{"id":203976,"date":"2015-06-11T04:00:32","date_gmt":"2015-06-10T18:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=203976"},"modified":"2015-06-11T04:00:32","modified_gmt":"2015-06-10T18:00:32","slug":"mhs-graduates-about-309-seniors-choi-and-olivos-are-top-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/mhs-graduates-about-309-seniors-choi-and-olivos-are-top-2\/","title":{"rendered":"MHS graduates about 309 seniors; Choi and Olivos are Top 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Marianas<\/a>
Marianas High School\u2019s Top 10 students pose together with their awards and certificates. (Dennis B. Chan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Marianas High School seniors said \u201cyes\u201d to a daring and fulfilling future at their graduation ceremony yesterday at the MHS Gymnasium.<\/p>\n

The Class of 2015 was made up about 309 students eager to break out into chant, cheer, or applause yesterday. As a couple of guest speakers put it, this was their last day of school, the end of their days in the Public School System, after completing 20 or more class credits and spending thousands of days in class\u2014from their days in Kindergarten to the crowning moment of their senior year yesterday.<\/p>\n

The class\u2019 top student was Esther Choi, the class valedictorian. Following her was salutatorian Jewel Gaviola Olivos. Rounding out the rest of the MHS\u2019 Top 10 were Mobtasim Alam, Angelica Mateo, Havika Mae Farro, Nina Lan, Nana Lan, Jeremi Montenejo, Ann Jeline Manabat, and Zakery Yamagishi. Honorable mentions went to Su Jeong Kim and Vanessa Gramlich.<\/p>\n

\"Esther<\/a>
Esther Choi, Valedictorian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Jewel<\/a>
Jewel Gaviola Olivos. Salutatorian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAs freshmen we couldn\u2019t wait to be seniors who were looked [up to] by all the other classes. As sophomores, we started to feel like we were getting a hand of everything in school. As juniors, we were certain we would be better at being seniors than the current ones. Finally as a senior, it felt like we ruled the school,\u201d said Choi.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that the year is over, we stand before you as a graduating class who entered high school as children but now leaving as adults,\u201d she told the crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will push boundaries,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

To her fellow students, she said, \u201cLife is short and it is limited, so don\u2019t waste it living someone else\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Education Commissioner Dr. Rita Sablan said what parents love and endeavor to see from their children as they leave home is \u201cwhat they are connecting themselves to.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an example of this, she called upon the six students who have enlisted in the U.S. military to rise for recognition and applause.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have 12 years of learning experience. You did not do it alone,\u201d she said, also calling for applause for teachers and parents.<\/p>\n

In his keynote address, former MHS vice principal and teacher John Davis said when he was told he had been chosen to speak, he thought he was being \u201cpunked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter all, when I was one of the administrators here at MHS, many of you spent most of your time either running away from me or hiding from me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeriously, though, I hold this as a great honor to speak with you and, as the people who invited me will tell you, I was almost brought to tears,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The former Vietnam War veteran told students that in 1973, while he was still in the military and after \u201ca short stint in the stockade,\u201d he started to reflect on his life and decided to apply to be an astronaut.<\/p>\n

\u201cI filled out the forms and sent the paperwork to NASA and after a very, very short wait, I received a very courteous letter denying my request.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said I needed to have about 2,800 hours of flight time as a pilot. And the truth is, I didn\u2019t have 2,000 hours of flight time as a passenger. I was disappointed and I went on with my life\u2026 And as result I have had a life of extraordinary adventure\u2026and opportunity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He told students, \u201cKnow this, graduating class: People who never fail at anything aren\u2019t doing anything. Being denied is never the end of the world,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn other words, dare! It\u2019s about you. Get out there and get yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

He told students to dare to fail, dare to get up, and dare to try again. The students responded to each of his statement with a \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDare to be great,\u201d David said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marianas High School seniors said \u201cyes\u201d to a daring and fulfilling future at their graduation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":203977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[5285,21,365,200],"class_list":["post-203976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-life","tag-jewel-gaviola-olivos","tag-life","tag-mhs","tag-military"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}