George F. Whitworth Honors Program

Study Abroad

Recent:

Wahiawā Botanical Gardens: The Art and Tradition of Lei Making

At the Wahiawā Botanical Gardens, the practice of lei making is taught to visitors, both to carry on the tradition and teach the significance of the weave to visitors, but also to aid in the onerous task of weaving approximately 53,000 lei for Memorial Day. The Wahiawā Botanical Gardens contributes 7,000 natural lei every year to the project. In the hour and a half the Whitworth students were there, we made one hundred woven Ti lei. Hundreds of organizations run similar lei making sessions for the five months leading up to Memorial Day, freezing the lei braids to keep them until May.

Read More »
January 29, 2026

Haoles in Hawaii: Trip to the Polynesian Culture Center

On the 5th day of the First Year Honors group’s stay in Hawaii, we visited the Polynesian Cultural Center. After a long, sun drenched day full of information, performances, and beautiful scenery, most of us came away with a deeper understanding of Polynesian culture and the complex traditions preserved in places like the PCC (Polynesian Cultural Center).

Read More »
January 25, 2026

Beach Cleanup on Mokulē‘ia Army Beach: A Jan Term in Hawai’i

To end our first week on the island of O’ahu, Hawai’i, the 2026 Jan term Honors class went down to Mokulē‘ia Army Beach, a 2-minute drive from our camp, to clean up trash from the beach for an hour. We split up into groups of 3 to 6, turning our project into a little competition of which group could collect the most trash.

Read More »
January 25, 2026

Restoring Language

The prospect of entire languages going extinct, however, introduces questions: What is lost when a language dies? How do we revive a dying language?

Read More »
January 25, 2026

Past Stories:

Wahiawā Botanical Gardens: The Art and Tradition of Lei Making

At the Wahiawā Botanical Gardens, the practice of lei making is taught to visitors, both to carry on the tradition and teach the significance of the weave to visitors, but also to aid in the onerous task of weaving approximately 53,000 lei for Memorial Day. The Wahiawā Botanical Gardens contributes 7,000 natural lei every year to the project. In the hour and a half the Whitworth students were there, we made one hundred woven Ti lei. Hundreds of organizations run similar lei making sessions for the five months leading up to Memorial Day, freezing the lei braids to keep them until May.

Read More »
January 29, 2026

Haoles in Hawaii: Trip to the Polynesian Culture Center

On the 5th day of the First Year Honors group’s stay in Hawaii, we visited the Polynesian Cultural Center. After a long, sun drenched day full of information, performances, and beautiful scenery, most of us came away with a deeper understanding of Polynesian culture and the complex traditions preserved in places like the PCC (Polynesian Cultural Center).

Read More »
January 25, 2026

Beach Cleanup on Mokulē‘ia Army Beach: A Jan Term in Hawai’i

To end our first week on the island of O’ahu, Hawai’i, the 2026 Jan term Honors class went down to Mokulē‘ia Army Beach, a 2-minute drive from our camp, to clean up trash from the beach for an hour. We split up into groups of 3 to 6, turning our project into a little competition of which group could collect the most trash.

Read More »
January 25, 2026

Restoring Language

The prospect of entire languages going extinct, however, introduces questions: What is lost when a language dies? How do we revive a dying language?

Read More »
January 25, 2026

Green World Coffee Farm

Every day, an average of 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed across the world, and while Hawaiian grown coffee beans account for less than 1 percent of annual United States coffee consumption, the state still takes great pride in their coffee production.

Read More »
January 25, 2026

Love and Healing

Along with a group of thirteen Whitworth students, I traveled to Guatemala, unaware of the profound impact this experience would have on us.

Read More »
February 6, 2025

Jan Term in Oxford

The class ‘Oxford & Christian Imagination’ sent Whitworth students abroad this Jan Term to Oxford, England. Olivia Blank spoke to me about her experience

Read More »
January 25, 2025

New Zealand Perspectives

New Zealand Perspectives Honors Junior Megan Hirasaki has been in New Zealand since July on a study abroad trip focusing on seeing viewpoints outside of

Read More »
September 28, 2024

A Summer at Oxford

Over the summer of 2023, Kate Vaccaro undertook an intensive 4-week program at Oxford University, one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

Going to Oxford had always been one of Kate’s dreams. “As a person who loves academics, the richness of learning there has always been appealing,” she said.

Read More »
September 22, 2023