{"id":228374,"date":"2016-05-24T06:00:32","date_gmt":"2016-05-23T20:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=228374"},"modified":"2016-05-24T06:00:32","modified_gmt":"2016-05-23T20:00:32","slug":"martinez-named-uog-spring-2016-valedictorian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/martinez-named-uog-spring-2016-valedictorian\/","title":{"rendered":"Martinez named UOG Spring 2016 valedictorian"},"content":{"rendered":"
Kevin Martinez, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and minors in Chemistry and Sociology, was named the valedictorian after breaking an unprecedented six-way tie for the top honor. (Contributed Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Biology major Kevin Malonzo Martinez knew early on where his academic journey at the University of Guam would lead him.<\/p>\n

Encouraged by his mentor Dr. Kia Rahmani\u2014general surgery specialist at the Guam Memorial Hospital and president of Hafa Adai Specialist Group\u2014Martinez switched out of the nursing program and picked up minors in chemistry and sociology with the goal of medical school in the forefront of his mind. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know that I always wanted to do something in the medical field, but medical school is so expensive,\u201d he said, \u201cso it seemed out of reach for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it was Martinez\u2019s academic excellence and potential that eventually persuaded Rahmani to choose Martinez out of a handful of students to fully fund his tuition for medical school after finishing his undergraduate studies. <\/p>\n

With this in mind, Martinez kept focused on his goal, which eventually led him to being named the Spring 2016 Commencement valedictorian. He was selected after breaking an unprecedented six-way tie for the top honor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel very ecstatic,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cI\u2019m really happy about being chosen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martinez, who hopes to start medical school next year, said his intention is to return to Guam and practice emergency medicine. He also wants to help improve the public\u2019s perspective on medical professionals in Guam.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople like to complain, but I\u2019ve seen how hard they work,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen how much effort they put in, and I want to come back one day and be able to help the island just like they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martinez also said that without the support of his parents, peers and the faculty at the University of Guam, he wouldn\u2019t be where he is today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d really like to thank my parents for pushing me so hard,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve also met a lot of people who have impacted my life for the better. I\u2019m really excited, but I know I didn\u2019t do it by myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more on the University Spring 2016 Commencement Ceremonies, visit www.uog.edu\/spring-2016-commencement. (PR)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Biology major Kevin Malonzo Martinez knew early on where his academic journey at the University…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":228380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3534,11651,11652,11653],"class_list":["post-228374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-guam-memorial-hospital","tag-kevin-malonzo-martinez","tag-kia-rahmani","tag-university-spring"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228374","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\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}