UH Manoa GEAR UP's various programs encourage students to delve deeper into their identities. Who and where a student comes from affects his or her family life, community, and finally his or her future.

UH Manoa GEAR UP's overall goal is to increase student awareness and prepare students for college. But, this larger goal cannot be reached if students are not comfortable in their own skins. UH Manoa GEAR UP's various cultural programs seek to teach students how to feel comfortable with themselves, while using their families and community as a foundation and major resource in the quest for college.

UH Manoa GEAR UP utilizes a student's heritage or native language in order to build his or her literacy skills. The program is divided into four units, called: "Me and My Identity", "Me and my Family", "Me and My Community", and "Me and My Success."

Students exercise their writing skills through self-reflection poems, and practice their reading comprehension and oral communication skills by reading about different cultures from the Philippines, Samoa and Hawaii. Students then share their ideas aloud with their classmates.