This is the goal of Katherine Mae Cepeda Pangelinan Mersai as she and three others were honored in the Northern Marianas College commencement ceremony at the Marianas High School gym on Saturday for graduating summa cum laude.
Mersai topped this year’s batch of bachelor of science in elementary education graduates.
The other top graduates were Glenn Samuel Merjilla Songcuan, associate in applied science in hospitality management and associate of arts in business; Jiao Xu, associate of arts in business; and Querlaine DLG. Blas, associate in liberal arts.
Mersai in her speech said tomorrow’s success depends on setting new goals. Success, she said, takes a lot of collaboration, commitment, determination and focus.
But one very important aspect of being successful is having a supportive team of family, friends, classmates, teachers and neighbors.
“We cannot do everything by ourselves. We need the team. It is all about having the support, passion and the constant naggings from our support team that made us get to where we are today,” she said.
“Go the extra mile,” said Songcuan as he urged his fellow graduates to continue to achieve more.
Xu, for her part, said “We are now ready to embrace the future.”
In an interview, Mersai said she is determined to be the best educator “so I can teach our future leaders to be productive.”
She added, “I hope to be a maker of better leaders of the CNMI.”
Her mother, Maria Pangelinan a former educator herself, said her family was very ecstatic.
“We are more than happy that she finally finished her education, like we were always pushing. As a former educator my goal is to make sure my children get a degree and whatever it is that they are interested in,” she said.
Mersai’s husband, Danny, said he and everybody in the family were very proud of her.
“I don’t know if I could find anybody else like her,” said Danny who works in Chuuk.
They have two children, Luke and Mariah.
Those who graduated magna cum laude were Kelanie Cepeda Aldan, associate in liberal arts; Charlene Vargas Oliverio, associate in liberal arts; Nadia Deleon Guerrero Benjamin, associate in applied science in business administration accounting; Glenda Palacios Cabrera, associate in applied science in business administration accounting; Mightee Minsum Kim, associate in applied science business administration accounting; Emily Young, associate in criminal justice; Jan Michael Macaraeg, associate in natural resources management; Julie Centina Hall, associate in nursing; Sharisse Santoceldes Rivera, associate in nursing; Myung Ah Ko, bachelor of science in elementary education; and Walter Daip Mendez, bachelor of science in elementary education.
Those who graduated cum laude were Soo Hee Kwak, Tambra Mendiola Reyes, Jesse Jack Bernabe Salas, Jose Dante Sabado Santiago, Ah Jung Sin, Antonio Tiples IV, Hyunwoo Woo, Tilia Leisarma Tarope Kanemoto, Yeji Yoon, Augustine Palacios Diaz, Yu Gi Kim, Joana Marie Perje Palero, Yao Guang Zhong,
Elde Brigitte Acera, Ronalyn Ivy Alindayu Atienza, Min Seon Park, Winifred Paras Cabrera, Francisca Aldan Castro, Shawna Tudela Chong, Joey Duenas Mostales, Calvin Kenneth Snodgrass and Angelina Neomi Yobech.
There were about 100 students who graduated on Saturday.
