Easton DelaCruz ’26 dreams of serving others in public office.
So you can imagine just how excited DelaCruz was when, over the summer, he found himself in U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s Washington, D.C. office, speaking to the politician himself.
“Throughout the whole meeting, I was kind of fangirling,” DelaCruz quips.
DelaCruz was in the nation’s capital after being selected as an intern for the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies. He worked under U.S. Rep. Kimberlyn King-Hinds, who represents DelaCruz’s home of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).
As an aspiring politician, DelaCruz said the experience was transformative.
“I’m a 20-year-old from CNMI and I’m walking the halls of Congress,” he said.
“Being able to step foot in the capital and actually work to get stuff done for the people, it’s just a big honor. Attending all the committee hearings and briefings, they were so eye-opening.”
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During that meeting with the House speaker, Johnson turned to DelaCruz as part of a conversation about creating opportunities for young people and asked why he decided to leave the CNMI. His answer: “To get more experience, bring it home and share it with my community.”
DelaCruz, who is from Saipan, says his work at Chaminade is a big part of that experience building.
The Communication major hopes to bring new solutions to the CNMI. The U.S. territory is struggling economically amid a tourism decline and, DelaCruz says, jobs are difficult to find.
In studying at Chaminade, DelaCruz was following in the footsteps of his mother and sister.
His mom, Elaine, holds a Psychology degree from Chaminade along with a master’s of science in counseling psychology (2003) and a Doctor of Education (2024). His sister, Victoria DelaCruz ’24, studied Data Science at Chaminade and now works at nonprofit Aloha Harvest in Honolulu.
DelaCruz says what he appreciates most about Chaminade is its family-oriented atmosphere.
“I’m a pretty social person, but it’s difficult sometimes,” he said. “Being here at Chaminade, you see the same faces every day and you start to talk story. It allows you to get out of your shell.”
At Chaminade, DelaCruz has also been able to take advantage of several once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. In May 2023, for example, he traveled to Los Angeles as part of a Marianist program to conduct community service at homeless shelters on Skid Row.
And then in October 2023, he was one of two Chaminade students selected to travel on a group pilgrimage to Israel. “I go to church every Sunday and they say all these different places in the Holy Land, and I was there,” he said. “We just went through all these sacred sites.”
This coming term, DelaCruz says he hopes to continue his growth as a leader.
One thing on his “to do” list: DelaCruz is trying to sharpen his Chamorro language skills.
He practices Saipan’s native tongue with other students at Chaminade from Guam or the CNMI, and tests his knowledge on his grandparents, who are fluent.
“They still laugh at my pronunciation,” DelaCruz said, “but then they correct me. That’s part of how I’m learning.”