Dr. Lawrence F. Camacho
The following is the text of Dr. Lawrence F. Camacho’s keynote address during NMC’s “Passing of Torch” ceremony May 14, 2024 at Saipan World Resort.
ELEANOR Roosevelt once said: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
Hafa Adai yan Tirowami to all of you, [Northern Marianas College] President Deleon Guerrero; Vice President Eliptico; Dean Cepeda; Director Merar, faculty, staff, board of regents, distinguished guests, family, and of course to the graduates of NMC’s School of Education. Biba and congratulations to all of you!
I want to start by thanking the college for inviting me to be the keynote speaker at today’s “passing of the torch” ceremony. It is an honor, a privilege, and such a great opportunity for me to engage this fine group of professionals who are set to embark on yet another chapter of their personal and professional story. I’ll get to the story-telling part in a moment, because I also want to say that days like this remind us of a kind of celebration, experienced by three families.
• First family is the family who made you the person that you are today: parents, grandparents, teachers, relatives, and so on.
• The second family celebrating is your own immediate family today who continue to support you in every possible way — you have achieved this degree because of them.
• The third family is your Proa family. The college is your third family that is celebrating with you —celebrating this thing in academia we call student success.
But moving forward, I want to remind you of your critical role in life, and that is the role of authorship, as in, you are only the person who could best author your own story. Think about that for a minute.
Who would have thought that the decisions you made a long time ago during your formative years, would be the entries you figuratively made into the chapters of your story, but those years that have gone by, and here you are now.
So, my job today, is to give some advice and context on certain things you might want to consider as you move forth in your illustrious journey and this story that you are the best author for. The decisions you made all these years have brought you to this point in your life, correct? In other words, you have climbed this mountain of knowledge by way of your professors and those who guided you to this point, and what’s fascinating is that you made the climb in the manner you decided to and on the path you decided to follow.
Like many of you, I too was born and raised on this beautiful island of Saipan, and I still have vivid memories of my formative years —growing up in the 70s and 80s in that little village of San Roque to the north. Believe it or not, I still remember all of my elementary school teachers, and principals. In my heart, I still have some of those unforgettable moments I had as a young Chamorro kid whose formation was enriched, guided, and encouraged by mom, dad, teachers, uncles, and aunts, grandma, and especially my grandfather, Gregorio T. Camacho, an influential figure in my life who now has his name inscribed in one of the elementary schools I now lead as commissioner of education — literally the person who picked up my report cards from the school where today, I can say, my picture and his photo co-exist in the principal’s office.
Two things my Grandpa taught me:
• Don’t talk unless you know what you are talking about!
• Get educated.
So you know, my formative years also included my educational experiences at Hopwood Jr. High and at Marianas High School, where I met my “high school sweetheart” who continues to be my source of inspiration and guiding light, my wife, Gina. Right after high school, Gina and I left the island with our newborn son to attend Pasadena City College where I received my associate degree.
Enter, my transformative years.
Upon returning to Saipan with just a two-year degree from PCC, I decided to once again pick up my family (by this time, Gina and I had all of our three kids, who by the way have grown up and are now quite successful in their own professions). We moved to Guam and I obtained my bachelor’s degree at the University of Guam.
Upon graduation, I picked up my family once again to join the ranks of the regular Army as a young commissioned officer, which opened many doors for me and my family, advancing through the ranks with operational and career broadening experiences, deploying twice into combat, leaving my family for more than 12 months at a time, and being assigned overseas. These experiences elevated my passion for leadership and this phenomenon called “service to a cause greater than self.”
In my transformative years, I developed to be this lifelong learner. The best part is that even with three master’s degrees and a doctorate, along with vast military education, I learned a great deal about myself, about my surroundings, about other societies that existed outside of the United States, about education or lack thereof, especially in those countries destroyed by war.
But that was my story, which I reflect on every so often; although, not as often as I dream about the future and more importantly as I relish in the present. In other words, I look back into the past like I do when I look into the rearview mirror of my car — just enough to realize what is behind me and to make sure that my blind spot is clear when I decide to switch lanes as I continue down my journey.
What does this mean? This means I get clarity when I look instead into the windshield that is in front of me — the broader view, this clear path ahead, and so I argue that we should view our story in this way. In other words, reflecting on your past is a good thing, but what’s better is when you relish in the moment and make adjustments so you can go after your big dreams.
OK, so, I gave you a glimpse of two sections and a couple of chapters out of my story: my formative and transformative years. But this is your moment, and so, I challenge you to think about your journey, what’s ahead of you, and how you will set the course in your own personal story…
As a matter of fact, here you are already setting the course with your collegiate experience at NMC. You see, everyone has their reasons for seeking higher education. I’ve had mine and you got yours, but do we know the foundations of higher education?
I would argue that this concept dates back to the ancient Greek period when Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and other philosophers were roaming around Greece. This was the time when humanity’s intellectual capacity was on the rise. During that period, there were many questions, debates, so much reasoning, and the search for truth about the many things in life, the universe, and so many other nuances. There were a lot of Sophias floating around the atmosphere. Sophia is the Greek word for wisdom, knowledge, and the search for truth. There were also the Sophists — people in the corner who took a little bit of Sophia, cleverly spun them around, and fooled people so they could reach the top of the republic’s leadership scheme.
Philo is the Greek word for “the love of, or the desire to have more of.” So, on the other spectrum you had these kinds of people who challenged the Sophists. When you combine Philo with Sophia, you get these people, the Philosophers. In the midst of all this, Socrates proclaimed that democracy was a bad system for society, because if the Sophists were good at fooling the people, they would be so popular and reach the top, then they would have a corrupt government. Plato agreed with Socrates, his teacher, but he offered a different perspective, stating that if Philosopher Kings were created, Democracy would flourish because Philosopher Kings would have received a higher level of Sophia. What he really meant was this idea of higher education.
So he created the academy, the safe space for philosophers to come and reason, debate, discover, search for truth, research. Enter, the birth of higher education — the safe space in which you, ladies and gentlemen have benefited from as graduates of NMC.
So, you made the right call and went after that higher education, right? Indeed another good entry into your story, crafting this chapter based on your valued educational experiences here at NMC, eventually earning the degree — the validation of your achievement, and of your hard work and dedication to your growth as an educator.
So, in front of us, we have the CNMI’s future, the CNMI’s newest group of educators! I am filled with excitement, but from one educator to another, I sincerely hope you are motivated, ready, and willing to share your newfound knowledge with the rest of the world — to share this new version of you, this leader, the soon-to-be solver of the many problems we have, and the designer of our Commonwealth’s future. I can already see the contributions you will make.
But I ask that you please understand your role in those chapters of the new you, understand your purpose, know your “why” and then allow yourself to flourish, knowing that you still have all the support network you can get when you need it most. But I ask that you go out and move mountains. The torch is now passed on to you!
What I really like about your generation is that you have redefined the meaning of success. It no longer means the accumulation of wealth and possession. Rather, it has evolved to be this sense of accomplishment and sense of purpose, of self-worth, and of merit and how you fit in this ecosystem we operate, live, and play in. And as you move forward to realize success, I want to give you a simple advice through a story I learned from Master Shing He Yi whose presentation I came across when I was watching TedXTalk one day.
The story goes: there was a young man who had a rather large-sized mountain in front of him that he wanted to climb, but he had no sense of direction nor did he have the visualization about this adventure he knew he had to pursue. So he wondered what would be like to climb that mountain and what would he see if he reached the peak of the mountain. So when the day came, he started his journey, and on the way, he met the first traveler and asked, “how did you get up what mountain and what did you see at the top?”
Accordingly, the traveler shared his path and described what he saw from the top. But the man thought, goodness! The way the traveler described his journey sounds very exhausting. So he decided to find a different way to climb, and as he continued to walk at the foot of the mountain, he met the next traveler who had also just returned from reaching the top of the mountain. So the man asked this second traveler, “How did you climb up that mountain and what did you see at the top?” The traveler shared his story, but the man was still not determined on which direction to take, and asked 30 more people who came down from reaching the top of the mountain, and when he finished talking to all of them, he thought to himself, “Now that so many people have shared with me the paths they took, and especially what they saw from the top, I do not need to climb anymore.”
How unfortunate that this man never went on that journey. To conclude this story, each individual needs to find his/her most suitable way to climb that mountain, second, there is the possibility for so much information to be shared with just words…and description, but it is impossible, as Master Shing explains, to share the experience of clarity that you get when you are standing on that peak by yourself…
Clarity, he explains means to see more clear and you see more clear, everything becomes more apparent and then you somehow get it with clarity, you have great visualization of the truth. You realize Philo and you gain Sophia, and when you see more clear, perhaps you will not be fooled by the sophists because seeing clearly means you can distinguish for yourself which is the proper direction to take and which decisions to make in order to reach your goals and aspirations — your destination.
Ladies and gentlemen, you have gone on this journey here at NMC, and you have received so much knowledge and wisdom. You made that decision and you crafted this chapter with the help of this institution, you have transformed yourself, and since you are about to close this chapter and open a new page for your next one, I want to ask:
What does your next chapter look like? How will you climb another mountain? What decisions will you make to transfer your own knowledge of the mountain you just climbed. How will you inspire others who are also curious about your journey, or the paths made by others on the mountains that stood in front of them?
How will you pass the torch that has been passed on to you? This idea of passing the torch is a time-honored tradition in making sure that important lessons learned in the profession are advanced, and today, is an opportunity for you to transfer the knowledge you gained to the many kids you will be charged with, to guide them in their formative years.
Here’s my challenge to you.
Be the servant leader who guides and encourages those you are charged with as an educator — to understand not only the path they have taken, but to enable them to find within their own curiosity the meaning of life, and why their own authorship is important. But even more so, for them to see clearly how to discover their own direction and path to take as they travel to reach the peak so they can find their own clarity. I ask that you guide them to be good authors of their own story by being the exemplar educators. Turn them into lifelong learners!
In closing, I urge you to never forget your past. Just do not dwell on it. Rather, embrace and appreciate your present—this moment of your life, and dream big…let’s dream for our students. At the end of the day, I urge you to please make sure to guide forth the next generation —those who will be like you, educated, professionals, problem-solvers, and designers of our Commonwealth’s future!
As we say in PSS: Students First, Educators Always!
I wish you all the best, Biba, congratulations, and thank you!
As commissioner of education, Dr. Lawrence F. Camacho is responsible for 20 schools and 10 Head Start centers serving over 9,000 students across three separate islands, including over 1,000 children with the Head Start, Special Education and Early Intervention programs. He sits on the Council of Chief State School Officers and the Regional Educational Lab or REL Pacific governing board.
Prior to his appointment as commissioner of education, he served as Dean of Enrollment Management and Student Success and Dean of Students at the University of Guam where he was also the executive director for the UOG AmeriCorps Volunteer Center.
A steadfast community partner, he currently serves as a board member of the Northern Marianas Humanities Council and sits on the National WestCare Foundation Board of Directors, and he also serves as Vice Chair of the Community Action Council for WestCare Pacific Islands; Service-to-School ambassador; and a member of the Rotary Club.
He holds a Doctor of Education degree from Drexel University; a master’s degree in leadership and liberal arts from Duquesne University; a Master’s degree in higher education administration from University of Louisville; a Master’s degree in history from U.S Army Command and General Staff College; a Bachelor’s degree in public administration from University of Guam; and associate degree from Pasadena City College.
Dr. Camacho is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel with over 21 years of active-duty service serving in First Cavalry Division; 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment; 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized); 501st Sustainment Brigade; 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary) to include a previous role as Battalion Commander of the 53rd Movement Control Battalion and as Professor of Military Science and Leadership at Drexel University and Assistant Professor of Military Science at Georgia Tech.
His overseas assignment included Iraq (twice), Bosnia-Herzegovina, South Korea, and the U.S. Embassy in Cairo Egypt.
Dr. Camacho is a recipient of two Bronze Star medals, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, five Army Meritorious Service Medals; Joint Service Achievement Medal; two Army Commendation Medals; National Defense Service Medal; Joint Service Expeditionary Medal; Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; Iraqi Freedom Campaign Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Korea Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, and four overseas service ribbons; and is a recipient of the Combat Action Badge. He is inducted into of the Order of the St. Christopher and Order of Samuel Sharpe.
