05/20/2026
It's that time of the week again...
✨️Midweek Magic ✨️
We are back with our next student star, and this week's spotlight is on Asia Nunez!
Asia was awarded the 2026 Graduate Dean’s Scholarship Award!🎖📄 🏆
Let's get to know our student star from Oahu🌊
🔹️Asia shares how she feels about receiving the award:
"I’m really grateful to be a recipient of this award! It was an honor to receive it and have my hard work be acknowledged."
🔹️What inspired Asia to study communication?
"As an undergraduate at the Shidler College of Business, I was a Presidential Scholar in the Honors program at UH Manoa. As part of my commitment to the Honors program, I wrote an undergraduate thesis on the relationship between gaming and personal development. My mentors for this project were Sky Kauweloa, the UH Esports Director, and Dr. Winter, an esteemed professor in the Communication program. I was interested in doing a Masters but I was unsure on what program to choose. Sky and Dr. Winter both encouraged me to look into the Communication Masters program, and here I am!
I also reflected on my experience as a student director at the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE), where I hosted, emceed, and interviewed gaming industry executives and professionals. Working with Sky and Sandra Fujiyama, the PACE Executive Director, I formed events to connect Esports and Entrepreneurship together and draw in students from across all majors. I saw the importance of being able to speak in front of large groups, make presentations, and communicate with people of different backgrounds.
I believe that it’s important to learn about communication in a world that is becoming increasingly AI-centric. I have tailored my research in the Communication program towards the gaming industry, which is my passion and a fast-growing, multi-billion dollar industry."
🔹️What brings Asia joy? ☀️
"I love to learn new skills and teach myself how to do things. I’ve been learning how to code and develop games, as well as a bit of 3D modeling, recently. As a creative, I’ve been doing art for many years and spend hours drawing. I feel happy when I can bring things that I imagine to life. I also enjoy playing a wide variety of video games, from competitive to casual or strategic ones!"
Mahalo Asia🧡 Congratulations, we are SO proud of you!🎉
Check out our Instagram, X, and LinkedIn pages to learn more about Asia!