‘Look at NMC as a resource center’

By ROSE JONES

Hafa Adai, Tirow students and honored guests

Twenty-five years ago, a vision and a dream became reality. That vision and dream became NMC. I am glad to have the opportunity to be here today to witness for myself the concept and ideas that started a magnificent journey of higher education in the CNMI. Today, we celebrate everything that NMC has been able to accomplish in its 25 years of existence and hope for a brighter future for our Commonwealth. I am truly fortunate to be a part of this celebration as the President of the Associated Student Body of NMC. From this perspective I hope to share a students point of view of NMC.

A college education is the key to success in a regional and global economy. We can no longer look to compete for employment opportunities with high school diplomas, but rather with higher education credentials. We must motivate ourselves into attaining our educational goals and personal missions. As citizens of this great Commonwealth we are fortunate that we can receive a homegrown education. In my discussions with my peers we tend to agree that the majority of our students do not have the financial means to leave home and realize the dream of having a college degree. Fortunately, NMC provides this opportunity and for that we will be forever grateful.

Currently, NMC serves the island communities of Rota, Tinian and Saipan. Our three campuses provide greater opportunities for our people. Like the line of a famous baseball movie; “If you build it, they will come!” I invite you to all to walk the halls of our NMC campuses and you will see for yourselves the diversity in our student population. Students have come from all over the world to attend NMC. They may come for many reasons, and I can attest that our college provides a wide array programs that allow us, the students, opportunities to study and explore our interest. We eventually become experts in our chosen careers!

We know that our government is not as healthy as it once was. However, we must look at ways of bettering ourselves. My fellow students would like to stress the importance of deliberative decision-making processes. We all have to pitch-in in the end, but we must not sacrifice quality of services to the students. In recent months, I have been noticing more depressing news about our government and the state of our economy. NMC has had its fair share in the media about its financial condition and no relief seems to be in sight. As students we should be concerned about our studies and less on whether or not we will have a college to attend.

I believe that the college has done everything in its power to assist the government in becoming financially stable once again. I can attest that as student leaders we are all included in all discussions at NMC and we are part of the equation when making tough decisions.

I hope that NMC is looked upon in the community as a valuable resource education center and not a wasted investment. An investment in the minds of our people is priceless. We cannot put a dollar figure to knowledge rather we should invest more in knowledge so that we may see our investment grow and contribute exponentially.

I urge all leaders today to look at NMC as a viable resource center in assisting our community in its economic recovery journey! We students stand steadfast and ready to assist our great commonwealth!

Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to address you all! I extend my personal invitation to you to come and visit our campus during our charter day festivities on March 31st and April 1st.

Hope to see you there!

Thank you and si yu’us ma’ase!

(Rose Jones is the president of the Associated Student Body of NMC.)