Aloha! My name is Kūpaʻa and I'm from Keʻanae, Maui. I grew up right next to the ocean, but found myself spending more time on land. I come from a family known for farming kalo, so there was always some job needed to be done, giving me little time to interact with the ocean. When I did have free time to enjoy the ocean, it was mostly for simple fishing, swimming, or surfing. I focused my studies at UH Mānoa on Hawaiian Studies and Natural Resources & Environmental Management (NREM), which helped me gain a strong connection with the land. Over the last couple years, I found the need to strengthen my relationship with Kanaloa and began spending more time doing activities like fishing and diving. Learning about Hawaiʻi's intertidal zones in particular is important to me because I grew up near intertidal zones and I want to be able to pass my knowledge down to next generations.