By Marconi Calindas
\nReporter<\/p>\n
Twenty-year-old Jennifer Balakrishnan took the SAT four times\u2014not because she did not pass during her first three tries but because she wanted to obtain a perfect score. As a matter of fact, she got a score of 1,530 the first time she sat for the test\u2014a score already considered high for a first take.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to get a perfect score. I needed to be competitive to get into these top universities,\u201d she explained. \u201cEspecially coming from Guam, I had no idea of what I needed to do, like improve my verbal score a little bit. I got a perfect score in Math.\u201d She thought if she could increase her verbal score a little bit, then she would get a perfect total score.<\/p>\n
That speaks of the stratospheric standards this Guam lass has set for herself\u2014a fact not lost on the different top universities in the U.S. mainland that tried to elbow each other out to get her. She got offers with full-time scholarships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, Duke University and Princeton University. In the end, she chose Harvard University, where she is now a junior Mathematics student.<\/p>\n
When asked why she chose Harvard, she said that ever since she was a child, she had always heard of Harvard and its reputation as one of the top universities in the world. \u201cThat\u2019s the one thing you\u2019d always hear when you were little. It\u2019s always been my dream to go to Harvard.\u201d<\/p>\n
This dream has come to a splendid realization and, with it, the great opportunities that studying at the Ivy League school offers. \u201cHarvard probably has one of the best Math program in the country, if not the world,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Although the university was at first a totally new environment for her, she said she has learned to adjust and has already made several friends. \u201cIt\u2019s been great. The environment is very challenging. It\u2019s a very great place to study,\u201d Jennifer mused.<\/p>\n
She laughingly complained, though, of Boston\u2019s freezing winters, having grown up in a tropical environment. \u201cIt\u2019s very cold. The weather is terrible,\u201d she said. \u201cEvery time I come back for Christmas, wow, this [Guam] is paradise!\u201d<\/p>\n
Although she could not consider this holiday a complete vacation because there are exams due in January, the two-week vacation is enough for her to enjoy the sun and the holiday with her family. \u201cWe don\u2019t actually have a good Christmas break,\u201d she quipped.<\/p>\n
Despite such a short break from her studies, Jennifer still managed to squeeze in two days to fly to Saipan and share her knowledge and tips on taking the SAT with students in the CNMI.<\/p>\n
She said that when Guam Sen. Carmen Fernandez invited her to speak in front of CNMI students, she grabbed the chance as a way for her to share of herself with the local community. \u201cWe did this in Guam this summer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She said that Fernandez felt that, in order to improve the test scores of local students, something has to be done to enable these aspiring kids the chance to enter the best schools or universities they deserve.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople on the mainland have advantages because of the trainings offered that will help them advance,\u201d Jennifer said, \u201cwhereas on the islands opportunities are scarce.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fernandez, together with local student Roselle Calvo, the CNMI Youth Congress and Saipan government agencies made it possible to bring Jennifer over to Saipan to conduct the 1st SAT Preparatory Program seminar held last Dec. 27 and 28, 2004. During the seminar, she provided high school students some basic tips and reminders when they take the SAT exam in March 2005.<\/p>\n
Jennifer considers her short stint on Saipan worthwhile. \u201cSaipan is very beautiful. From my hotel window the beach is very pretty, the ocean is clear, I could say that this is prettier than Guam,\u201d she laughed. \u201cIt\u2019s smaller, it\u2019s quiet and seems peaceful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jennifer was born in Hawaii. Her parents moved to Guam for work when she was one year old. Her father is currently a Chemistry professor at the University of Guam, while her mom is a full-time homemaker. Jennifer has a sister named Stephanie, who is 11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Twenty-year-old Jennifer Balakrishnan took the SAT four times\u2014not because she did not pass during her first three tries but because she wanted to obtain a perfect score. As a matter of fact, she got a score of 1,530 the first time she sat for the test\u2014a score already considered high for a first take. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86858","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86858\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}