Meet the Servicemember: Kina Kawakami

Kina Kawakami is a second-class Health Services Technician who serves as a pharmacy technician at the on-base clinic, the largest in the Coast Guard. Her father was a Navy man, and she and her twin both initially hoped to join the Navy to follow in his footsteps. A small bout of eczema kept both from that dream, but looking back, Kawakami is incredibly grateful that she found her way to the Coast Guard.  
She and her twin sister both work the same job at different Coast Guard stations. The two were inseparable when they were younger, but Kawakami said that the distance has been instrumental in helping each of them find their identities as individuals. “We used to hate being apart, but now we’ve been in the Coast Guard for six years. It has been the best possible thing for us.” The two still talk most days on the phone and visit when they can.  
Kawakami is originally from Florida, but was mostly recently stationed in California. She misses many things about the golden state but has gotten used to life in Cape May and has come to appreciate the differences. California was a hiker’s dream; she was surrounded by mountains and was able to throw herself into nature for a hike whenever she had the free time. New Jersey’s southern penninsula is obviously not surrounded by mountains, and Kawakami regrets that hiking opportunities are far sparser here in Jersey swampland.  
“When I first got here, I would sometimes drive for a few hours and literally write down anything on my phone that looked like an interesting nature spot: a body of water, anything that looked like it had a hiking trail. I would even write the coordinates down,” she said.  
When she first arrived, she lived in the on-base barracks that house service members who don’t have their own families. But once she decided to look for her own space, she had an incredibly difficult time finding anything available or affordable. She eventually found a place in Somer’s point and was faced with a daily commute longer than many of her peers. She now lives in Villas with her fiancé, who also works at the on-base clinic.
 She stressed that the clinic has been a great place to work given its size and the wealth of expertise its staff holds. During her time in the Coast Guard, she has been given several opportunities to further her education; she most recently attended a 5-month pharmacy technician school in San Antonio.  
Despite the challenges, she has come to enjoy living in Cape May. She is at times overwhelmed by the kindness locals have shown her. She said, “I’m so thankful this is a coast guard community. People might not know exactly what we do, but they care. People line up outside the base on graduation days to support us and celebrate us. We appreciate that stuff a lot. We are a smaller branch, but we do great things.”   
Amidst all the praise, Kawakami wants the public to remember that coast guard service members “aren’t superheroes. I’m a normal person,” she said. “Even the rescue swimmers, they aren’t superheroes either. We are all normal people who work really hard and do normal things.”  
Kawakami hopes to serve twenty years in the coast guard. Her four-year Cape May billet will end after the Summer of 2023.