Pictured: Anthony Lim (third from the right) dances with his hālau on the Merrie Monarch stage. Photo courtesy of Lim.
By Deborah Manog Dimaya, UH Med Now Correspondent
Not many first-year medical students know exactly where they want to spend the rest of their lives as a doctor but San Francisco Bay Area Native Anthony Lim already has mind made up: He wants to practice as a physician in Hawaiʻi and he owes it all to his love of hula. This is his story.
The lights dim. The arena turns quiet. Beads of sweat form on Anthony Lim’s palms and his heart begins to pound. He stands in front of thousands at the renowned Merrie Monarch Festival. Ready to dance.
His Journey to the Stage
Flashback to a year ago when Lim was in the crowd watching wide-eyed as his friend performed onstage at the same festival. At that moment, he hoped that one day he would be able to dance at the Merrie Monarch Festival but thought he’d have to put his dream on hold as he had been preparing to begin his journey of rigorous studies at the University of Hawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine (UH JABSOM) in just a few months.
“Dreams really do come true because I didn’t know that 365 days later, I’d actually be on that stage. It’s pretty crazy. I just feel super lucky,” Lim said.
What Lim calls luck, others call talent, hard work and dedication. It’s hard to believe that the 24-year-old has only been dancing hula since his days as an undergraduate at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
Lim was originally drawn to dance as an outlet for stress while trying to get into medical school. He credits his days as a hip hop dancer with teaching him how to move and control his body. When he tried hula for the first time, he instantly fell in love with the art. He joined the Academy of Hawaiian Arts in Oakland led by Kumu Hula Mark Kealiʻi Hoʻomalu and as his passion for the dance grew, so did his appreciation of the Hawaiian culture. When Lim received his admissions letter to UH JABSOM, he leaped at the opportunity to call the place where hula was born– home.
In July 2018 Lim moved to Hawaiʻi and became a part of Hālau Nā Mamo O Puʻuanahulu led by Kumu Hula William Kahakuleilehua Haunuʻu Sonny Ching and Kumu Hula Lōpaka Igarta-De Vera. After having been with the hālau for only six months, he received an exclusive invitation from his Kumu to represent the hālau, along with his hula brothers and sisters, at the 56th Annual Merrie Monarch Festival.
The training was intense. And so was his course work as a first-year medical student.
“At one point we were rehearsing on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4:30pm to 11:00pm or midnight and then on Saturdays from 9:00am until 9:00pm,” Lim said, adding “any waking moment that I wasn’t at hula– I was studying.”
A Dream Come True
Lim danced with the Kāne of Hālau Nā Mamo O Puʻuanahulu twice during the festival. The first was a traditional hula kahiko on Friday followed by a modern hula ʻauana on Saturday. Dancing with the Wahine line of the same hālau was his hula sister and fellow UH JABSOM classmate, Rui Morimoto. Morimoto is an MD Candidate in the Class of 2021.
MD 2021 Candidate Rui Morimoto on the far right.
Hālau Nā Mamo O Puʻuanahulu at the 2019 Merrie Monarch Festival.
Hālau Nā Mamo O Puʻuanahulu was named second place Overall. Their Kāne Kahiko and Kāne ʻAuana placed third and second, respectively. While the Wahine Kahiko and Wahine Overall both took second place.
Regardless of the results, Lim was overjoyed just to be there.
“Dancing on that stage felt like I was on top of the world. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, just amazing,” Lim said.
A Lifelong Learner of Hula and Medicine
The greatest lesson hula has taught him is discipline.
“After committing to something, there’s that discipline to take that kuleana (responsibility) and do everything you can to carry it out to the best of your ability,” Lim explained.
Anthony Lim, MD 2022 Candidate.
Being in a hālau has also taught Lim to have respect for everyone and everything and to carry himself with dignity because all of his actions at the festival reflected on the hālau. Lessons he will apply to his education as a future doctor.
“It’s the same thing as being a physician, all your actions will reflect on the hospital you work at or the school you come from so just carry yourself well and make sure you do your absolute best to care for the people every day,” Lim said.
He calls both his hālau and UH JABSOM his second family and wants to continue to dance hula for as long as he can. Lim hopes to return to the Merrie Monarch stage one day, an idea that is not so farfetched, especially because he intends to practice as a physician in Hawaiʻi .
“I love being here (in Hawaiʻi ) so much. “I love PBL (problem-based learning). I love what I’m studying. And, despite how constantly tired I am, I love my life inside and outside of school,” Lim said.
He adds, “the stars aligned. I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
Lim completed his first year of medical school in June and looks forward to his second year at UH JABSOM.