College prep at MCS

“I still don’t know what I want to do with my life, but I know I need to go to college.”

So said Mount Carmel School senior Michelle Palacios, who began the college application process early this school year.

Palacios’ journey is similar to many other AlumKnights who have walked the hallways of Mount Carmel School. Since opening its doors in 1952, and especially after it started Saipan’s first high school in 1956, it has sustained a distinction for being a college-prep school.

That is reinforced by the countless AlumKnights who have earned admission into some of the world’s leading institutions.

The benefits of college is something that 2016 AlumKnight Thomas Manglona II has emphasized since he was a freshman at his alma mater.

Manglona worked on his academic track record, taking Advance Placement courses and supplementing his transcripts with a number of online courses.

Second, and just as important, Manglona developed a well-rounded résumé, starting a Journalism Club at the school, participating competitively in the National Speed and Debate Association, and serving as Student Council president in his senior year.

These opportunities paved the way toward his admission into UC Berkeley and being selected for the prestigious Gates Millennium Scholars program.

Now that Manglona is in college, he has come to a deeper appreciation for the value of higher education. For instance, he recognizes how much college helps students learn more about themselves and about others.

“College is a short period of life but is a highly condensed time where you become more critical and learn new things that you did not even know you did not know,” he said.

Manglona has taken these words to heart since arriving at Berkeley, where he is now the news director for Berkeley’s CALTV news program and has earned the Lloyd LaCuesta Broadcast News Internship Grant from the AAJA.

One program that Palacios has availed of is the school’s SAT Boot Camp. Since signing up for the camp, Palacios has seen her performance improve on practice tests.

Yearlong college prep
College-prep at the school, however, spans the entire year, not just College Week.
Just last week, 2013 AlumKnight and former Student Council president Jimin Ryu visited the school to share her experience transitioning from college to the workforce. As she finishes up her last year at Korea University, Ryu has joined a new start-up company that is developing braille and other assistive technology to help the visually impaired make the most of smartphones and social media.

However, Ryu pointed out that she never thought she would enter this field. “It helps to have a plan, but it helps even more to be flexible and ready.”

This resonated with Palacios, who has struggled with what to do with her life. “The most helpful speaker so far has been Jimin Ryu, because despite her success as a student, she found a new path from what she initially intended.”

It has also reassured Palacios as she moves forward with her college applications. “I don’t really feel pressure from my family, but I’ve been pressuring myself. Listening to Jimin helps take some of that pressure off.” (PR)