"Culture is the arts elevated to a set of beliefs"

“Culture is the intersection of people and life itself. It’s how we deal with life, love, death, birth and disappointment. All of that is expressed in culture.” ~ Wendell Pierce

            Culture refers to the feature and knowledge of a particular group of people who defines different kinds of cultural values, beliefs, experience, language, music and arts. Different people in different societies preserve different culture. And it is important for the society to accept and respect different cultures and their beliefs.

Why is culture important? Culture ties the society together. In a society, culture is necessary in the development of the society. Without culture, the society will be demolished. Every culture is furnished with a set of rules and regulations that every individual must follow. Following those set of rules promotes the culture on to the next generation which develops the society even more. Culture also has a strong impact on the existence of human and their thinking, which acknowledges the importance of preserving the culture. As an individual, in order for the society to keep developing, it is important to accept one another's culture and their beliefs. Without these actions performed, the society will be strongly affected.  

“Exposing yourself to various cultures is so vital towards personal growth.” For the pttech project, I thought exposing my own culture would be good idea. I don’t know it is appropriate, but I thought presenting my culture and sharing our cultural beliefs with other people would promote the importance of culture as well. The person suitable for the interview would be my dad. Presenting our Indian culture to the public here in the Marianas will be unique but showing them the importance of our culture and how to preserve it would be entertaining. I’m also not that aware of anyone rather than my family here. But if it’s suitable, then promoting our culture through this project would be unique and entertaining.

            

Life is a Story..

            Do you ever reminisce to the time where things were terribly wrong in which it gave you such a hard time in life? And now you are still here alive with more blessings than you ever need. I bet mostly all of us have that moment in our lives. But do you also wonder why things go wrong? Even if it’s unintentionally, do you still wonder the true meaning behind your obstacles? We all go through some hardships in our lives in order for us to learn the true meaning of life. We learn how to live it, love it and mostly enjoy it.

            Living my childhood life to the fullest and then growing up as a teenager was one of the hardest things that I had to go through. I spent most of my childhood life with my grandparents who treated me like a princess. Even though I often got bullied in school, I wasn’t always upset because I always had my grandparents by my side. They always knew what I wanted and needed and they always made sure to fill my life with happiness. Eventually, my life with them had to come to an end. As I grew older, my grandparents grew older as well. They weren’t able to provide me enough care and support since they had a lot of stress going on. With this thought, my parents decided to bring me back to Saipan. Leaving my grandparents and continuing my life with my parents was exciting at first. But I started to learn and understand the value of them as I got separated from them. Things were really rough from then.

            As I continued my life in Saipan, not everything went well. I wasn’t used to the environment where my parents were strict. There will be times when I would have no one to talk to. Just by holding in most of the emotions was just as difficult as loosing someone important in life. My heart always felt like it was compressed into something that is about to destroy. I cried every night wanting to have my grandparents by my side, comforting me with all the love and care they used to give. Days went by and I started to understand why things were difficult. I was able to pull through the obstacles and learn the true meaning of life. I learned how to solve issues on my own with God’s help. And with my parent’s guidance, I was able to meet new people who accepted me with care and love. Just by reading this, maybe it doesn’t sound as depressing as it was back then. But going through it and still having the feeling in me always made me stop for a minute to thank God for everything he has done for me. Everything was hard for me, but then I learned something…

            God sometimes takes us into the troubled waters not to drown us but to cleanse us. During my journey through the troubled waters, I was able to cleanse my mind from all the sorrows and devilish thoughts. My parents weren’t my enemies, but they are my protectors, my guidance, my shield and mostly my life. Now, right now at this very moment, I thank God for all the things he has given me because right now, I’m showered with God’s blessings all over my life. He never left me empty. He replaced everything I lost and made me find something greater in life. I thank him today, tomorrow and every day. 

2016 Presidential Election

            Ever wonder why the presidential election is important? Electing the president who would take control of our country really matters. The President is known to be the leader of our country who has a lot of power. As a president, his responsibility is to protect our country by establishing rights and providing great needs. When a person is elected as a President, he will automatically become the Commander in Chief, who will be in charge of the military and our security. A president can really make an impact in your life based on their decisions. This is why it is very significant that we should all take the presidential election very seriously.

            The 2016 presidential election is known to be the most important election of our lifetime. Based on what I remember, we were left with two elected presidential candidates. The candidate who represented the Republican Party was Donald Trump. Almost half of the population shares a strong hatred towards him due to his unsatisfactory personality. As the election approached, there were threats going around on Social Media to the Trump supporters. Now, as we move on to the second candidate who represented the Democratic Party. She was the first woman to become the 67^th United States Secretary of the State. She is the wife of the former President, Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton was also part of this presidential election which was really crucial. Most of our nation endorsed her for president by calling “experienced, thoughtful and deeply knowledgeable public servant.” while warning that Republican opponent Donald Trump was a “thin-skinned demagogue who is unqualified and unsuited to be president.” But as her email scandals were poured out to the public again, it sort of gave her supporters a second thought. Even though her email scandals were found, people still endorsed her because they didn’t have any other better option. People would rather deal with a president who lies rather than a president who is described to be “dumb, uneducated and negligible.”

            As the Election Day approached the nation was positive and sure who Hillary’s Presidential victory. But the results put the whole nation to shock. Donald Trump won the presidential election by 290 votes while Hillary Clinton reached 232 votes. The whole nation went wild and crazy. According to Fox News, Arizona’s presidential electors were being harassed, urged not to cast vote for Trump. Since Trump’s victory on November 08, many of the violent protesters  has erupted cities in Portland and New York City. Everything took us by surprise but I believe that everything that has been happening is happening for a reason.

            This year’s presidential election has really taken the whole nation by surprise. I know Trump and Hillary has both set a bad image before their Presidential post. But not everyone can be perfect. There are both Trump and Hillary supporters out there who wants their model to win to make America great. And I think that we should give Trump a chance. God doesn’t just sit there and watch us suffer, he knows what he is doing and he will reach out the right time and maybe, this is the right time. There’s always a rainbow after every storm and in this situation, either Trump will be the rainbow or the storm…we just have to see. 

Link to the article: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/11/18/arizonas-presidential-electors-being-harassed-urged-not-to-cast-vote-for-trump.html

CCA still looking for betel nut chewers

On September 23, 2016, the Commonwealth Cancer Association program director Juan L. Babauta renewed their call for volunteer betel nut chewers to be part of a study program that is being done in cooperation with University of Guam’s Cancer Research Center. It is a paid program launched by UOG-CRC in partnership with the Hawaii Cancer Research Center. As part of establishing this program, their main intention is to show everyone how dangerous betel nut can be. Although three betel nut chewers have already signed up for this program, they are still looking for volunteers who are willing to join this program and make a difference in our community. 

As I’ve noticed, not much people pay much attention to this article. But do you ever wonder how hazardous can a simple betel nut could be? Research has revealed serious health risks of betel nut.  Based on my research, chewing betel nut could link to oral cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not consider betel nut safe for chewing or eating. A study in the Journal of the American Dental Association reports that betel nut users are at a higher risk for oral submucous fibrosis. In this condition, it can cause stiffness in the mouth and the loss of jaw movement. Due to these health risks, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres will also be signing House Bill 19-165, an act that would prohibit the sale of areca or betel nut to minors, in a ceremony at 11am today at the Governor’s Office conference room of the Juan A. Sablan Memorial Building in Capital Hill.

Everyone knows that betel nut chewing is part of the Pacific Island culture especially in the CNMI. But as part of the CNMI, betel nut chewing has become a significant public health problem over the years. In order to reduce these health risks, CCA is reaching out to the betel chewers who are overly addicted to it.  According to Saipan Tribune, Oral cancer is increasing in our society which results in death of our aggressive nature. Taking the initiative to join this program and help guide our society will surely reduce the death risk which has been aggressively increasing over the past few years. As a community, it’s best to promote these guidelines and living healthy together.

As to conclude, I strongly believe that it is important to dedicate at least half of your time into this program. Taking the initiative to be part of this program would be considered as an honor not only for yourself but for the citizens who are part of our community. As a volunteer, you would be able to teach our citizens how cautious betel nut chewing is and help them understand how risky their life could drop into. You are just not saving yourself but also saving millions of other’s lives as well. As a community, coming together is the beginning, keeping together is progress and working together is success. If you are betel nut chewer, take the initiative to take part in this program and promote the influence and knowledge to achieve our goal.   

The link below provides the article:

http://www.saipantribune.com/index.php/cca-still-looking-betel-nut-chewers/

‘Feared the worst, hoped for the best’

September 11, 2001, is known to be the deadliest day known in the American History. On this day, approximately 2,996 people were killed in the terrorist attacks by the Islamic extremist group, al-Qaeda, who hijacked 4 airliners and targeted in the United States. It is a series of 4 terrorist attacks all associated in one day. Their main targets were the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, The Pentagon outside Washington D.C. and a field in Pennsylvania. Today, September 11, 2016, CNMI became the first part of the U.S. to honor the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy during the event of TanHoldings’ nearly weeklong “We Will Never Forget: Field of Heroes” ceremony at the CPA Airport Field.

Despite the dark clouds covering up the sky, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3457 junior vice commander Brad Ruszala solemnly gave his speech by recalling the 9/11 tragedy. “We feared the worst, hoped for the best, and waited for word from anyone in Manhattan. The word did not come,” Ruszala also remembered his lost employees who were part of the attack during the incident. Him, just like other veterans, wanted to reenlist and fight back for his country. “Everyone wanted to do something; I wanted to do something. I was angry, and wanted to punish those responsible for inflicting pain upon our country, upon innocent civilians, upon those who robbed families of their loved ones, and upon those who robbed children of a future with their parents” Ruszala’s powerful and emotional speech really took people back to the tragedy and brought us back in tears.

Emotions were spread high up as the ceremony went on. Several community members such as John Hirsch, the executive director of the American Red Cross NMI Chapter expressed his appreciation towards several donators and to the TanHolding for supporting this event. “Thanks to TanHoldings and a lot of community partners for the field of flags. It’s quite impressive and it’s great to see so many people and stakeholders out here honoring all those that lost their lives that day and how the USA have changed,” said Hirsch. More than 120 people attended the event. Members of the Legislature, officials from the Executive Branch and other government agencies, 2016 Miss Marianas Universe Peachy Quitugua, as well as business and community leaders attended the ceremony. As to honor those victims who were part of the 9/11 tragedy, the attendees walked a lap around the CPA Airport Field with sorrow.

The 9/11 attack was the most heartbreaking tragedy that has ever happened in the American History. It still brings us back to tears as we recall how solemn and powerful the attack was. The victims of the 9/11 attack will never be forgotten. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief.  And also remember the hours after the attack, we came together as one! It was the worst day we’ve ever seen, but it brought out the best in all of us. 

 The link below provides the article:

http://www.saipantribune.com/index.php/feared-worst-hoped-best/

September is Childhood Obesity Awareness Month

On September 7, Saipan Tribune announced that Gov. Ralph DLG Torres proclaimed September is Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. It is the month dedicated for children with various physical activities in which they can take part in. These activities are not just for fun, but also it would benefit their body with physical fitness which maintains their weight and calories. By the act of moderation and various physical activities, it encourages children and motivates them to take care of their body and reduce the risk of any diseases.

Childhood Obesity is a serious problem in the United States. Its rate has not only been doubled, but has quadrupled in the past 30 years. This increase needs to be stopped. It’s our partial responsibility to lead the children to a healthy life. According to the Let’s Move Marianas Campaign chair Amber Mendiola, non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and heart disease are steadily increasing among the younger generations. Due to the rapid increase of childhood obesity rate, the risk of diseases such as diabetes and heart attack is high enough in the younger generations. “What we’re finding is that a lot of people are developing non-communicable diseases at a very early age. We have individuals as young as 19 years old that are going through dialysis and it started at daycare and the like.” said Mendiola. Mendiola also stated that the goal of the Let’s Move Marianas Campaign is to educate the community and at least get the children active for their own welfare.

Another advantage through this proclamation would be for the children to be engaged in sports. Becky Robles, NCD Bureau administrator, shared another goal of the Let’s Move Marianas Campaign would be for the children to figure out what they like to do in the field of sports. “Different partners come together and offer different physical fitness or exercise stations. This could be somebody learning soccer, going through an obstacle course, just various stations that kids can go through throughout the day. To give them ideas of what physical activities are, as well as just to try it.” Said Robles. I absolutely agree with her statement. As young children, it is important for them to be physically active in various sports. This will not only maintain their fitness, but it will also help them find their passion in sports. Not everyone can be good in sports, but I do believe that everyone has a favorite sport that they would never get tired of. Through this, they would be able to manage their health and passion.

As to conclude the Childhood Obesity Awareness Month is described to be a great idea proclaimed by the Gov. Torres. Like I’ve illustrated above, it comes out with a lot of advantages for the children and also for our nation. As the rate of the childhood obesity goes down, the health risk of obesity goes down as well. It is our responsibility to help and promote these activities around the world. Every child in this world is a different kind of flower, and all together is what makes this world a beautiful garden.  We have to protect the flowers and give the appropriate nutrients and needs for the flowers in order to keep our garden beautiful and happy.

The link below provides the article:

http://www.saipantribune.com/index.php/september-childhood-obesity-awareness-month/