Iakwe Aolep!
Moktata ikōnaan kam̧oolol Anij kin mour im ejmour. Eta in Jasmine Muneca Botlang Henry. Jibūn late Botlang Loeak im late Nora Loeak. Nejin Claire Loeak im Harry Henry. Mama ej kōrā in Rālik en kab Maļoelap, Wōtje im Likiep. Baba ke likao in Puerto Rico. Jowi eo aō ej Jejed.
My parents were divorced in 2006 and that is when my mom, sister and I moved back to the Marshall Islands and lived at my grandparent’s house, which is where I grew up and now live in today. I am still very much in touch with my dad’s side even though I haven’t seen them in a while and would only spend summers with them growing up.
My Bubu and Jimma were my world. I lived with them for about 2 years when I was in elementary school because my mom was too sick during her pregnancy with my younger sister to care for me. As with most Marshallese grandparents, my Bubu and Jimma handed me the world. So their deaths in 2012 and 2013 really shattered me on the inside. It challenged everything I believed and wanted out of life. It changed the trajectory of the rest of my life. Fast forward 8 years later, I still miss them and I know that I always will. However, the memories are no longer painful, but moments I love to reminisce on and cherish.
One of the biggest things that my Bubu and Jimma stressed the importance of was getting an education. I graduated from Majuro Baptist Christian Academy in 2012 as Valedictorian at 16 years old; from Wingate University in North Carolina with a Bachelor of Science with Honors in 2016 at 20 years old; and finally graduated with my Juris Doctor from Bond University in Australia with a focus in International Finance and Business Law in 2018 at 23. I am now a practicing lawyer working as an Assistant Attorney General for the RMI Government. I went straight through school, other than a 6 month break when I taught English, Spanish and American Government at MBCA before going to law school and I really was going through the motions just doing whatever I could to move forward.
They say that you usually question your upbringing, faith, cultural practices etc. when you are away for college, and I really did do just that. I never for once stopped believing that Jesus is my Lord and Savior, but after my Bubu and Jimma died, I definitely was angry at my Lord and Savior. How could He take them from me so soon? How could He allow me and my family to live life without them. I did everything I was “supposed” to do growing up, and God took the most important people in my life from me. That is how I felt. Even though I kept on going to school, I began to just go through the motions and do whatever the people around me wanted to do. It wasn’t until I was invited to attend Hillsong in Australia that my life started to turn around and I started to remember who I was and what my purpose in this life is.
We all go through different hardships in life. Through all of my experiences, amazing and awful, the two things that have kept me grounded and ever forward are my faith in Jesus Christ and my mom’s faith in me. Finding something to secure yourself in is so important for success in whatever form that God has for us.
I want to thank Mr. Boaz for allowing me to share a little bit of my story in this newspaper and I hope that my story resonates with whoever is reading this and speaks to you in some way. You can do it. We as a community can do anything we set our minds to. Contrary to the American way of life, we win at life together. So let’s continue to do what’s best not only for ourselves and our own family, but for our communities.
God bless!