{"id":36017,"date":"2014-05-19T07:50:18","date_gmt":"2014-05-18T21:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=36017"},"modified":"2014-05-19T07:50:18","modified_gmt":"2014-05-18T21:50:18","slug":"alex-shen-nmcs-student-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/alex-shen-nmcs-student-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Shen is NMC\u2019s Student of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alex Shen was named the 2014 Proa Student of the Year last Friday night at the Northern Marianas College\u2019s 33rd Charter Day celebration. Shen was born in China and moved to the islands 13 years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very humbled to receive this award,\u201d he told Saipan Tribune. \u201cI feel like I have just done my duties as a student and an individual. I try to do my best and receiving this award means a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shen, a Saipan Southern High School alumnus, will be graduating this semester with a degree in liberal arts. He will be studying economics at the University of Michigan later this year and plans to return to Saipan and fulfill his dreams of becoming an entrepreneur. <\/p>\n

\"Alex<\/a>
Alex Shen holds up the perennial ceramic Proa Student of the Year Trophy crafted by NMC student Victoria Hofschneider. (Thomas A. Manglona II)<\/figcaption><\/figure>According to Frankie Eliptico, Northern Marianas College External Relations director, the award is given annually to a student who exemplifies the values and characteristics that the institution holds to the highest standards. Students at the college nominate individuals to be considered for the award by a special committee made up of NMC officials. <\/p>\n

\u201cAlex is a part of many organizations and does not need to be told what to do or wait for instructions. He is a very proactive person. He is just a go-getter and we are proud of him and his family for getting to where he is at now,\u201d Eliptico said.<\/p>\n

Shen serves as the president of student government at the college, is a member of the National Honor Society for two-year colleges, Phi Theta Kappa, and founded a new speech club on campus. <\/p>\n

The 24-year-old student also works under the International Student Services office at the college. <\/p>\n

Shen now holds the perennial ceramic Proa Student of the Year Trophy crafted by NMC student Victoria Hofschneider. <\/p>\n

He encouraged graduating high school students to \u201cstart smart\u201d at NMC. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was not educated when I first came to Saipan but the college and high school really made me who I am today. NMC has a lot of opportunities and it gives you the rare chance to explore different avenues and get a taste of what you really want,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He credits his success to Mount Carmel School president Galvin Deleon Guerrero and the island of Saipan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it weren\u2019t for Mr. Guerrero, my mentor, I would be lost. Fifty percent of who I am really is because of him. Whenever I have problems I go to him and he gives me advice,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Shen also expressed gratitude to Student Services dean Leo Pangelinan, NMC staff, and other college students who have supported him in his educational endeavors. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great serving this island and community and I hope to continue to do more good,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter achieving success in my career I can assure everyone that I will be back. Saipan is my home and it has been a life-changing experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shen is the son of Yuji Jin. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alex Shen was named the 2014 Proa Student of the Year last Friday night at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":36019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[855,169,69,38],"class_list":["post-36017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-charter-day","tag-china","tag-nmc","tag-saipan-tribune"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36017","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}