Yuri Sasamoto, left, and Jesus Sablan are incoming college sophomores at Columbia University. They offered a free college application workshop and panel discussion on Saturday, Aug. 17 at Crowne Plaza Resort.
YURI Sasamoto and Jesus Sablan, incoming sophomores at Columbia University, an Ivy League institution, hosted a free college application workshop and panel discussion on Saturday, Aug. 17 at the Crowne Plaza Resort.
Sasamoto, Mount Carmel School’s class valedictorian for 2023, said she and Sablan are on summer break.
“We decided to do this [workshop] because, when we were applying to college in high school, we didn’t really have as many resources as we would have liked,” she said. “We kind of had to figure things out on our own. And what we wanted to do now that we’ve gone through that for ourselves has come back to the CNMI and help other students….”
To that end, she and Sablan offered help with the Common App, extra-curricular activities, essay-writing advice, and financial aid options.
Sasamoto said Sablan approached her with the idea for the workshop while they were about to end classes for the spring semester. She agreed because she didn’t want other students to experience the stress she did.
She said in high school, she had a college counselor who helped with recommendation letter writing, fee waivers, and transcripts, but she had to handle the “more personal” parts of the application process. She had to do application research and figure out the best practices on her own while juggling senior year in high school.
She said she felt “overwhelmed,” “worried,” and “stressed.”
For Sasamoto, the workshop is an opportunity to help others.
“Our home really means a lot to us, and we want to give back as much as we can,” she said.
Sablan, who was Saipan International School’s 2023 class valedictorian, was excited that the workshop reached full capacity.
He would like to organize another workshop when he returns to Saipan on break next year.
Like Sasamoto, Sablan felt the stress of applying for college weigh on him while he was a senior in high school.
“It was very difficult, especially doing the college applications alongside my schoolwork,” he added.
Sablan said many other students came to him for advice after he was able to get into Columbia. He said the application process is not particularly complex, but confusion can occur because the CNMI does not offer many opportunities to learn about the process.
Sablan said his classmates in the states have multiple college counselors at their high school alma maters, and there are private entities that help students apply for college, including proofreading essays.
He wanted to use the workshop to help instill some confidence in his fellow island residents.
He said college applications require lots of time.
“You need to put in your time because the amount of time you put in your application is going to show through your result,” he said. “As long as you put your best effort forward, what’s made for you is going to be there.”
Sablan added, “I do believe that we have brilliant minds in the CNMI, and they just need a little bit of help to get into their dream schools. Calm down, do your research, definitely believe in yourself.”
