Triton’s Call Staff

At first glance, Mariah Edquilane appears to be just another University of Guam student. However, she is also a mother of two.

Mariah is double majoring in fine arts and secondary education. One of her ultimate goals is to become a high school art teacher.

By taking education-related courses, she discovered that she was most interested in secondary education. She felt that her personality was best suited to teach high school students because they are able to have a better understanding of concepts such as watercolor and art history.

She graduated from Notre Dame High School in 2010 and planned to attend an art institute in Milwaukee, Wisc. But at the age of 19, she became pregnant with her daughter, Deja. She decided to stay on island and raise her daughter with her boyfriend, Jonah.

“The best moment of my life was having my first daughter. The best memory. I wouldn’t ask for anything else,” Mariah said when asked about her greatest accomplishments.

With regard to being a fine arts major, Mariah acknowledged that there were many misconceptions people believed to be true. One of these misconceptions is that majoring in fine arts is easy.

Mariah strongly disagreed with that statement. Almost every day, she is in the studio for hours on end working on pieces for the senior art exhibit. The exhibit serves as their thesis project and represents their cumulative efforts as undergraduates in the fine arts program.

The theme she chose for her thesis project is the ocean because she is inspired by nature and goes snorkeling in her free time.

Her preferred art forms are ceramics and sculpting, as evidenced by the pieces in the studio in various states of completion. On one table was a porcelain mermaid—her third attempt at the sculpture after the first two broke. Another table had plates, cups, and bowls with aquatic-themed imagery painted on their surfaces.

Balancing her roles as a mother and student have been challenging but manageable. She perseveres in her studies because of self-motivation and a strive to set a good example for her daughters.