Alpino: Denial does not mean failure

Although the decision of the NMI Scholarship Board to reject her honors scholarship application came as a big shock to her and her family, Katelyn Alpino said Tuesday that this will not stop her from achieving her goals.

Alpino is the former valedictorian of Rota High School. As an honor student, she was supposed to be a beneficiary of the Honors scholarship program of the CNMI Scholarship Office but her application was rejected as her grades did not meet the office’s requirements. Despite appeals filed with the Public School System and the Scholarship Office board, she wasn’t considered for the financial award.

“Being denied the CNMI Honors Scholarship came as a big shock to both me and my family. We worked extremely hard to appeal the original decision, but unfortunately, things didn’t work out the way we wanted it to. Although I did not qualify for it, I continue to remain hopeful that there are many other opportunities out there that will be available for me in time,” she said.

Katelyn is a pre-medicine freshman student at the Philadelphia University.

With the support of her family and friends, she is confident she will make it through college despite the extra financial burden. “I believe that everyone struggles and for me, this denial does not mean failure. It does not in any way stop me from working to achieve my goals. Although it means that I have to work twice as hard, I am determined to move forward and put this behind me. I believe that everything happens for a reason and that God has a plan for everything, so I continue to trust and put my faith in Him,” she added.

The CNMI Scholarship advisory board had denied Alpino’s appeal to recalculate and approve her Honors scholarship application, saying the award is not automatically given to the valedictorian and salutatorian. The board explained that Public Law 7-32, which directly awards the Honors scholarship to valedictorian and salutatorian students on Tinian and Rota, had been amended by P.L. 14-37, which eliminated the automatic awarding of financial assistance.

Arthur Alpino, Katelyn’s father, said that they were saddened by the outcome and felt that his daughter “was robbed and deprived of her rights.” With this issue, he said it opens the eyes of the public to the realization that nothing has been done to correct the “wrongdoing” committed against his daughter.