Roots: Chuuk, FSM High School: Sand Point School, Alaska College: University of Alaska Anchorage Major: Undeclared Status: Freshman Pursuing: Bachelor’s Degree Expected Graduation: TBD
Biography
My name is Nevaeh Marcus and I am the first born child out of six children of Jane Marcus and KR Kaminanga. I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and my parents are both from Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). I graduated from Sand Point School with a 4.0 GPA and was the salutatorian. I have lived in Sand Point, Alaska for the past eight years. Throughout my entire high school career I was able to maintain a 4.0 gpa. I have taken a dual enrollment college-level class for world history and passed with a B. My school also has done these medical classes that were worth .25 college credits. These classes were intro to allied health and intro into behavioral health. I am a first generation college student. Although my parents never graduated from college, I do have many other family members who I look up to, one who graduated with his masters degree and one that has recently graduated with their bachelors degree in medicine and law. I am currently enrolled at University of Anchorage Alaska for the fall of 2025 as an exploratory student. I hope to study either business management, physical therapy, or occupational therapy. I feel I am the right candidate for this scholarship because I feel this scholarship will help me reach my academic goals and help me give back not just to my family but to the community I lived in and the community I am from. This scholarship would help lower my financial needs and help me focus more on school.
Community Service Experience
Some of my past community service are community clean-ups, elders lunch, mentoring, and fundraisings. Throughout my entire time living here in Sand Point, Alaska I have volunteered to help with our community clean-ups in school and in the community. Another environmental project I have participated in are recycling programs. Elders lunch is provided through our school and students set up tables and hand out lunches to the elders who come up for lunch. The students set up the tables, provide them with water, salads, fruit and vegetables, and the lunch of the day. Elders lunch at our school occurs once a week, this year it was every Friday and the previous years they were every Wednesday. Starting my Sophomore year I helped with mentoring and also tutoring students. I also have volunteered to help the student council on various projects and I have volunteered to help out at fundraisers such as car washes, bake sales, and have helped with food deliveries. The past two years I have helped with the community Christmas potluck. I have helped with set ups, decorating, making food, passing out Christmas gifts, and clean ups. I enjoyed volunteering at these Christmas potlucks because this is one of the few times I get to see the entire community and I also get to see all the children’s smiles as I hand them their gifts. Volunteering in this community has helped me grow as an individual and has taught me how to be patient and has helped with increasing my listening skills.
Leadership Experience
My past leadership experiences are being team captain of my volleyball team my freshman, sophomore, and senior year. I have also led an after school volleyball club for younger kids for two years. I have also shown my leadership skills through leading projects, mentoring, and event organizing. One of my favorite times of being a leader would be leading my team to become back-to-back region champions. In my first two years as a player, our coach set up a voting system and my teammates voted me as one of their captains. And when we received a new coach, I was then chosen not just by my team but also by our new coach to be captain. I have helped with the after school volleyball club by helping younger kids learn the basic volleyball skills. I have also shown my leadership skills through school projects and have helped organize a few after school study groups. I have also helped in mentoring students academically and athletically. I have helped kids from 4th -10th grade with school and have helped 3rd-5th grade boys and girls with volleyball and high school girls with volleyball as well. For the past two years I have worked at summer school and have shown my leadership skills through animation camp. I helped these students with teaching them how to work the computers and writing plays for their work. Another way I have shown my skills are through helping organize events such as car washes, bake sales, and many social events for kids and the community to attend
Inspiration
There are many things that Dr. Joakim has done, the one that is the most inspirational to me is that everything he did was to advocate for COFA citizens his entire life. Not only that he was a very active community member and was always finding ways to speak up and help his community. I read Dr. Joakim was “ determined to bring more Pacific Islanders into leadership roles and to promote responsible educational endeavors in the Islands.” This is one of the many things that have stood out about Dr. Joakim and it is truly inspiring. I want to be able to do as well for my family and community, and to show other fellow Micronesians that you can make it far. What is truly inspiring is Dr. Joakim uses his knowledge and his ability to give back to his community not just to help himself get far, but to help future Micronesian kids to go far with their education. Dr.Joakim went to school, got his masters not once but two times, and instead of just helping himself, he chose to give back to his community. He continued to help by becoming head of Chuuk Disabled Persons Association, founding member of FSM Disability Council, cofounded COFA Community and Advocacy Network, was an advocacy manager, and was nominated to the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission. Dr. Joakim was not only a masters degree holder, friend, mentor, colleague, he was a giver, a community activist, he is an inspiration to all Micronesians.
Legacy Project
A topic I am deeply passionate about in my community is helping keep kids off the street and keep them away from drug and alcohol use. I want to help my community by providing more programs that can keep children off the street during the summer. Although there is a Culture Camp, less and less kids have become interested in going. I want to provide interesting and exciting events and activities for children to attend during the summer. Lately, here in Sand Point, drug and alcohol use in the young generation has increased and many bright futures have turned down wrong paths. We are taught in school how easy it is to get addicted to drugs and how hard it is turn away from drugs. I believe this would also be useful in Chuuk, providing other events for children during the summer to turn to instead of drugs and alcohol. Many things that I can help with are to help set up sport events, sport tournaments, camps, and many other summer activities. I think drug use with the younger generation increases during the summer because now they are out of school and have nothing but time and they turn to drugs. Many kids have claimed that doing certain things have helped get their minds off things, and I want to help provide outreach for them, to let them know there is help out there that they can take advantage of. I want to help them take care of their mental health and not ruin their physical health. Addiction is something a lot of people suffer through. I want to help the younger generation know there is so much more out there than drugs and alcohol.
Nevaeh Marcus
Meet the Scholars
Sponsor a Scholar
Roots: Chuuk, FSM
High School: Sand Point School, Alaska
College: University of Alaska Anchorage
Major: Undeclared
Status: Freshman
Pursuing: Bachelor’s Degree
Expected Graduation: TBD
Biography
My name is Nevaeh Marcus and I am the first born child out of six children of Jane Marcus and KR Kaminanga. I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and my parents are both from Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). I graduated from Sand Point School with a 4.0 GPA and was the salutatorian. I have lived in Sand Point, Alaska for the past eight years. Throughout my entire high school career I was able to maintain a 4.0 gpa. I have taken a dual enrollment college-level class for world history and passed with a B. My school also has done these medical classes that were worth .25 college credits. These classes were intro to allied health and intro into behavioral health. I am a first generation college student. Although my parents never graduated from college, I do have many other family members who I look up to, one who graduated with his masters degree and one that has recently graduated with their bachelors degree in medicine and law. I am currently enrolled at University of Anchorage Alaska for the fall of 2025 as an exploratory student. I hope to study either business management, physical therapy, or occupational therapy. I feel I am the right candidate for this scholarship because I feel this scholarship will help me reach my academic goals and help me give back not just to my family but to the community I lived in and the community I am from. This scholarship would help lower my financial needs and help me focus more on school.
Community Service Experience
Some of my past community service are community clean-ups, elders lunch, mentoring, and fundraisings. Throughout my entire time living here in Sand Point, Alaska I have volunteered to help with our community clean-ups in school and in the community. Another environmental project I have participated in are recycling programs. Elders lunch is provided through our school and students set up tables and hand out lunches to the elders who come up for lunch. The students set up the tables, provide them with water, salads, fruit and vegetables, and the lunch of the day. Elders lunch at our school occurs once a week, this year it was every Friday and the previous years they were every Wednesday. Starting my Sophomore year I helped with mentoring and also tutoring students. I also have volunteered to help the student council on various projects and I have volunteered to help out at fundraisers such as car washes, bake sales, and have helped with food deliveries. The past two years I have helped with the community Christmas potluck. I have helped with set ups, decorating, making food, passing out Christmas gifts, and clean ups. I enjoyed volunteering at these Christmas potlucks because this is one of the few times I get to see the entire community and I also get to see all the children’s smiles as I hand them their gifts. Volunteering in this community has helped me grow as an individual and has taught me how to be patient and has helped with increasing my listening skills.
Leadership Experience
My past leadership experiences are being team captain of my volleyball team my freshman, sophomore, and senior year. I have also led an after school volleyball club for younger kids for two years. I have also shown my leadership skills through leading projects, mentoring, and event organizing. One of my favorite times of being a leader would be leading my team to become back-to-back region champions. In my first two years as a player, our coach set up a voting system and my teammates voted me as one of their captains. And when we received a new coach, I was then chosen not just by my team but also by our new coach to be captain. I have helped with the after school volleyball club by helping younger kids learn the basic volleyball skills. I have also shown my leadership skills through school projects and have helped organize a few after school study groups. I have also helped in mentoring students academically and athletically. I have helped kids from 4th -10th grade with school and have helped 3rd-5th grade boys and girls with volleyball and high school girls with volleyball as well. For the past two years I have worked at summer school and have shown my leadership skills through animation camp. I helped these students with teaching them how to work the computers and writing plays for their work. Another way I have shown my skills are through helping organize events such as car washes, bake sales, and many social events for kids and the community to attend
Inspiration
There are many things that Dr. Joakim has done, the one that is the most inspirational to me is that everything he did was to advocate for COFA citizens his entire life. Not only that he was a very active community member and was always finding ways to speak up and help his community. I read Dr. Joakim was “ determined to bring more Pacific Islanders into leadership roles and to promote responsible educational endeavors in the Islands.” This is one of the many things that have stood out about Dr. Joakim and it is truly inspiring. I want to be able to do as well for my family and community, and to show other fellow Micronesians that you can make it far. What is truly inspiring is Dr. Joakim uses his knowledge and his ability to give back to his community not just to help himself get far, but to help future Micronesian kids to go far with their education. Dr.Joakim went to school, got his masters not once but two times, and instead of just helping himself, he chose to give back to his community. He continued to help by becoming head of Chuuk Disabled Persons Association, founding member of FSM Disability Council, cofounded COFA Community and Advocacy Network, was an advocacy manager, and was nominated to the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission. Dr. Joakim was not only a masters degree holder, friend, mentor, colleague, he was a giver, a community activist, he is an inspiration to all Micronesians.
Legacy Project
A topic I am deeply passionate about in my community is helping keep kids off the street and keep them away from drug and alcohol use. I want to help my community by providing more programs that can keep children off the street during the summer. Although there is a Culture Camp, less and less kids have become interested in going. I want to provide interesting and exciting events and activities for children to attend during the summer. Lately, here in Sand Point, drug and alcohol use in the young generation has increased and many bright futures have turned down wrong paths. We are taught in school how easy it is to get addicted to drugs and how hard it is turn away from drugs. I believe this would also be useful in Chuuk, providing other events for children during the summer to turn to instead of drugs and alcohol. Many things that I can help with are to help set up sport events, sport tournaments, camps, and many other summer activities. I think drug use with the younger generation increases during the summer because now they are out of school and have nothing but time and they turn to drugs. Many kids have claimed that doing certain things have helped get their minds off things, and I want to help provide outreach for them, to let them know there is help out there that they can take advantage of. I want to help them take care of their mental health and not ruin their physical health. Addiction is something a lot of people suffer through. I want to help the younger generation know there is so much more out there than drugs and alcohol.