Exciting summer plans for Saipan teens

Thousands of public school students are now in the midst of this year’s new three-month summer break. While most teens spend their summer just hanging out at the beach with families and friends, many students are also involved in summer internships, attending summer classes and getting involved in community services and events.

Here, four teens share with Youngstyle their plans for summer.

Rachel Pagarao is a part-time Retail Sales Associate at the Hard Rork Café. She is majoring in Education, and will be attending Northern Marianas College next semester as a sophomore.

“My plans for this summer are not as exciting as a typical teen’s summer should be. In my opinion, it’s not as bad as it seems. I will be working so it’s not a total waste of time because I use my time wisely as I will earn money. I can treat myself to anything anytime I want to without having to ask my parents.

“I’m proud to be a working student and I’m sure my job will make my summer exciting because it’s unique. It’s home to all the rockers out there. Employee or not, it’s a great experience,” said the 18-year-old Pagarao.

Bethanie Batallones is an upcoming senior at Grace Christian Academy. She will be in the National Honor Society as its secretary next school year.

“Summer is all about having fun and relaxing so for my break I plan to go out as much as I can and spend as much time with my friends and my brothers: one who’s leaving for the Navy, Renato, and one who’s visiting for a couple of weeks, Bradwell,” said 17-year-old Batallones.

“I also want to go to the Philippines because there is not much things to do here and everything is way overpriced. However, summer is also about being productive and helpful and since I’m reaching my final year in high school, I want to start researching available scholarships so that I can prepare essays and stop my habit of procrastinating. Finally, I want to get a job so I can stop asking my parents for gas money,” she said.

Ashley Bricia had just completed her freshman year at Marianas High School. She sure knows how to keep herself busy, as she hates boredom.

“My summer plans are not really planned out. I really want to leave the island, at least for vacation, because it’s going to be a long one for me. If I won’t be able to leave, I plan to have a summer job because I don’t like my summer to be lacking in excitement,” said 14-year-old Bricia.

Kay Park is an upcoming junior of Marianas High School. She is currently an active member of the Thespian Society.

“The past school year, I have been active in a speech club of the International Thespian Society. I participated in every competition this year, and now I will be attending the Thespian Festival held in Lincoln, Nebraska from June 21 to June 28, 2008. It is truly a blessing to go on this trip along with many other students from different schools on Saipan. I will be representing the Northern Marianas Island as the costume designer. This trip will be a great experience for me and to those who are also going for their first time. I’m really excited about the trip also because I finally get to go off island. The heat and daily power outages are infuriating. I would not survive if I were to stay here for three months in the house with power outages. Thank God I’m not going to be back until Aug. 21!” said 16-year-old Park.

“After the Thespian Festival, I will be flying to California to visit my relatives and friends. Hopefully, during the time I will be in California, I don’t become a lazy person. So far, I haven’t been as lazy as I was during the school year.

“During the summer, I know I’m going to go through change. I go through change every year. It’s inevitable. Of the changes, I hope I gain more knowledge and fitness. I hope I don’t forget the things I learned when I get back to school.

“What I mean by fitness is that I have gotten quite lazy the past year, and haven’t made time to exercise. After canoe season, I didn’t do much. I hope I become fit over the summer so that later in life, I wouldn’t have to deal with health problems. Those are basically my goals for this summer,” she added.