The 14th Cycle of the CNMI’s Fire Academy begat the first female valedictorian in CNMI history in Rufina Fujihira Sablan.
Sablan, a former Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services dispatcher, was named the CNMI’s first ever female valedictorian last Friday during the 14th Cycle’s graduation ceremony at Kensington Hotel Saipan. Being named valedictorian in an academy and profession that has been dominated by males since its inception was the most honorable part, according to Sablan.
“I really doubted myself but I pushed and here I am today, the valedictorian of the 14th cycle of the academy, the first female valedictorian. Before I joined the academy, I was actually a fire dispatcher. I was in the department already but I wanted to climb the ladder and better myself and better my education and prove that I can do what the men can do, that females can do what men can do. It doesn’t matter if we’re perceived to be weaker, that we are smaller; we can do what men can do and that’s exactly what I did,” she said.