Obeketang, Palau’s Pride

Obeketang, a senior high school student of Palau High School was among the 33 students from all over the United States that attended the Youth Summit Leadership, hosted by Booz Allen Hamilton, the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships and Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP).Obeketang and another student from Hawaii were the only ones chosen by the US Department of Education to represent the Pacific Region.Tiffany Obeketang, the eldest child of PPUC employee Gordon and Flora Obeketang was one of the 1.5 million members of GEAR UP in US and Pacific Region that applied for the Youth Summit Leadership that was held on July 19-24, 2008.GEAR UP, a federal program of the US Department of Education is designed to increase the number of low-income students to be prepared to enter and succeed in post secondary education. This program will also aid the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act.Palau’s Ministry of Education received GEAR UP grant approval in September 2005 for the next six years.Obeketang came back on July 26 from a five days Youth Summit in Washington DC and she said that Summit put to test her leadership skills and she experienced a lot of things that she have always dreamed of as a student and as a young leader.“I gained the strength and confidence to be able to lead as well as work with other people that I’ve never known in my entire life. I got the chance to learn from my peers and also share with them the knowledge that I brought with me from Palau,”Obeketang said.She said she also learned about herself that she was never aware of before.“I learned that I could get along with people from different races and backgrounds and that working in teams requires strength, courage, commitment, dedication and communication skills. I am also glad that I got the chance to share to them where Palau is, what’s it like, the culture, beliefs and history,”the teenager said.Obeketang said one of the biggest highlights of the Youth Summit Leadership was to hear the voices of the youth“NCCEP and GEAR UP wanted to hear our opinions, our thoughts and feelings about education, and our suggestions about solutions that might help. As great young leaders. We gave them what they wanted and showed them what we wanted as future leaders of the world,”she said.Obeketang said they were asked to identify three problems that they came up with solutions and presented it in front of thousands of GEAR UP professionals.“We came up with three road blockers that we thought were the most common and also the biggest problems in schools all over the world. The first one is student environment. We students need a learning environment that is suitable for our needs as students. We need clean schools that don’t run out of supplies. We also need teachers and staffs support and dedication to get the motivation,”said.“The second problem is the student attitude. Everyday we blame at least one student for being undisciplined with no manners. What if there’s a reason behind that? Have you ever looked to see if there is? What if that student has problems at home and needed someone to help him or her? We shut our ears and assume that the student is bad. It’s the attitude of the people around the students that affect the student’s attitude. The third blocker is stereotype. We have this habit to unconsciously stereotype people when we see them. So what if he’s black and you’re white, if she is tall and you’re short or if he’s from Airai and you’re from Koror? We’re all different and that’s the beauty of it. That’s what makes us unique in our own ways. Two people who think differently accomplish greater things than two people who think alike,’she said.Obeketang said she had the chance to meet Congressman Chaka Fatah, the person who introduced the GEAR UP bill, Senator Hillary Clinton, Daniel Pink, one of the greatest motivational speakers of the world, and one of today’s famous actor and rap artist Nick Cannon.Obeketang said they were toured to Washington DC, to Lincoln World War II Memorial, Capitol Hill, White House, the Booz Allen Hamilton offices and George Town.Before coming back to Palau on July 26, she and chaperon Marleen Ngirametuker, GEAR UP Palau Project Coordinator, stopped by in Hawaii for two days and visited the University of Hawaii in Manoa.Obeketang has thanked all the GEAR UP staff in Palau; her family and friends for all the support and for helping her achieve her dreams.Ngirametuker in a separate interview said:”We are very proud of her. She has the potential to be a leader in the future. We do our best to help her so that she can realize her dreams.”“We are happy for her that she was selected. It was a unique experience for her and we’re just so happy for her,”Lakolani D. Olngellel, GEAR UP Program Specialist said.ObeketangNgirametuker said they are looking forward to provide Obeketang a College scholarship so that she can enroll in the University of her own choice.GEAR UP Palau has a total of 25 scholars right now, most of them are from PHS and some are from Palau Missionary Academy and Mindszenty High School.