A UH Maui College publication.
Please select a page for the Contact Slideout in Theme Options > Header Options

Getting It Write

Getting It Write
December 11, 2015 Ho‘oulu Staff

Na Leo editor Meg Kisner shares her passion for words—and bunnies

Few students who attend UH Maui College know where they’re going. Most are headed for an associate degree in liberal arts, but don’t really know why. One liberal arts student, however, knows exactly what she’s doing with that degree. Her name is Meg Kisner.

Meg Kisner

Meg Kisner

Kisner began life in Redondo Beach, Calif., but moved to Maui at the age of 2. She left behind family in California and Arizona, but she didn’t make the trip alone. Accompanying her in her move to Maui were two licensed cosmetologists known to her as mom and dad. Their expectations for their daughter’s life were open-ended enough to allow her to find her own path, and that’s exactly what she’s been doing.

Kisner currently attends UH Maui College as a liberal arts student, maintaining a 4.0 GPA and membership in the local Psi Sigma chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

But she has bigger plans.

As it stands, she is set to graduate in the spring, at which point she’ll move on to the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University in Boulder, Colo. to pursue a bachelor’s degree in English. She then plans to also obtain a master’s in Creative Writing. With as much love and interest for writing as she has, this outlet has become something she wants to share with others.

As a result, Kisner is reaching for one of the most honorable professions. In her eyes, the freedom of expression and release that she enjoys in writing should be shared early on, and so she plans to become a harbinger of such freedom through teaching; although, she does not yet know where she would like to teach.

In the meantime, Kisner’s responsibilities echo her future now: The year before last, she worked as co-editor of the Na Leo Literary Review and became the editor the following year—a position she still holds today. She is also the president of the campus writing club, the Na Leo Dead Poets Society. Though seemingly reserved at first, her passions are clearly evident once given the chance to express them.

Outside of school, Kisner has embraced the human interaction that comes with a job in the food industry. Working for Round Table Pizza in Kihei, officially as a cashier, she answers the phone to take an order.

“Sometimes when I’m taking an order,” she said, “ they’re like ‘what was your name again,’ and I say ‘it’s Meg!’ And they say, ‘oh, good job Meg! Your customer service is awesome!’ And you know that makes like my entire week…”

When she’s not cashiering or answering the phone, Kisner tends to the tasks that remain, including the preparation of breadsticks, chicken wings and, of course, pizza.

“I need to get out of the food industry; I’m too much of a klutz,” Kisner said. “I like my job; I just… it’s dangerous for Megs.”

When asked about possibly looking for a different job, she said she would miss the people. “I love people,” she said. “I love doing stuff for people.”

Aside from her school career and provisional obligations, there are other things that occupy Kisner’s limited time, or at least she would like them to. They include video games and coloring, for which she expressed great excitement. “In a perfect world, I am a gamer, but it’s not a perfect world,” she said.

Also for fun, she enjoys shopping. “I go shopping—like clothes shopping, random shopping, Amazon magicalish shopping,” she said.

When asked what she likes in the world, Kisner replied, “I like puppies.” She went on to say, “You know, it’s one of those clichés: Girls like rainbows and unicorns and sparkles and puppies and stickers and paint—I like those things— but not because other people like those things…it’s because those things make me happy.”

Meg and Boo the rabbit.

Meg and Boo the rabbit.

All that she could think of seemed to pale in comparison, however, to how her face lit up when she mentioned her pet rabbit Boo, whom she skillfully named after the character from Monsters, Inc. Kisner said that it was her “ninja way” of naming her rabbit after a Disney character without her boyfriend realizing.

Aside from being a pet, Boo also provides a unique method of document authentication in the form of nibbled paper corners and—when needed— a convenient shredding service. “It’s a good way to be like ‘sorry miss, my homework’s gonna be late, my rabbit ate it’” Kisner said. “It totally works, ‘cause she did.”

In addition to her rabbit, Kisner would also like to have the Geico Gecko. Her Phi Theta Kappa membership furnished a discounted rate with Geico’s car insurance, and while she’s happy about that, 15 minutes or less did not seem sufficient time to secure a likeness of the company’s “spokeslizard.”

“I actually talked to customer service like ‘where’s my gecko?’ and they were just like ‘you’re crazy. What are you talking about?’” she recalled. “It’s not even being facetious. I’m completely freakin’ serious. I want a gecko.”

All jokes aside, Kisner has clearly dedicated herself to her goals. Her friends, classmates and anyone who takes the time to know her can certainly see that. She will no doubt go far in life.

Comments (0)

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*