Onjalai Flake
International Vice President - Division IV
Onjalai Flake's major is easy to guess. Her warm and welcoming personality perfectly compliment her major in Hospitality and Tourism, and her career plans, to work on a cruise line, or possibly at Walt Disney World - before opening her own chain of resorts and spas.
Onjalai, International Vice President - Division IV, is the youngest of 11 children, and has served as caregiver for both her parents. Her obligations to her father led her to Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon.
"I feel that I am receiving quality education at a fraction of the cost of a four-year school," Onjalai says. "I have enjoyed my community college experience because it is more intimate and the faculty and staff are more involved, to insure academic and personal success. I think that is harder to find at a four-year institution."
Her father also made it possible for her join Phi Theta Kappa. "He encouraged me to take every opportunity that comes my way," Onjalai says. "The membership fee was a concern for me, and my father paid it with no hesitation. He told me he knew I was going to go far and he wanted to contribute to my success. I am so glad he did. Even though he is no longer living, I know how proud he is of me."
She is president of her campus chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, president of the college's Black Student Union and a member of the Diversity Awareness Committee. She has received a number of scholarships, and has been featured in the college's literary magazine.
Her community college experience has given her insights on challenges students face, and she sums up succinctly: "Money, money, money. That is a universal issue I believe for most community college students. Whether its financial aid, loans, scholarships, funding for a program that they are apart, it directly affects all students involved."
Onjalai conducted her own survey to test her theory, and 89 percent of the respondents said that if they lost their financial aid package or scholarship they would have to withdraw or drop out of school. Some 59 percent of the students she surveyed have been affected by cuts to financial aid. "It is vital that we maintain or even increase funding opportunities for students," she says.
Another challenge is degree completion, she says. "But statistics do show that students who are active on campus are more likely to graduate. Phi Theta Kappa definitely offers plenty of activities!"
Onjalai is currently caring for her mother and volunteers with a homeless ministry, blood drives, cancer prevention, veterans' assistance programs, and so much more. She looks forward to her year in office and sharing her passion and positivity to everyone she meets.
