KELLY LORENNIJ
Eastern Oregon University (EOU) has risen in popularity among Marshall Islanders. This semester, nine new Marshallese students took four flights and an hour-long drive to get to the campus in La Grande, Oregon.
EOU is one of five universities that share a special agreement with the College of the Marshall Islands, allowing students to transfer most, if not all, acquired course credits. This allows second, third, and fourth year students or graduates to continue their course of study instead of starting from square one, freshmen year.
While earlier transferees were Nursing and Education majors, this year’s bunch is set to study a range of areas including Politics, Economics, and Business Administration. Amongst the recent College of the Marshall Islands graduates are two first-year students.
The trip was tiring, but the excitement of starting a “new chapter,” as the students call it, eased sore feet.
CMI graduate Junior “Lajinq” Junios told the Journal, “I represent my last name, my relatives, my schools, my college, my islands, and my people.” As part of a Kickstart Program for new students from the Pacific Islands, last week the group visited historic sites in Wallowa County after learning about Native American chiefs and tribes.
Read more about this in the September 14, 2018 edition of the Marshall Islands Journal.