A SUMMER IN CHICAGO Mt. Carmel students as junior statesmen

It was an experience they would never forget.

This is how three Mt. Carmel School sophomore students summed up a month of attending classes at the prestigious Northwestern University in Chicago where they took part as CNMI representatives to the Junior Statesmen Program.

Mary Louise DeLeon Guerrero, 14, Kekoe Villanueva, 15, and Christine Dela Cruz Torres, 15, learned the hard way about the values of education and the importance of being independent when they spent their summer vacation in Chicago.

Consistent A students who excel in Social Studies and Literature, they were chosen out of 30 high school students on the island who were deemed qualified to join the annual program.

The three submitted their winning essays to the program’s California office, along with two other local students. All the five applicants were accepted: four went eventually to Northwestern and one to Stanford University in San Francisco.

As if they weren’t lucky enough, Kekoe and another MCS students, Gregory Castro, won full scholarships amounting to $2,700 free tuition, books and lodging as well as round-trip fare to Chicago.

Mary Louise and Christine got partial scholarships, but they raised enough funds here via hot lunch sale and donations from private individuals and public officials to cover all expenses they incurred while attending the university.

About 51 high school students from across the United States and from its territories like the Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the CNMI went to Northwestern, one of the top five universities under the Junior Statesmen Program.

There they had nine-hour classes everyday, except Sunday, on American Government and Democracy as well as Honors Speech Communications under the tutelage of college professors — studies intended to prepare them for future political careers.

Each night, they also had congressional workshop where they learned to express their views on various issues and cast their votes. “We debated on issues that the U.S. government is focusing right now,” said Kekoe.

“It was a good thing that you got to meet a lot of people from different walks of life,” quipped Kekoe, who marveled at the ability of his fellow students from American Samoa to stay rooted on their culture and traditions inspite of being exposed to Western thinking.

Mary Louise, on the other hand, realized the importance of making education a priority for the youth, saying the experience had thought her to reach for her goals in life, including becoming a doctor.

“Education is really good, challenging and fun,” she explained. “I still have the same goals, but it makes me look at life at a different angle everyday. You get a sense of maturity everyday.”

Since they have been inspired by the teaching they received under the program, all three have plans to set up a Junior Statesmen chapter in the Commonwealth to help other local students get into it.