Better to be busy than bored

It isn’t difficult to find people who speak at length about their dedication and devotion to their community, but Frances Somorang has been letting her actions do the talking since her days at the Northern Marianas Academy.

The 20-year-old Somorang has been serving the CNMI as a program aide for individuals with mental disabilities at the Northern Marianas Protection Advocacy Systems Inc. since she was fresh out of high school.

Two years ago, she wasn’t quite sure of what NMPASI was all about, but now she knows that it provides help for people who don’t have all of the resources to help themselves.

“We deal with a lot of clients who voice their complaints about how they’ve been mistreated. We act as watchdogs—as mediators. Knowing that you make a difference is why I love this line of work.”

Somorang believes that NMPASI benefits from having a small, closely-knit staff, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Though she works a 9-to-5 shift helping people, her dedication to the community continues off the clock as well. While most people begin their weekend activities the moment they punch out at the end of the week, Somorang often puts her social life on hold a few hours to volunteer her time with Parents Anonymous.

When called upon by the group, she donates her time from 6:30pm to 8:45pm to try to bring smiles to the faces of about 5-15 children who have been abused or neglected by family members who have been struggling with drug and alcohol dependencies.

“I can make a difference in their lives. When we say goodbye, you can see that you did [make a difference], and that’s the most rewarding thing.”

This is not the first time that Frances has been involved with the island youth. When she was a student at NMA, Somorang was a youth senator for the first Youth Congress.

As a freshman representing Precinct 3, she passed the first bill of the Youth Congress that went all the way through to the CNMI House of Representatives. As a result of her hard work, the CNMI made it a point to better enforce the policy against minors purchasing tobacco.

While she was growing up, Somorang never really had a lack of things to do, but she attributes that to a phrase from her former volleyball coach Paul Strickhart, which she later turned into her personal motto: “It’s better to be busy than to be bored.”

When she wasn’t drafting bills, helping children, and assisting clients over the last six years, Frances has been busy honing her skills on the volleyball court. The ever-occupied Somorang was a member of the CNMI women’s team that went to the Far East Tournament in Japan in 2000, the Hong Kong International High School Tournament in 2001, and the 2002 Micronesian Games in Pohnpei.

You can still find her on the court, as she practices for an hour and a half three days a week, plays on two days, and keeps score and statistics for the local Island Wide Volleyball League when she’s not playing.

“I’m pretty passionate about the sport, and playing in those tournaments really opened up my eyes to what volleyball can do here.”

Future plans for Somorang have her leaving Saipan next summer to turn her Liberal Arts degree from Northern Marianas College into a Masters in Business Law at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. While she will be departing the CNMI, it will not be for good, as the ambitious half-Palauan, half-Carolinian plans to return to the Marianas and continue to make a difference in the lives of the island’s youth.

“My dream is to come back after my education and build a state-of-the-art volleyball or sports camp—equipped with cabins and a first-class gymnasium—where kids can just get away for the summer.”

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, the people of the CNMI should find time to be thankful that there are still people who are as dedicated to making a difference as Frances Somorang.