They live near the water and in a region of frequent rain, so it sometimes feels a little like home to Dirk Snel and Zach Wilde.
But other times they are walking to college classes in shorts, t-shirts and sandals because the weather is in the 80s. Or they are sitting on a sandy beach as the nearby waves lap gently against the shore. Or they are watching through waving palm trees as the sun sets on another spectacular day.
And in those moments home is a very long ways away.
Snel, a 2007 graduate of Everett’s Cascade High School, and Wilde, a 2008 Snohomish alum, are senior members of the University of Hawaii at Hilo men’s basketball team. It is Snel’s second season with the team and Wilde’s third, and for both it has been a remarkable opportunity to earn an undergraduate degree and play college basketball while residing in a scenic tropical setting.
“There are times I can forget I’m in Hawaii because everything is such a routine,” said the 23-year-old Snel. “You go to school and you go to practice. But then there’s other times it’s just overwhelming. It’s so warm and so beautiful here, and everything is so green and we have the beach so close. It’s just an amazing experience.”
Moving to Hawaii “was eye opening at first,” said the 21-year-old Wilde. “The food is different, the community is different and the culture is different, so there’s kind of a culture shock when you first get out here. It almost feels like you’re in a foreign country.”
Familiarity comes in time, of course, but there are still obvious distractions. Like gorgeous stretches of beach on a bright sunny day.
“Your first couple of months here,” Wilde admitted, “it makes it very hard to go to class.”
Snel sometimes takes his homework to the beach, “but it’s hard to concentrate because it’s so beautiful,” he said. “They have these really big turtles in the water, so it’s really cool to sit there.”
Snel and Wilde were high school rivals and distant acquaintances who took differing routes to Hawaii. Snel played one year of basketball at Everett Community College, sat out a year, and then returned for a second season at Everett CC before being recruited to Hawaii Hilo. Wilde, meanwhile, arrived at the school one year after leaving Snohomish, with a one-season stop at Oregon’s Clackamas Community College in between.
Back in high school “we talked and knew each other,” Wilde said. “But Cascade and Snohomish had kind of a rivalry for a couple of years, so you kind of respect the guy and hate the guy at the same time. But once he decided to commit here … our relationship started right there.”
The two don’t live together, “but we spend a lot of time together,” Wilde added. “We kind of have the same sense of humor, we like the same type of food, and we like to go to the beach and have fun. So our relationship has become more of a good friendship where we’ll extend it after college.”
Hawaii Hilo is an NCAA Division II program and a member of the PacWest Conference, which includes schools in California, Arizona, Utah and three other universities in Hawaii. Wilde is a three-year starter at forward and through seven games this season leads the team in rebounds (7.9) and is second in scoring (12.7). Snel, who has started two games but usually plays from the bench, is a guard and primarily a perimeter scorer (3.7).
Hilo is the largest city on the island of Hawaii with a population of over 40,000. It lacks the posh resorts and spacious hotels of islands like Oahu and Maui, but there is a shopping mall with a Wal-Mart, Snel said, “and they just put in a new Safeway and a new Target. That’s what everyone’s excited about.”
Wilde actually graduated on Saturday with a double major in administration of justice and communication. He might try to play professionally overseas, but is also considering careers in coaching or perhaps law enforcement. He does not expect to make Hawaii his future home.
Neither does Snel, who should complete his degree in sociology about a year from now with the goal of becoming a high school counselor. He plans to play on the school’s soccer team in the fall so his fiancée Patricia Blasco Vine can return for her senior season on the Hawaii Hilo volleyball team. The couple plans to be married sometime next summer.
“This is such a beautiful place and it’s perfect to live here for two or three years,” Snel said. “But I don’t want to stay out here because I think I’d take it for granted too much.”
But even as they leave, both men will take away great memories of their years in a tropical island paradise.
“Getting away (from home) and coming to Hawaii, learning a bunch of new stuff and meeting a lot of new people, I wouldn’t trade that experience,” Wilde said. “It’s probably been one of the best experiences of my life.”
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