Because ABE is under the umbrella of Northern Marianas College, we were informed that our graduation will take place on Saipan and we would have to travel there to participate on Saturday, May 23.
Not being able to obtain our high school diploma, we were all very excited and happy to be a part of the ceremony with other CNMI ABE students as this is our optimal goal; to finally be able to accomplish something in our lives that we were not able to achieve while we were in high school.
We decided to write to our Rota delegation and municipal council requesting for assistance for air transportation, ground transportation and hotel accommodation for that event. To our dismay we never received a response from any of them. I realize that our economy is in a crisis at this time but it would be nice to hear from one of our leaders, at least to acknowledge our accomplishment and extend their apology if they are unable to provide assistance in any way.
Well, we never did get a response from any of them and that hurt. It makes us question their sincerity and their priorities as public servants. I had always thought that education is their main priority; yes, we are no longer high school nor college students but we are accomplishing an important form of education; one that will enable us to acquire employment or maybe even enter another level of education. This is our time to shine and we believe that all 25 of us deserve to be recognized for our achievement.
Now, we have been informed that we will be having our graduation on island this coming Friday, May 15, because there is no funding to enable us to join the ABE graduates on Saipan. This situation makes us feel alienated, discriminated and unimportant. Could it be that we are not considered important by our leaders because it’s just an Adult Basic Education graduation and not Rota High School’s? I thought education is the same at any time….thank you delegates and council members for your BIG help!
DAMIAN TOVES
Rota ABE student
