"I can't explain to you what it means to help people. I'm so lucky," he says, with a gleam in his eyes. "There's no pretending! When I tell my students if you need anything call me. 'Anything' has no strings attached. There's no facade!"
Today, Tawata is a TRIO-Student Support Services Counselor at KCC. TRIO programs are federally funded, offering motivation and support to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Nationwide TRIO (initially there were only three, thus, "TRIO") programs offer support for low-income families, first generation college students, and students with learning disabilities.
"My mom worked with kids and my sister is a social worker with Child Protective Services. For each of us, no one told us we had to go into human services; we sort of just fell into it."
It turns out that Sheldon "fell" harder than most, because not everyone can say they are truly in love what they do for a living.