First row, front row, from left: Northern Marianas Humanities Council Vice Chair Gretchen Smith, students Brissa Hunter, Jill Mallari and Dryllynne Joseph, council board member Marjorie Daria. Back row: the family members of the winners.
THE Northern Marianas Humanities Council on Friday, June 30, awarded special cash prizes to the three winners of the My Marianas Writing Contest.
According to the contests’ official publication booklet, the contest is a project to “promote literacy and the diverse backgrounds and experiences of high school students in the CNMI.”
First place went to Jill Anne Mallari, who recently graduated from Mount Carmel School; second place is Dryllynne Joseph, who will be a junior at Kagman High School; and third place is Brissa Hunter, also a recent MCS graduate.
Mallari takes home a $500 cash prize, with $400 and $300 going to Joseph and Hunter, respectively.
This year’s theme was “Senses of Home.” Students were asked to create personal narrative essays capturing “core memories” of the Marianas as home. Students were encouraged to use sensory details and skillful writing to tell personal stories of growing up in the Marianas.
Mallari said it’s “bittersweet” winning, as this is essentially her last local contest she can enter now that she will soon leave to go to San Diego for college.
“Sharing our stories and knowing people are going to read this — it’s a fun journey to reflect on ourselves and our home,” she added.
Mallari’s essay is titled “One Ocean, One Home.” She said she wrote about her fear of drowning in the ocean, which is rooted in her fear of the unknown. But after reflection, she was able to have a “full circle moment” right in time to leave the Marianas to study abroad.
Joseph’s essay, “The Scarred Knees,” recounts a time in her life when, as a five-year-old, she rolled down a hill outside of her house and injured herself.
For Joseph, her scars allow her to “carry home on her body.” Her scars are permanent reminders that help her feel the nostalgia of her youth and growing up with her family.
“It was emotional,” Joseph said about her writing process. “Talking about your younger self is a lot.”
Like her classmate Mallari, Hunter agrees that “the ocean connects us.” She wrote an essay called “Our Beaches Become Our Memories.”
Hunter will travel thousands of miles across the ocean soon, to go to school in Boston.
“Every time I think of home — and I know I’m going to be thinking about it a lot — it’s somewhere where you think about the ocean, how on a hot summer day you’re reaching into the cooler you’re grabbing a Hi-C, you get that little chill because you just got out of the water, and the ice is freezing up your arm,” Hunter said, explaining how she developed some of the themes captured in her writing.
Humanities Council Executive Director Leo Pangelinan said all public and private high schools in the CNMI and Joeten-Kiyu Public Library will receive copies of the official contest booklet which contains the essays of Mallari, Joseph, and Hunter, as well as the next five top scoring essays from the contest: Cheyanne Sablan of KHS; Ashley Muleta of Marianas High School; Donovan Cabrera of KHS; Luke Lizama of KHS; and Ravin Sablan of KHS.
Pangelinan said invitations were extended to all private and public high schools in the CNMI, and a total of 57 students participated in the contest.
