Three Maui County Students Receive Josh and Souk Jerman Foundation Scholarships

Tiana Irvine from Kamehameha Schools Maui; Romelyn Tabangcura from Maui High School; and Griffin Hardy from King Kekaulike High School.

Three Maui County high school seniors have been awarded $1,000 each by the Josh and Souk Jerman Foundation Scholarship program. Now in its 17th consecutive year, the Josh and Souk Jerman Foundation Scholarship (formerly the Josh Jerman Maui Nui Scholarship) program has provided scholarships to students who will attend an accredited four-year college or university.

To date, the program has awarded more than $50,000 in scholarships to Maui, Moloka‘i and Lāna‘i high school seniors who have displayed a passion for returning to Maui County after college to contribute to the community.

This year’s recipients are Romelyn Tabangcura from Maui High School, Griffin Hardy from King Kekaulike High School, and Tiana Irvine from Kamehameha Schools Maui.

In the fall, Tabangcura will attend UH Maui College with plans to transfer to UH Mānoa, where she will pursue a nursing degree. Hardy will attend Tufts University, where he plans to study international relations. Irvine will be studying hospitality and tourism at UH Maui College.

Tabangcura said she is honored to have been selected as one of this year’s recipients. “I feel extremely grateful and honored,” she said. “I feel thankful that I can relieve some of the burden of paying for college and be one step closer to achieving my dreams.”

Irvine said the scholarship will help her achieve her long-term goals. “I feel so blessed to be one of this year’s scholarship recipients,” she said. “This will definitely help me out to pay for this upcoming school year and to help me further my knowledge and experience in the hospitality field.”

Hardy is also grateful to be one of this year’s scholarship recipients. “I am ecstatic to be one of this year’s recipients. It is truly an honor,” he said. “This is an amazing opportunity that they [Josh and Souk Jerman] have provided students with and I hope they can continue this for as long as possible.”

Tabangcura said all college-bound students should consider applying for scholarships like the Josh and Souk Jerman Foundation Scholarship. “To all the incoming high school seniors, start on your scholarship applications early, stay true to yourself and make sure to keep track of deadlines,” she advised.

Irvine also encourages high school seniors to seek out scholarship opportunities. “A piece of advice that I would give to other high school seniors who plan to apply for scholarships like this one is to just be yourself and write truthfully,” she said. “I wrote my essay as if I were talking to a friend about my future hopes, dreams, and goals in life.”

Josh Jerman, an award-winning, top-producing real estate broker on Maui since 2004, and his wife, Souk, are the founders of the Josh and Souk Jerman Foundation Scholarship program. To learn more, visit http://jermanfoundation.org.