MBA student makes it to scholarship semis

  A junior student at Marianas Baptist Academy was among the thousands of semi-finalists chosen for the 2012 academic scholarship of the National Society of High School Scholars.

Sixteen-year-old Kristine Joy Manacop Leynes, who was granted membership to the honor society for outstanding high school students worldwide, said Friday that she initially couldn’t believe the good news she received last week.

“It’s the first time I’ve been offered a chance for a scholarship,” Leynes told Saipan Tribune. “I received the email but I didn’t really believe it until they mailed me the actual papers.”

The daughter of Ruben and Lota Leynes, the younger Leynes said she only received the letter from NSHSS advisory board chair Claes Nobel on Tuesday.

The scholarship and winners will be notified in April. Scholarships will be presented at a special ceremony in Washington, D.C. in August.

Leynes said she’s excited and nervous at the same time as there are about 10,000 high school students who are competing for the 10 semi-finalist slots to receive $5,000 scholarships and 65 semi-finalists who will be selected for the $1,000 National Scholar Awards.

Leynes has been a regular in various competitions on the island, including the National Forensic League and Mathcourt contests. She is a member of the school’s volleyball team and drama club and became a member of the American Memorial Park’s Youth Conservation Corps in 2010.

All NSHSS semi-finalists are asked to write a 500-word essay about their college plans and ways to make a difference in the world to complete their application process.

Leynes, who wants to major in either forensic science or pharmacy in college, said she plans to discuss in her essay how forensics would help discover the person/s responsible for the death of the Godfather’s bartender and the person who raped a 25-year-old Asian female last month.

“I just want to put that person who’s doing all these things somewhere far away so they won’t be able to do that anymore,” said Leynes, who plans to attend college at the University of California in San Diego.

Leynes also noted that the cultural diversity on Saipan would prove to be an asset for her over all the thousands of high school students competing for the NSHSS scholarship.

“It’s a different perspective from the mainlanders. I want to use that to my advantage for this scholarship,” she said.