Introducing Leigh Ann Baum
By Karen Welsh
Some children bring home stray cats or dogs. My 18-year-old daughter, Bethany, a freshman at the University of Hawaii Hilo Campus often brings home starving students.
Most come with the promise of a home-cooked meal or a warm batch of chocolate chip cookies. Others come because they need a mother figure to touch base with for a few moments during a busy week.
That's how I met 19-year-old Leigh Ann Baum, an effervescent gal with a personality as bubbly and overflowing as a freshly shaken can of soda.
A native of La Grande, Oregon, Leigh Ann entered UHH as a sophomore at UHH arrived during the late summer. She came to the Big Island with 120 students from around the world that are participants in the National Student Exchange Program.
"It's an awesome deal," she said. "I totally needed a change. I got to travel to someplace new. I pretty much came here to experience new things. I've met people from almost every state and gained a lot of new friends. It's pretty cool."
Leigh Ann found out about the program through her older sister who participated in it several years ago. It's been an incredible opportunity for a small town girl who's lived in the same house her entire life.
"I never swam in the ocean before I got here," she said. "The Oregon coast only has cliffs and hazards. The water's also freezing so it's impossible to swim. To get into the warm water here was amazing."
Since her arrival, Leigh Ann has traveled to Waipio Valley, Boiling Pots and Hapuna. And, she can hardly wait for the next adventure.
Her biggest delight, however, is the diversity of cultures and people found at UHH and throughout East Hawaii. It's really given her a taste of the true aloha spirit everyone talks about after visiting the islands, she said.
"The people are like so amazing here," Leigh Ann said. When I walk into places I feel the love. I can really feel it, like it just totally washes over me. That's really cool. It's definitely not like that on the mainland."
The largest obstacle for Leigh Ann is the intermittent feelings of homesickness. It's something affecting most young people leaving their familiar surrounding for the first time.
If there was a medal for bravery, Leigh Ann would certainly receive it for laying aside all to come to a new culture, new climate, new town, a new life. Through it all, she's learning some important life lessons and maturing into a beautiful adult.
"Being away from family is difficult at times," Leigh Ann admitted. "It's been a big change, but it's really good too. I've had to learn to be content, looking at things and being content where I am and enjoying it. That's like a big thing."
And yes, true to her words, Leigh Ann has made the transition with joy, complete and utter joy, so transparent she can often be seen smiling widely and fluttering around like a butterfly on UHH's front lawn.
And, I have to admit, Leigh Ann is completely contagious. How can a person help but to take her in and love her as one of their own.
Getting to know this incredible young lady has made me stop and wonder how many more awesome and amazing students come from all parts of the world to attend UHH. Surely they are in need of a family connection, someone to share their aloha and perhaps a homemade meal throughout the semester.
Leigh Ann's blessed. She has the Welsh clan to lean upon. To her I say, 'The light's always on for you, our newly hanai-ed daughter. The cookies are in the oven. Your Big Island ohana awaits.'
And kamaainas, what about the rest of you?