A shoulder to the wheel and his eyes on the stars

When he was five years old, Michael N. Evangelista would look at his father’s college diploma hanging on the wall of their Tanapag home. The late Carlos Evangelista would tell him to aspire for higher education and become a lawyer someday.

His father’s words inflamed a passion in the mind of the young Tanapag boy, who would go on to relentlessly pursue that dream despite the bumpy road ahead of him. Now a single father to a 13-year-old boy, Miki, Evangelista recently completed his law degree at the University of Idaho College of Law with honors and he has now set his sight on taking the CNMI Bar examinations early next year.

“We weren’t a rich family. I have money with my little savings. My mother [Ramona] and my family made me believe that I could do it [earning a law degree],” Mike said.

It was a leap of faith for Mike when he decided to pursue a law degree with practically no financial backing. His father had just died when he decided to finally pursue his studies. At first, his father’s death was an emotional stress on him, and he was already having second thoughts about going to law school. But the thought that his father would have been proud of him if he achieves that dream motivated him more.

Besides the challenging demands of law school, the obstacles didn’t stop coming. When he was a freshman, a brother-in-law died. But Evangelista’s mother and his siblings’ strong faith in God allowed him weather the struggles.

Going to law school was no easy task. The load of studying voluminous documents and reading materials and the pressure of accomplishing his tasks not only posed physical and mental challenges, but psychological as well. Giving up his sleep hours to studying law, which he considers as “the ultimate academic challenge,” became a normal routine.

“Law school is a very humbling experience. For those who think they are smart, law school will challenge them physically, mentally, and psychologically,” Mike said. “In my darkest days in law school, I knew I was doing it for my son, and that kept me moving forward.”

Early this year, Evangelista completed his juris doctor degree with honors, adding another remarkable feat to his long list of accomplishments. He had graduated summa cum laude from the Northern Marianas College where he earned an associate degree in Liberal Arts, and later completed his bachelor’s degree in Political Science at the Washington State University in 1996.

Driven by a mission to bridge the gap between judicial system access and the people, Evangelista is setting his sight on taking the CNMI Bar examinations in early 2006. His current personal priority is supporting his family, but he has a penchant for public service. He said he would consider running for public office in the future—many, many years from now.

Before pursuing a law degree, Evangelista worked as Senate legislative assistant at the CNMI Legislative Bureau for six years from 1996 to 2002, where he was involved in researching and drafting legislative documents, and writing correspondences and speeches for senators, among many other responsibilities. Evangelista also played a key role in establishing the first CNMI Youth Congress in 1997.

Sen. Thomas P. Villagomez describes Evangelista as one self-motivated person, “whose thirst for knowledge fuels a perpetual flame that blossoms and nurtures his personal enlightenment.”

“Mike is a highly motivated individual who did not let the fact that he became a young single father deter him from raising his son while pursuing and successfully completing his undergraduate studies. Tackling single fatherhood or pursuing one’s complete college education is difficult enough for most people, even when undertaken separately,” the senator said.

“To tackle both simultaneously and succeed with flying colors, as Mike did, required not only an endless supply of self-motivation, but Herculean effort as well,” the senator added.

Mike encouraged the youth in the community to pursue higher education, telling them to have confidence and faith in their abilities.

“Don’t settle for mediocrity,” said Mike. “Aspire to achieve. Dream big. If you set your goal high and you continue to pursue it, you’ll get there.”

Mike has been active in community groups and civic organizations, and was former commissioner of the CNMI Little League Baseball. He was also former vice president of the Parents-Teachers Association of the Tanapag Elementary School, where he also completed his elementary education before studying at the Hopwood Junior High School and the Marianas High School.