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Freshman Mana Ohia Featured In D3Football.com "Around The Mid Atlantic Region"
Apprentice School freshman linebacker Mana Ohia was featured on Wednesday, November 5 in D3football.com's weekly noteook "Around The Mid-Atlantic Region". The article, written by Ryan Tipps, talked about his adjustment to life on the east coast and coming to The Apprentice School.
Posted with permission of D3football.com
A football field far, far away
College is a time of building independence, a transition into
life in the real world. Students learn to study on their own,
manage their time and maybe even make some money in the
workforce.
At least that's the way it is at a "normal" school.
The Apprentice School in Newport News is no normal school, and the
independence these students feel is amplified more than most
places. Employment and school work are intertwined, housing is up
to the student, and the bills surely don't pay themselves.
The Apprentice School is a trade school, linked with Northrop
Grumman Newport News shipyard. From here, students graduate after
four years with a trade certificate in fields such as welding,
pipefitting or electrical work. And they can go on to get a
bachelor's degree after graduation.
That's what makes Apprentice School unique, and leads to it not
being an NCAA member. (D3football.com recognizes the school for
purposes of maintaining the ACFC standings.) That's also what made
the school enticing to players such as Mana Ohia, who traveled
5,000 miles from his native Oahu Island, Hawaii, to attend.
His first thought about going to a school in Virginia? "Oh, man,
this is really far!"
Ohia is the rookie star for the Builders. As a freshman linebacker
in his second semester at Apprentice School, he has tallied 40
total tackles in six games, including eight tackles for a loss and
one sack.
He has adjusted well on the field as well as in everyday life.
The differences between Virginia and Hawaii are "just something you
got to get used to. It's not bad or good, you just got to get used
to it," Ohia said.
He says back home, in his town near Pearl Harbor, people are "more
relaxed, more chill." In Virginia, the things many people take for
granted -- the food, the weather -- was a bit of a culture shock
for the 19-year-old.
"I came up here with my parents, and they just showed me the
grocery stores, they gave me a few recipes," he said. "I think it
helps me because it makes me grow up. I know back home I was
dependent on my parents a lot. Now that I'm here, I'm growing up,
I'm becoming a man."
He now calls the fit "perfect." Ohia said, "I told my [high school]
football coach, who was also my counselor, I told him that I wanted
to go to a trade school, and then he told me about this school,
about Apprentice School. ... I knew that I wanted to go to a small
school."
Being so far away from Hawaii means that Ohia doesn't get to go
home much. He worked through the summer but plans to take advantage
of the "Christmas shutdown" at the shipyard, a two-week break for
employees. He'll make his first trip back home, where he grew up
with six brothers and a sister, since arriving in Virginia last
winter.
He said, jokingly, "A lot of people told me already, when I told
them that I'm going back home in December, they asked, ‘Are
you going to take me with you?' "
The break will be a good one for Ohia. Students at The Apprentice
School get a 40-hour a week paycheck, and they spend about 80
percent of their time on the job and about 20 percent as class
time. Early on, students focus on trade classes such as ship
construction, drafting and math, but as Ohia entered his second
semester, he has begun taking English and U.S. history, classes
that are more typical of a college education.
Everything takes place at the shipyard. The 2,500-person capacity
stadium is the only facility that is available to the public. And
it's where Ohia has tried to shift from his comfort area as a
strong safety into the role of middle linebacker.
Though he admits, "I don't really have true linebacker qualities,
I'm not very big. ... I have the more speed qualities."
Nonetheless, he has settled into this world on the opposite side of
the country.
"I have a little routine going right now. I like it."
