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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, May 29, 2005

MOMENTS OF LIFE
Good job, graduate!

Story by Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Staff Writer

Photos by Rebecca Breyer
Advertiser Staff Photographer

Jo Ann Cabreros Miller considers herself lucky. Her college education came complete with a job.

As a beaming Jo Ann Miller puts it, "You get a free (community college) degree because Pearl Harbor pays for it."

And all it cost to earn her degree — which she received May 13 from Honolulu Community College — was a few hundred dollars for books and a day of celebration that started at 5:30 a.m. and lasted into the night.

As a rigger apprentice in the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard apprenticeship program, the shipyard paid her tuition and on top of that gave her $15.93 an hour to learn to become a rigger, directing cranes in the shipyard.

She has finished two years of classes and on-the-job apprenticeship, both of which ended in December. Now she just has to complete another two years of on-the-job training.

"You get a free degree because Pearl Harbor pays for it," she said.

First, she had to be chosen as one of 100 trainees out of 4,000 applicants. Miller had an edge with an associate's degree earned in 1999 after trying nursing, engineering and psychology and not liking any of them.

GOT A MOMENT?

Our monthly Moments of Life feature shines a light on personal transitions and connections. We welcome your reactions or suggestions for topics. Send comments to Island Life editor Elizabeth Kieszkowski at ekieszkowski@
honoluluadvertiser.com
or 525-8034.

"I like being outside, not just being stuck behind a desk," she said. Miller is one of five women coming into a field dominated by men.

Graduation day, celebrated with friends and family, was a long one.

First, she drove her husband, Scott, to work at the shipyard, where he's an apprentice mechanic. (She took the day off.)

That night she was bowled over by the feeling of personal accomplishment as she walked across the stage at the Waikiki Shell to shake the mayor's hand and receive her diploma.

Seeing her co-workers in caps and gowns was part of the fun.

"Usually I see them in coveralls," she said.

A fancy dinner with family capped the day and left Miller feeling doubly special.

After all, it was also her 27th birthday.

• • •


Jo Ann Miller's graduation day began at 5:30 a.m. with a little beauty work before dropping off her husband, Scott, for his shift at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. Miller earned her degree through the shipyard's apprenticeship program. Jo Ann Miller makes candy lei as gifts for her fellow graduates and co-workers.

Jo Ann Miller puts on her cap and gown before the ceremony at the Waikiki Shell. Miller said seeing her co-workers from Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in caps and gowns instead of coveralls was all part of the fun.

Jo Ann Miller and fellow students wait for the Honolulu Community College commencement to begin at the Waikiki Shell.


Among those on hand at the Honolulu Community College graduation ceremony was Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who shook hands with the graduates as they received their diplomas. Scott and Jo Ann Miller get together with friends for pre-graduation festivities at the Sheraton Waikiki.