User:Kamaikiokalani

Who is Kamaikiokalani?

E aloha kakou. My full name is Sterling Kamaikiokalani Kekoa and I am fervent Wikipedia reader, who only recently (18 June 2008) decided to help out by making a few minor edits to pages I happened upon, and perhaps later after sufficient deliberation may make contributions of my own.

Brief personal summary

As you may have deduced by my name, I am indeed part native Hawaiian. My father, who was born on Moloka`i, is half Hawaiian, which makes me a quarter. Though I remember hearing Hawaiian spoken as a boy and can translate some phrases, often with considerable difficulty, I would not assert that I can converse in the language with any real degree of competency. My general comprehension of Hawaiian is remedial, at best. "See Spot run!" would be not be an unreasonable corollary.

Presently, I am 47 and live on the windward side of O`ahu, the island where I was born, but lived much of my life on the mainland, in a few different cities - and moved back to Hawaii about ten years ago from Seattle. I confess I do have a personal interest in Hawaiian language, history and culture - an interest that incidentally led to my first Wikipedia edit - but in itself, it does not reflect the true underlying reason why I eventually elected to become directly involved.

Thoughts on Wikipedia

Over the years, Wikipedia has been an invaluable resource tool, helping me to obtain useful information on innumerable subjects. With exceptions too few to mention, I find I am continually impressed with both the quality and expanse of Wikipedia's knowledge base as well as its open source operating model. In my humble opinion, Wikipedia's astounding success is a credit to a sublimely ingenious idea and the collective energies of smart, diverse and like-minded individuals worldwide. To that, I would like to add that I am a staunch supporter of one Wikipedia's essential core beliefs, namely its commitment to neutrality. It has proven to be such an important aspect to the success of a social enterprise like Wikipedia that I only wish it were similarly adopted by much larger spheres of global human endeavors.

Novice Wikipedia user

I must reiterate that I am new to this entire process, so please be patient with me. I'm bound to make a few mistakes, typical of "newbies", but I promise I learn fast. Honestly, I would appreciate pointers any of you may have that would help make this experience a little less awkward, for me and quite likely other Wikipedians as well.