Tuitele’s tight bonds take her far

Coming from a family of six, senior Kayla Tuitele grew up in Haʻikū with father Clark Tuitele and mother Lia Tuitele. Throughout her life, Kayla has always been involved with numerous activities. Managing a hectic schedule of extracurriculars is a tough task, but Tuitele takes it on with ease.

“My parents, teachers, classmates, and friends all motivate me to work hard in everything I do,” she said. “[They] support me in my sports, academics, and religious activities.”

You can always see Tuitele’s supporters in the crowd cheering her on. She said, “They love me unconditionally and demonstrate their love for me through their words and actions.”

Whether she be in seminary classes, singing on stage, volunteering at food banks, or playing soccer on the field, Kayla Tuitele has done it all surrounded by her family and friends.

“I focused my energy on my academics, and everything else that followed with support from my family, classmates, and teachers,” Kayla said. “It wasn’t a breeze, but it wasn’t all work and rigorous classes.”

It isn’t a surprise to see Tuitele performing at school concerts. She’s a part of the high school choir and Hawaiian Ensemble and has been preforming with the groups for a couple of years.

Her passion for music originated when she was young. Both her father and mother had a musical influence on her, but singing came naturally to her.

“Kayla’s love for all things music, especially singing, were manifested as an infant,” Mr. Tuitele said. “Every night, as she went to sleep on our shoulder, she would hum the tune of Barney’s, ‘I love you, you love me’ song.  At just eight months old, she was humming on pitch!”

Although Kayla owes her talent to her parents, her parents would disagree. They “knew that she had an innate gift for music.”

Kayla had her first performance at the age of three where she sang in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints with her father playing the piano.

“Kayla is definitely determined but not one to socialize much and never likes to be the center of attention,” he said.

Many would be surprised to hear that Kayla is a performer. Her quiet and to-herself persona makes her seem otherwise.

“As a young child, I dreamed of becoming a professional singer because of my love for music, but I always shied away from the spotlight,” Kayla said.

Although she has talent and is drawn towards music, Kayla doesn’t plan on pursuing her childhood dream career professionally.

“As time went by, I realized that I had a different place in the music career than I thought I would,” she said.

Instead of singing, Kayla will be attending Brigham Young University in Provo and majoring in elementary education.

“This profession would allow me to do what I love, [to] help others shine under their spotlight,” she said.

Through this new change in her life, there is one thing that will remain the same. Her family and friends will still be there to support and “look forward to what her future holds.”

“I have the privilege of representing all individuals at Kamehameha Schools Maui who have challenged themselves to utilize the resources that our beloved Princess Pauahi provided for us. I am honored to be a part of the Class of 2018.”