25 students inducted into MCS National Honor Society

The 25 new inductees into Mount Carmel School’s Sacred Heart Chapter of the National Honor Society gathered at the altar of the Mount Carmel Cathedral after this year’s ceremony welcoming them into the chapter. (MCS)

Twenty-five high school students were inducted into Mount Carmel School’s Sacred Heart Chapter of the National Honor Society in a ceremony held this past week at Mount Carmel Cathedral. 

The ceremony was led by Bishop Ryan P. Jimenez, school administrators, and society officers, and was honored by the presence of acting Education commissioner Jackie Quitugua.

The inductees were selected by a faculty council that reviewed applications from sophomores and upperclassmen who had maintained a grade point average of 3.0 and had demonstrated how they had fulfilled the society’s values of scholarship, service, leadership, and character.

This year’s inductees are Jaeleen Aldan, Maria Ayuyu, Seung Bin Bae, Eunseo Choi, Erika Cunanan, Kalyn Diaz, Mateo Guerrero, Brandee Hunter, Danishelle Javillonar, Angela Jun, Minju Kang, Emmaline Lee, Christine Mago, Mikee Mendoza, Jan Mathew Millo, Amanda Pangelinan, Joanna Marie Pangelinan, Carmille Perez, Katelyn Rabang, Penelope Sablan, Vince Salvador, John San Nicolas, Victoria Nicole Santos, Anniea Sofia Saturno, and Katherine Woodruff.

The keynote speaker for the ceremony was Christopher Ching, CNMI Public School System director of Finance.

An MCS alumni, or AlumKnight, and former member of the Sacred Heart Chapter, Ching shared his own story about how he struggled for years to earn induction into the honor society.

“Over the years, becoming the adult that I am, I realized life is really not about whether we become the most successful student but rather that we find happiness and fulfillment in the things that we do; that we build our character, and become of service to others,” Ching told inductees.

In his closing remarks, school president Galvin Deleon Guerrero shared the Greek myth of Narcissus, who was cursed by his own beauty to stare at his reflection until he starved to death. Encouraging students to be less narcissistic and more Socratic, Delelon Guerrero told them, “Be less selfish and more selfless and, above all, remember what Socrates taught us: ‘The unexamined life is not worth living.’”

After the ceremony, the inductees and their families were treated to light refreshments at the Joeten Daidai Social Hall.

Established in 1921, the National Honor Society is the nation’s premier organization that recognizes outstanding high school students, with more than one million student members who demonstrate the society’s trademark values of scholarship, leadership, service, and character. Mount Carmel School’s Sacred Heart Chapter of the NHS was opened in 1997. (PR)