MBA student vies for presidential scholars program

A senior at Marianas Baptist Academy will be competing with students across the U.S. for the prestigious 2012 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.

Jessica Im Lee is the only candidate from the CNMI selected for the program under the U.S. Department of Education.

Established in 1964, the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program aims to recognize and honor some of the nation’s most distinguished graduating high school seniors. Each year, up to 141 students are named as presidential scholars, one of the country’s highest honors for high school students. Majority of the scholars are selected based on broad academic achievement while a number are selected on the basis of academic and artistic scholarship in the visual arts, the performing arts, or creative writing.

A review committee composed of experienced individuals in secondary and postsecondary education will trim the pool down to 560 semifinalists.

The commission on presidential scholars will then select up to 121 academic scholars and up to 20 arts scholars in April. Those chosen will be honored for their accomplishments and will meet with government officials and educators, among others, during National Recognition Week in Washington, D.C. in June.

“I was really happy when I found out about it,” said Lee, 17, who was informed about being selected for the program when she received the mail Monday.

Lee, who arrived on island when she was in third grade, has been joining various competitions in the CNMI such as Math Court and National Forensic League. She plans to attend college in the U.S. mainland this fall and study international relations. “As I was living here and when I experienced going to the U.S. for some competitions, I realized that there’s a bigger part so I wanted to experience more cultures and study about them and what’s outside of Saipan.”

Lee has already been accepted to Georgetown University, University of Chicago, and Boston College Honors Program and she is still waiting for acceptance to several other Ivy League schools.

The daughter of Jung Hye Lee and the late Yong Jin Lee, the younger Lee said she is excited yet hesitant to go to college “because my mom won’t be living with me and I would have to be there alone. I have my sister there. She’s the only one there.”

Lee gave credit to MBA principal Ramiro H. Trinidad, her Algebra teacher during 7th and 8th grades, and all her other teachers who have helped her in her studies.

“I couldn’t have done this without them,” she told Saipan Tribune. “All the things they taught me, that’s how I got good grades.”

Trinidad said they have had several students who were previously chosen as program candidates, given the school’s “very rigid and demanding” training for students to excel in their fields.

“The teachers are dedicated and committed. Students expect that they’ll be accepted to good universities,” he said.

Trinidad described Lee as a “very eloquent and fluent speaker, very dedicated, and a good leader.”

“She’s an outstanding student—one of the few in my career as an educator. I’m thankful that MBA students always bring honor to the academy,” added Trinidad.