Three Micronesian students in Hawaiʻi, Guam and Alaska were awarded the A+Jojo Scholarship award.
The annual scholarship, funded by the Oʻahu-based nonprofit We Are Oceania, is given to students from three Pacific countries in Micronesia, which include the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.
Each student is awarded about $1,500, according to Sheldon Riklon, president of the Dr. Joakim Peter Memorial Scholarship Board. He said the board went through more than 30 applicants from Micronesian students across the Pacific Ocean, the continental U.S. and Hawaiʻi.
“The talent and the caliber that our students show when they submit their applications is encouraging,” he said.
Azer Bilimon is pursuing his undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Guam. He graduated from Northern Islands High School at the College of the Marshall Islands.
Marrisa Gilyoochen is attending the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa for a law degree. She graduated from Yap Catholic High School and Honolulu Community College, where she was a leader for the Micronesan Wayfinders Club.
Nevaeh Marcus, an Alaska-based Chuukese, attends the University of Alaska Anchorage. He graduated from Sand Point School, where he excelled in sports and community service.
The scholarship award is in honor of the late Joakim “Jojo” Peter, Ph.D., who died in 2019. Peter, who is from Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia, was known for being a champion for social justice in Honolulu and across the Pacific Ocean. He dedicated his life to advocating for people with disabilities and immigrants.
Peter was a graduate of Xavier High School in Chuuk, the University of Guam, and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where he earned his master’s in Pacific Islands studies and a doctorate from the College of Education in Disability Studies.
Riklon said that if Peter were alive today, he would be proud of the recipients.
“He would definitely tell them to continue to study hard and to represent themselves as who they are – to be proud Micronesians,” Riklon said.
Since the scholarship’s creation, it has funded 13 undergraduate and graduate students.
The scholarship board is hosting a virtual community celebration on Aug. 29 at 3 p.m. (Hawaiʻi time) to honor the recipients. Click here to register.
