100 take part in NMC’s first ‘Set SAIL’ Conference

Participants of the “Set SAIL” Conference listen to one of the breakout sessions at the Royal Taga Hall Ballroom of the Saipan World Resort. (Leigh Gases)

About 100 Northern Marianas College students and staff and partners participated in NMC’s first Set SAIL, or Students Advocacy Inclusion and Leadership Conference, at the Saipan World Resort’s Royal Taga Ballroom last Friday.

The conference provided participants from Saipan, Tinian, and Rota with helpful information, strategies, and best practices to take personal and leadership skills to the next level. 

Alexis Cabrera Manglona, program manager for the Office of Student Activities and Leadership at NMC, said they wanted to “revolve their breakout sessions regarding different things that our students have been experiencing, and also to prepare them to become leaders now and leaders later.”

The conference included four plenary sessions. The first was called “Effective Communication Leads to Success by Eileen Alepuyo Babauta, Pamela C. Sablan, Josephine Tudela, and Greg Borja. The second was called “Navigation Through Change” done by NMC president Galvin Deleon Guerrero. The third was called “The Leaders Toolkit: Integrity, Empathy, Self-awareness, and Gratitude.” The last one was called “Navigating Change with Healthy Coping Strategies.”

The conference also had two breakout sessions. The first breakout session included “Courageous Conversations! Cultivating a Climate of Inclusion by Honoring Indigenous Knowledge” by Dr. Beylul Solomon; “Beyond NMC: Transfer and Research Opportunities” by Maria Dizon, Jesse Deleon Guerrero, Beda Mundo; and “Your Journey Starts Here: Earn A Congressional Award!” by Maia Pangelinan.

The second breakout session included “Broadening Your Horizons at Home and Away” by Project PROA; “VOICES (Very Outspoken Individuals Can Each Succeed) of the CNMI” by Monika Diaz, Hannah Igisaiar, Robert Mendiola, and Emmet Fitial; and “Emerging from the Pandemic: Prioritizing your Mental Health” by Guadalupe A. Camacho. 

Student leader Eloise Lopez, who is a senator with the Associate Students of NMC, said, “The [conference] made me realize the importance of getting together and making sure that when we do make a difference, we bring the best version of ourselves. It all starts with community: learning how to work together, learning to find the importance of our voices, learning to use these resources and creating our own toolkits for mental health. We have our first NMC Set Sail Conference because we want to strive back again even with the pandemic still ongoing. What I learned from the [conference] is learning from the rest of the students and seeing how happy they are to have an event in person. It’s just to show that we still have the PROA spirit despite the challenges we are facing today! We hope to have more events like in the upcoming weeks and we look forward to working with our previous partners today.”

When asked whether there will be another conference like this next year, Cabrera said, “Yes, we’re hoping that this will now become an annual conference for our students.” She hopes to be able to invite participants from Guam and Palau to “really make this a regional conference.”