When I first applied to the Scholarship program, I made the commitment to give back upon arrival after graduation. As fate would have it, I did just that by cofounding two NGOs Jo-JiKuM and REACH-MI, by helping secure three years of accreditation for MIHS, by helping pass the first Climate Change Policy and setting the basis for its action plan known as the JNAP, by rectifying an inaccurate History textbook, and of course by showcasing Marshallese capability by graduating top tier at the Social Science/History department in my college. Despite my notable accomplishments, I am deeply humbled by my teaching experiences simply through watching my students grow and becoming active members in their community (e.g. Selina Leem, Terry Kowenga, Mashmet, Sana Anien, Rutha Pedro, etc). This taught me the greatest life lesson in which I hope to pioneer upon arrival after grad school. I want to revolutionize Marshallese Education in a way that makes Marshallese proud of their identity. It is ironic that the key to success is education and everyone and everything knows this but one must ask the question: Why is it that Education has to be paid for? If Education is the key to success for any struggling Marshallese or for anyone in general then why is it so expensive and why is it only attainable to the privileged elite? I want to take the Masters in Asia Pacific Studies in the University of San Francisco because I believe that we Marshallese can contribute to simplifying the attainment of Education by passing our knowledge to the next generation of descending heirs. We need to play a bigger role in disseminating information for the betterment of our youths and our communities. When I came back from college, I did my best to educate the younger generation by passing what I learned in College and throughout my academic and professional career to the next generation. I believe this is how we can make education more attainable for our younger generation. Just as technology speeds up the process of conveying information, we Marshallese can be that technology that educates the younger generation. What takes thousands and thousands of dollars in undergrad and grad school tuition to obtain higher education can be simplified and passed down to the next generation even at high school level through the process of honest sharing. Life lessons are the most important part of education for experience really is what constitutes true education. This is what I modeled my career after when I became a teacher as well as being a government employee and an NGO activist spreading awareness. Marshallese can be the very educators by sharing our experiences. What can take 4 to 6 years learning in college can be simplified and taught to our youths in less than a year’s time. What we experience abroad in College can be brought to our home front in RMI by being real educators. Only when we share our knowledge can we truly make education more attainable for all people of various classes. We must begin to change our attitude and not be possessive of knowledge. Knowledge is meant to be shared and I plan to do that when I come back just as I already have when I came back from undergrad. What I learned in my 4-5 year duration in college, I tried my best to leave a paper trail or a recorded trail through active participation thereby passing what I’ve learned to a new and younger audience formally accelerating the learning process. Transparent government should always be the goal and that comes with real education through real sharing.
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