For Elijah Pangelinan, representing Saipan Community School (SCS) on a national stage wasn't just about the competition. It was about proving what's possible for students from small islands.
The eighth grader recently returned from the 43rd National Academic Championship in Chicago, where he co-captained SCS's middle school team in a quiz bowl against schools from across the United States.
"It was honestly such a thrilling experience," Pangelinan said. "Even though we're from a small island and [...] being from a small school, it's like actually one of the greatest marks of where we come from and what it means to be from Saipan doing big things, even when you're from someplace small."
Held from May 31 to June 1, the tournament challenged teams with rapid-fire questions in science, literature, math, history, and other subjects. Each team played six preliminary rounds. SCS finished seventh in overall points with a score of 1140, an impressive feat for its first appearance at the national event. The team also ranked ninth in the win-loss record.
Pangelinan said the experience stretched him both academically and personally. Beyond studying competition packets and doing daily math drills, he learned skills like budgeting, teamwork, and problem-solving, all while navigating a new city in the continental U.S. for the first time.
"One of my teammates said they feel like they learned more in just those few days than learning inside of school for a whole month. And honestly, I completely
resonated with that," he said, adding that he wasn't just challenged in the classroom sense, but also learned how to work as a team, adapt, and represent something bigger.
The SCS team also included co-captain Vivian Chung, seventh graders Jesus Villagomez and Jina Chun, and sixth grader Iyani Muna. Principal Amanda June Allen Dunn said the students' commitment and discipline made her proud.
"To rank ahead of schools who had won more games than us but we got more points than them... That was really cool to try to share," Dunn said. "And that's what I was trying to celebrate with the kids, is that every point does count."
Pangelinan encourages other students in the CNMI to get involved in academic competitions, even if it feels outside their comfort zone.
"I'm really a sports kind of guy," said Pangelinan, who added that participating in this academic competition was a "big switch-up" for him. "It's better just to [...] shoot a hundred shots and not make a single one of them, than not shoot any shots at all."
