Visiting Hopwood Middle School after Super Typhoon Yutu in October last year and seeing the extent of the school\u2019s devastation was a heartbreaking sight for principal Rizalina Liwag as they had so many plans for student success.<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing was clear\u2014the pursuit of education was the focus. Despite the things that needed to be done with infrastructure, we remained focused to ensure that we provide education for the students,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Currently, Hopwood stands in a temporary campus in Koblerville. \u201cGetting to where we are right now was not an easy journey. \u2026There were times when I just felt like giving up, but then I think of my colleagues who depend on me. I have to be resilient to make sure I give them strength, as their strength is my strength and my strength is their strength,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n \u2018We see you, we believe you\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n This is the message that Northern Marianas Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence executive director Maisei Tenorio wants to tell survivors and victims of violence.<\/p>\n \u201cOur mission here is to promote, nourish and sustain a collective movement against violence here in the CNMI as we want to create a CNMI where everybody feels safe,\u201d she said. \u201cWe see you and we believe you. \u2026If there\u2019s anything that we can do to help you heal and move past the trauma, please let us know.\u201d<\/p>\n Her vision for the CNMI is where any one, male or female, who is a victim of abuse can come out and \u201cwe surround this person as a community and we lift them up.\u201d<\/p>\n Excelling in a male-dominated workplace<\/strong><\/p>\n Rose Soledad, who oversees the CNMI operations of IT&E as its general manager, finds solace in working alongside rather than competing with men.<\/p>\n Working at IT&E where she manages male network engineers or employees \u201chas been good because I am always looking for efficiencies and, instead of competing with them, working with them creates far better results,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our company, there a lot of high potential for highly productive men and women. I encourage the younger ones to go to school and finish their degree and, if your path is telecommunications or in whatever career, don\u2019t just do what you\u2019re asked to do but you also have to branch out and learn other things so you can maximize your full potential and, in the process, grow constantly,\u201d she said<\/p>\n A black robe for an armor<\/strong><\/p>\n Being a woman of many firsts in the CNMI means that U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona Villagomez Manglona is paving the way for more women.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a lot of talented women in the community that could possible serve in the same capacity\u2026. Look at what\u2019s happening in Guam. They have a woman governor, woman chief justice, chief district judge. \u2026Communities are\u2026acknowledging that women are effective not just in the household,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Women who lift each other up<\/strong><\/p>\n Long-time friends Kathy Pagapular Ruszala and Robyn Spaeth had their eyes set on conquering the half marathon of the 2019 Saipan Marathon last March 9. They both clocked in at the same hour, minute, and second at the finish line and they couldn\u2019t be any happier overcoming a mental, emotional, and physical feat than finishing alongside a best friend.<\/p>\n \u201cI think women who lift each other up is empowering. We are fortunate to be living in a generation where women succeed and thrive in any area she chooses. As the former first lady, Michelle Obama, so eloquently spoke, \u2018There is no limit to what we as women can accomplish,\u2019\u201d Ruszala said.<\/p>\n Spaeth agrees. \u201cAs a woman, we already have enough obstacles in our way that we really should focus on trying to build one another one. Lifting up other women is the greatest gift you can give,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" March is International Women\u2019s Month and the CNMI is blessed to have a circle of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":296384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[21],"class_list":["post-296378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-supplement","tag-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296378","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\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Rizalina-Liwag-150x150.jpeg\")
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