Senior Spotlight: Carissa Kanae Leads with Heritage and Heart

Name: Carissa Kanae
Major: Psychology | Minors: Leadership Studies & Dance
Hometown: Oahu, Hawaii

Carissa Kanae (’26) has always cherished community. In her hometown, going to the grocery store means running into at least 10 familiar faces.

While Kanae originally chose Gonzaga in pursuit of something completely new, her many leadership roles on campus have only reaffirmed her appreciation of the collective.

Kanae does most of her work with and for others as the president of the Korean Student Association, and the senior advisor for Japan Club. Both positions allow Kanae to explore her heritage while building relationships with like-minded, supportive peers.

“Those two clubs mean a lot to me because I’ve been very connected to being Japanese, and I’ve been learning how to connect more with being Korean,” Kanae says. “And, obviously I’m still from Hawaii. I’m still an Asian American.”

For Kanae, one involvement always seems to lead to another in a series of what she calls “lucky coincidences.” For the last two years, Kanae has also headed Our Voices – Gonzaga’s journal of diversity, equity, and inclusion – as editor-in-chief.

“I originally got involved because I joined the Filipino American Student Union, and the editor-in-chief at the time shoulder-tapped me and advertised Our Voices,” Kanae says. “I didn’t know this at the time, but he told me later that he was already scheming for me to be editor-in-chief.”

This year, the theme of Our Voices is “Defiant.” Kanae hopes this choice encourages students to share their unique perspectives, as she has.

In the future, Kanae wants to teach English as a second language in Korea or Japan, and eventually go to law school. In other words, she will continue stringing together different interests and passions, prioritizing leadership and community every step of the way.

“My experience has been almost like a scrapbook or a quilt. Really any metaphor you can think of for a collection of different things that come together beautifully.”