Cassidy Torres wins DPL essay contest

Department of Public Lands Secretary Marianne Concepcion-Teregeyo joins four of the eight winners in the Department of Public Lands’ First Annual Scholarship Essay Contest after the awarding ceremony yesterday afternoon. Also in the photo are DPL officials and some of the investors who sponsored the contest. (FERDIE DE LA TORRE)

Cassidy Torres, a junior at Chapman University in Orange, California, won first place in the Department of Public Lands’ inaugural Scholarship Essay Contest.

Torres, who majors in business administration, will receive the $1,250 award, which was sponsored by Saipan Triple Star Corp. She was not present during the awarding ceremony yesterday afternoon at the DPL conference room at the Joeten Dandan building.

DPL Secretary Marianne Concepcion-Teregeyo and her special assistant, Deveney Dela Cruz, awarded the prizes to the top five winners and three additional prize winners who are all students of Northern Marianas descent.

A total of 51 students joined the scholarship essay competition, which DPL is planning as an annual contest.

Rafael Mafnas, a senior at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona and majoring in construction engineering, grabbed second place. He was not present at the ceremony, but will receive $1,000 award sponsored by Bibong Corp.

Victoria Bellas, a junior at the Northern Marianas College who is working on a bachelor’s degree in Business Management and an associate degree in Liberal Arts with a concentration in social work, won third place and received the $1,000 award sponsored by Bibong Corp.

Bellas said she’s just grateful for this opportunity as it’s a little bit harder this year to find stable work and resources to help pay for school dur to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since attending NMC, Bellas said she’s been very passionate about finishing her degrees “so it’s pretty nice to have this award since I’ve been working very hard. But not only that, it’s a very interesting prompt, you know, because we are all beneficiaries of our islands, of public lands,” Bellas said.

She said she felt like it was relevant and important for her to speak on preserving public lands and how future generations can benefit from that.

Bellas said she did not expect to win but just tried her best and explained matters from her point of view. “It’s from the heart,” she added.

Nathaniel Snodgrass, a senior at the Gonzaga University in Washington majoring in Economics with a minor in Analytical Finance, won fourth place and was awarded $1,000, which was sponsored by Saipan Stevedore Company Inc.

Ro’anna Manibusan Tudela, a first-year student at NMC who is working on her associate degree in Liberal Arts, bagged fifth place and received $600, sponsored by Kenneth and Concepcion Coward.

The three other winners from Saipan, Tinian, and Rota, who received $100 each—sponsored by Jo Ann Ada—are Peachy Quitugua, Querida Maratita, and Kaia Lazaro.

Quitugua is a graduate student at the University of Cincinnati School of Nursing Online in the Nurse Midwifery Masters of Science Program and completing her practicum on site at the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.

Maratita, a Rota scholar, will graduate from NMC in the spring of 2021 with an associate degree in Liberal Arts with an emphasis in Education.

Lazaro, a Tinian scholar, is a first-year student at NMC and is working on an Associates of Applied Science in Business Administration degree, with an emphasis in Business Management.

Dela Cruz, special assistant to secretary Concepcion-Teregeyo, said the contest participants all had to write essays that responded to the question: Why is it important to preserve public lands in the CNMI?

Dela Cruz said all four public land lessees were asked to sponsor the scholarships and all stepped up to help.

She said they started the scholarship contest in November and the department received 51 essays. “In less than a month’s time, 51 students chose to advocate for the preservation of public lands. That’s huge!” Dela Cruz said.

Concepcion-Teregeyo said that for the small public lands lessees, there is no way for DPL to ask them for a big public benefit when their leases are not multi-million-dollar projects.

“This is where the scholarships come in,” Concepcion-Teregeyo said. “My hats off to the investors, the lessees because they were willing. They had no problems with accommodating our requests.”