January 1st, 2015, the day of the Rose
Bowl. To hear the crowd, to hear the
bands, to hear Oregon announced through the tunnel.
Once you get through the tunnel and you're out there
and you see everybody it's such an unbelievable feeling I
think you play the way you practice and for me
I've always focused on trying to make practice as real
as possible that preparation is what led us to that
game and ultimately to the win. My preparation has
always stayed the same. Growing up in Hawaii,
culturally, it's being raised in a village. We
versus I it's always about others. My dad growing
up instilled hard work and dedication into my brother and
I it was always about you wanna achieve something you
wanna put your mind to it, you wanna be
able to be the best version of yourself. You
gotta put the work in. Running hills was a
great way to train. We would do it I
mean it was every Saturday. My dad made it
a focal point to prepare and lay a foundation for
the rest of your life. It was never too
early to dream big because you're setting out for what's
in the future. I think for us as a
family we try to encourage Makaya to think that way
. Komi and I met at the University of Oregon
. We were freshmen at the time. It just
kind of happened. But my family became my teammates
and that little piece that I was able to have
and take away from my parents is something that I
truly value and something that I really kind of hold
near and dear to my heart. In order to
protect our future, Kiyomi and I focus on our
decisions on a day to day basis. It's very
important to invest in what we're doing together as a
family every little decision like that has an impact.
Kiyomi and I are excited to be welcoming a new
baby boy here soon. We're in such an interesting
time. This new generation, generation beta is important
to be able to provide for them for Kiyomi and
I. The decisions that we made 6-7 months ago
are the decisions that ultimately are gonna provide our beta
baby the foundation that he needs. Financial planning is
important because you want to create a foundation for your
kids to be able to have financial freedom. Going
to the stadium from campus there's a bridge that goes
over the river and when I was a young freshman
didn't have a bike and I walked that bridge and
to see where it is today is pretty symbolic of
who I was. I'm excited to continue to build
the foundations for my family. That type of legacy
lasts way longer than any sort of athletic achievement.