Patti Rabacal (Maiden Name: TANAKA) '76
Kamehameha Schools Financial Aid Officer
Patti (Tanaka) Rabacal graduated from the Class of 1976. She currently lives in Pearl City and is employed at Kamehameha Schools as the Financial Aid Officer for the three campuses.
What type of training/education is appropriate for this position?
I graduated with two degrees - an associates degree from Kapiolani Community College with a secretarial science degree (this field is obsolete because of the creation of the computer). My second degree is a Bachelors in Science in Business Administration.
What is one piece of advice you would give to current high school students?
Follow your passion and heart, not what profession pays well. You will be successful in life!
What is one thing you wished you knew about your career while you were still in high school?
I actually wanted to be a Math teacher, but obtained a job at the Bank of Hawaii. I love working with numbers and continue to work with creating budgets, answering variances, determining financial aid awards at Kamehameha Schools.
Other Advice/Information
I worked two full time jobs: one as a manager at McDonald's at the age of 19 and worked at the Bank of Hawaii with executive management. Hired by Kamehameha Schools in the Human Resources (3 years) focusing on employee benefits, then transferred to Accounting (12 years) and currently in Admissions as the Financial Aid Officer/Senior Budget and Awarding Analyst 18 years).
