Nathanial Lealao
Communication 4980
Eric Young
May 2, 2016
Introduction:
When considering my capstone project I wanted to focus on
something I was passionate about and that could be very useful almost in a
sense life changing. I find being Samoan/Polynesian very unique, because we are
few in number and just the culture that I was raised in could be considered
young in the United States. So I wanted to focus on something culturally, and
the thought popped up in a sense of cultural communication. Just the
traditions, norms, communication and other things like that.
Education in some of the Polynesian households
are not a high priority, especially on the islands. So I wanted to do something
that would promote higher education or at least make a difference in trying to
change that. One talent that most Polynesians have include music. Some can
sing, some can play instruments and some can do both. A good amount of
Polynesians are trying to make it in the music industry either through Reggae,
R&B or hip hop. Nothing wrong with that except how many people in general
make it big in the music industry? Yet there seems to be a big push in trying
to make in music.
One
thing that has always bothered me is the fact that there is a perception that
Polynesians are just athletes and that they are dumb or can’t do school. So
Polynesians put so much on being an athlete and making it to the NFL that most
Polynesians feel that’s the only thing we can do. Now that is not a bad
aspiration to have, and even Samoans are 40x more likely to make the NFL than
any other race out there, but a lot of them don’t make it because of their
academics. So what happens to those who don’t make it to professional sports?
Well they end up doing manual labor or anything that has to do with some type
of physical activity.
I
think the cultural communication is something that can hinder individuals at
times. Just for the fact that everybody would grow up having the same
perspective. So hoping to change that would make great strides as a culture and
throughout the communities. Just overall excelling in all that they do.
Project Proposal:
So
I started by making a Facebook page known as The Power of Polynesia. The
overall mission is to spotlight and recognize those Polynesian individuals who
are making a difference in the community, academics and in their careers
outside of professional sports and musicians. My hope for this page is to help
young Polynesians understand that sports and music isn’t our only career
choices. To follow a path which has been set and created so they can excel. So
I will be finding and interviewing Polynesian lawyers, doctors, artist and
others as well. There is so much potential for the Polynesian culture and
community to excel in all that they do, they just have to believe there are
opportunities out there and individuals who are willing to share their journey.
With
this proposal it helped me meet several program learning objectives. As I
interviewed individuals it helped me apply the communication concepts in interpersonal
and mass media setting. I have released videos where it has reached out to the
masses of individuals through mass media. The messages and interviews that I
have conducted and displayed on the page have been to inform, persuade and
advocate a certain cause that I am pushing. Through growing up in and around
the culture it is made evident that the message through my project are being
reached and recognized by others.
Project Plan:
1.
Research and find individuals that fit the
mission and vision of the project.
2.
Interview people based on their career,
academics or community service
3.
Post the interviews about those
individuals on the Facebook page.
4.
In between time find articles and other
data about Polynesians and share it on the page to remain consistent.
5. Continue to build a foundation of the page
to its own website
Plan Execution:
The first thing needed to get this off to the right foot
is find candidates to interview for the page. So I jotted down a lot of
potential candidates that could definitely help the mission of the project. At
one point, I came in contact with a lot of individuals who were looking to help
the effort. Unfortunately a lot of them couldn’t meet up with me or just ended
up being super busy. I invited a lot of people to like & follow the page. I
was spending at least an hour a day on the page just to figure out how it could
be more popular. Then I recorded an introduction video about the mission of the
page and shared it on my personal Facebook page. As I was waiting for
interviews I would post articles up of Polynesians throughout the news that fit
the Power of Polynesia Facebook page.
Analysis:
The plan was a little delayed but most effective. Delayed
for the most part because I do not own a camera nor do I know how to edit
videos. So finding someone who would able to do that was capable of helping me
was the biggest task and then matching up schedules to do the introduction
video and other videos as well. The beginning of the semester the page had a
little bit over 500 likes as of right now there are almost 700 likes on the
page. A huge increase came in March & April.
Then
trying to meet up with candidates was another obstacle course in itself. I was
challenged to go outside my network by Professor Young, a little hesitant
because I wanted to put out product, I moved forward in going outside my
network. I came in contact with some amazing people through social media, Facebook
and Twitter, it was the returning the emails and everything else that was the
trouble. Then some local candidates didn’t
like the idea of a video interview, so again just an obstacle to overcome. So
after sometime I was finally able to drop the introduction video and through
that I got a lot of positive responses and shares. At the end of the day it
reached to over 800 people then had some people recently share it and now it’s
over 1,100 people.
So
to remain consistent with page I would try and find articles throughout the
week. Something relatable to the page so people will always check up on it. One
article only had barely 150 views/people reached. Then posted another article
about a young man overcoming adversity and becoming a shining example in his
school. I shared that on my personal page then realize that it got more
popular. So if pops up on a timeline then more likely people will actually see
it.
Finally
posted an interview that I had with Selu Alofipo and it just took off. So far
it has the most likes than any other post I have put up including the introduction
video and has reached so far over 3,000 people. Then the next day it was posted
an article that Selu was selected by President Barack Obama as one of the 10 champions
from the Pacific Islanders/Asian American. That itself reached over 2,000 people.
With the interview that I conducted it was shared multiple times including on
my personal page.
Self-Evaluation:
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly. This experience is amazing.
I would be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t discourage because of the candidates
that either did not get back into contact with me or just did not want do it
for one reason or another. I was definitely disappointed in myself in just the
timing of everything because the page caught fire at towards the end of the
semester. But I am excited for what is going to be happening with this page. I
still have interviews set up and with the help of Professor Young a lot of
ideas has helped me to reach a lot more people both young and older. I will
continue this project throughout the rest of my life hopefully.
My overall goal for this project is to make this a nonprofit
organization that will help Polynesian kids reach that goal of higher education
by scholarships and other ways. Also conducting workshops for these Polynesian
kids to better help them not only in school, their community but life in
general. I credit my parents for giving me the inspiration and motivation to
come up with something like this. My father is the advisor for the Polynesian
club at the local high school which he also works and coaches at. My mother was
the President of the local Little League football for almost 10 years. It helps
with individuals like Professor Young who also sees the same potential for
Polynesians if they applied themselves to anything as if it was sports or
music. There is so much with this project if done correctly, which I am planning
on doing. I am grateful for this experience.
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