BOE Chairwoman MaryLou Seman Ada administered the oath-taking ceremony held in the BOE conference room on Capital Hill.
“I am truly honored to be the student representative, to speak my thoughts, give suggestions and to be the voice of the youth,” said Hocog.
“On behalf of the Board of Education and our Public School System family, I welcome you to help fulfill our commitment to provide public school students with representation on this report,” said Ada.
Before the presence of her friends and with her parents on Tinian witnessing the event through video-teleconference, Hocog became the island’s second student leader to represent the school district’s over 11,000 students on the board.
Hocog acknowledged that her position comes with huge responsibilities.
“Let’s hope for more parent and student involvement…but remember, Students First!” she said.
An A-list student, Hocog has a grade point average of 3.81. She is involved in several school and extracurricular activities.
“I know there are people who’ll look up to me. I don’t want to let them down,” Hocog said. She hopes that “it will be a good but busy year for PSS and its students.”
She added, “I know I can make it. I know what I have to do…. I may not be the smartest person, but I will surely do my best. I won’t lose sight of my goals.”
BOE is a constitutionally mandated policy-making body of the CNMI education system and is composed of elected members from Rota, Tinian and Saipan. It also has non-voting members representing students, teachers and private schools.
Early this month, Hocog’s appointment was signed by then-acting Gov. Eloy S. Inos.
