This was the case for Deveney Dela Cruz, upcoming senior at Marianas High School who attended the JSA Summer School Program at Stanford University this past June 26-July 18. She gives us a glimpse of her experience.
The program
“The Junior Statesmen of America is an organization that provides high school students the ability to better understand the democratic system and also prepares them to be actively involved citizens of our nation,” Dela Cruz defines the program.
She continues, “The JSA slogan is ‘Be the people.’ They want us as young adults to understand that we have the power to understand that we must take charge of our country or no one will and that democracy is not a spectator sport. Their goal is to empower us to speak our mind and create our own opinion as well as be able to listen to the opinions of others.”
“I learned that JSA is not just for future governors or political buffs, but also for young men and women who are interested in becoming open minded and strong willed leaders who will be able to overcome the country’s challenges and move our nation in a positive direction […],” she describes passionately.
Benefits
“There are just so many,” exclaims Dela Cruz.
“For their summer program, the first part of the appeal is being able to travel to Princeton, Georgetown, Stanford, or Beijing. You are able to get an early feel of a college environment and have the opportunity to get college credit for political classes of your choice. You are also in the midst of renowned professors and likeminded classmates who are also enthusiastic about the political process and can be accessible tools of knowledge that can help you excel. Within the summer program every student has an opinion and has a safe realm of open minded peers to express their beliefs.
Dela Cruz also explains benefits aside from those that fall under the category of academics.
“By being out on your own you develop a sense of freedom. JSA can help you better yourself as a young individual by providing you with life skills and getting you out of your comfort zone. With the program you will make lifelong friends and represent who you are and where you’re from, which is especially interesting when you try to explain a remote place such as the CNMI,” she says.
Challenges
“There were the simple things such as overcoming the jet lag in the first week to moderate home sickness and not having “island-time” when it came to classes and Congressional Workshops,” she points out.
Congressional workshops are a part of the program which consists of the students being divided into six congressional houses to debate preselected resolutions that range anywhere from whether President Obama should win the next election to the constitutionality of TSA pat downs and body scans.
She continues, “Bigger challenges came with public speaking, debate prep, and keeping up with assignments. All the academic problems I faced draw from the time crunch we experienced where a semester’s worth of work had to be concentrated into hours a day of classes.”
“The major challenge that I had to overcome,” she narrows down, “was my international relations class. Growing up I never really cared to be updated on the news or felt the need to learn about foreign affairs so I decided to take the IR course to be better connected with the world around me. Unfortunately, without a strong background of the broad spectrum, I felt really out of place when it came to all of the names and places brought up in class. I had to analyze the issues of places and people that I, at times, had never even heard of in order to keep up with discussion, exams, and completing a 10-page term paper. Although it was difficult, over the three weeks I’ve gained a much more informed perspective on the world around me, and I feel a more passionate need to discover how I can be better connected to this world.”
A different school experience
“It was a completely different environment,” says Dela Cruz.
“The work difficulty may be like that of a normal AP class, but the amount of time we had to complete it in was ridiculously short. You have to constantly be focused in order to stay on top of work because although professors can be lenient about work, punctuality and deadlines […] are taken very seriously. Another aspect was the level of student participation. Whether it be in debates or class discussions, we all wanted to throw in our opinions and it even came to the point where we were holding discussions on class or CW topics in our free time because we still felt like there was more to say. I felt that the academic atmosphere was so much more invigorating because every one of my schoolmates were truly impassioned young adults that equally shared the goal of not just completing, but excelling in our summer courses.”
Prep Program
Dela Cruz describes this as one of her most memorable times at JSA.
“It’s specifically for JSA Students from the Pacific Islands to adjust to the time difference, lifestyle, and living conditions on the Stanford campus before the actual program started,” she tells Variety.
She also explains that the prep program took place a week prior to the summer program.
“The 26 of us had a crash course of American history, U.S. government, and effective writing and communication, all in preparation for the three weeks that were to come. I believe that the program was extremely beneficial for us to get a glimpse of what is expected of us as Junior Statesmen and Stateswomen. The prep program itself was a rigorous yet very helpful week that quickly brought me closer to a group of now very close friends who really shared a common bond with me and the rest of the CNMI students. I am definite that my three weeks would have been much more difficult without it and I hope that JSA will continue this for future JSA islanders.”
Take advantage of it!
Dela Cruz says, “I would definitely recommend this program to all the eligible students…. I want them to be able to have the chance to experience a program that could be as beneficial to them as it was to me. I want the youth of the CNMI to challenge their capabilities, realize their potential, and show the rest of the country that our islands have so much to offer. I believe that JSA will change them for the better and it will be a month they will never forget.”
Lastly, Dela Cruz wants to point out special thanks to Ignacio Dela Cruz and Kory Sablan, an MHS JSA alumna, for encouraging her to attend the program; to James Yangtemai, Donald Cohen, and Hazel Tudela for filling out her recommendation forms; and to Lauren Kyonka, a JSA alumnus, who organized the on-island orientation meeting and offered her time to help prepare the students for summer school.
Additionally, she acknowledges her parents, “who showed me unconditional support during the application process and throughout the program,” she says.
“I would especially like to thank Elliot Nguyen, the JSA International Program Director, who showed his faith in my abilities by selecting me for the JSA scholarship, and guided me and my fellow JSA islanders through our prep week,” she concludes.
