What a pleasant surprise to hear my name announced at the ninth-grade promotion! We, teachers, never know what influences or impacts our students so, to be recognized by someone of stature, the Associate Student Body President, is a high honor. Additionally, hearing Tagalog, my native language spoken to greet guests is incredible, as it validates our presence in America, and warmly welcomes our Filipino families and friends.
Both Mischa Julizen Esguerra and Maria Ysabella Baetiong did me proud in their presidential and welcome speeches and I had the privilege of being their teacher and advisor during their time at Granger Jr. High School in National City, California. However, it was in my latest assignment, conducting interviews with these two ladies, that afforded me the opportunity to learn more about them and their Filipino-American journey.
Born in Cavinti, Laguna, Mischa Julizen Esguerra came to America with her family, when she was two years old. When she first arrived, she laughs at her innocence, remembering seeing kids of different races, and asked, “What part of the Philippines are you from?” not knowing that there were other countries around the world. As innocent as Zen was, she was not removed from the difficulties of life, separated from her dad while serving in the U.S. Navy, she would go on Skype and wonder, “Who’s that?” forgetting what he looked like. Zen’s grandfather gently reminded her that he was her father.
Despite her innocence and hardship, Zen was quick to adapt to her new surroundings. Her journey from elementary to junior high school was marked with academic success, recognition as gifted, advancement to English proficiency, and consistency in the principal’s honor roll. While these achievements alone would make any parent proud, Zen also took to leadership roles, serving as a GNN broadcast Co-Director, an Asian International Association (AIA) Vice President, and Freshmen Associated Student Body (ASB) President. When asked what drives her to do well in school and serve in leadership positions, she responded, “My sister, Mikaela, who’s six years old, looks up to me and is my strongest supporter.” At the ninth grade promotion, Zen heard Mikaela yell, “Ate!” which is the Tagalog term meaning, “Older sister!” after she gave her farewell speech, reminding her of her motivation and making her journey worthwhile.
In Zen’s speech, she was gracious to include my name, “Thank you, Ms. Bautista, for opening me up out of my shell and encouraging me to share my Asian heritage with Granger.” Being her teacher in both English and Filipino classes and advisor for the AIA, I quickly identified Zen’s intelligence and leadership qualities and though she belonged in a class adversely affected by the shutdown, Zen found her voice, when given opportunities to engage in a schoolwide debate on Artificial Intelligence, recite a stanza in Jose Rizal’s poem, “Sa Aking Mga Kabata,” and facilitate AIA meetings with forty members. Zen is unique and my heart is full, when she said, “When you see me on stage with inspiring words, that is your work!”
WATCH an excerpt of Zen’s presidential speech here:
Maria Ysabella Baetiong was born in Quezon City and came to America with her Dad’s family when she was seven years old. Ysabella’s departure from the Philippines was rough, being abandoned by her mom at age four, her Dad returned to the Philippines and fought for sole custody and won. Although Ysabella’s childhood was turbulent, a new life awaited her in California. Interestingly, Zen was her first friend, when she entered first grade in Palmer Way in National City. “It wasn’t easy for me to fit in,” she said, as she only knew a handful of sentences in English so, Zen was a great source of comfort and helped her maintain her native language, while also acquiring new. The shutdown in sixth grade didn’t help nor did the distance learning in seventh grade, but she continued her quest for friendship and language acquisition when schools opened in her eighth and ninth-grade years.
Ysabella’s language acquisition sparked, when she discovered the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson series, as part of the Accelerated Reading (AR) program in elementary school. She remarked, “I didn’t understand everything I was reading so, I would ask my family or look up words I didn’t know in the dictionary.” Her tenacity paid off, recognized as having the highest AR points among her peers. By the time Ysabella entered my ninth grade English class, she didn’t just understand our irony lesson, for instance, and answered correctly, but also demonstrated strong reasoning, when I glanced over her short-essay answers to our test while walking around the room. When the schoolwide ninth-grade debate came, Ysabella won the audience by the storm, after placing her index cards with her speech on immigration on her opponents’ table, grabbing the microphone, and engaging the audience. Ysabella’s acquisition of English was quick and exciting, from learning vocabulary to having authority.
Having confidence in the language and finding new friends, Ysabella was able to contribute more to our school She served in leadership roles, including Link Crew and AIA Social Activities Director. As a Link Crew leader, she helped with sixth-grade orientation, exposing them to available clubs so, they can look forward to attending Granger Jr. High School. As an AIA Social Activities Director, she participated in the singing telegram fundraiser, where she sang songs by Filipino-American artists, delivering the telegram with a group to the lucky recipients during Valentine’s month. While Ysabella’s contributions are plenty, the most unique ones involve her ability to take on my role, when I’m absent from class. A colleague, who covered my class said, “Ysabella took attendance and facilitated activities, making my job easy.” She is the trusted one, who can act on my behalf. When the year was nearly over, Ysabella asked, if she could do the welcome speech in Tagalog at the ninth-grade promotion, and without hesitation, I replied with a resounding, “Of course!” There’s no one more fitting to speak and represent the Filipino-American experience than Ysabella.
WATCH Ysabella’s Tagalog Welcome Remarks here:
While Zen and Ysabella are both accomplished students and leaders, what’s most impressive is their ability to adjust and thrive, when they moved from the Philippines to America. It may be true that I helped open up Zen out of her shell, as she mentioned in her ninth-grade promotion speech and I translated the welcome speech from English to Filipino for Ysabella. I could also probably say that I played a small part in their language acquisition, being their English and Filipino teacher, and presented them with opportunities for leadership in my role as AIA Advisor. However, what is most noteworthy is what I learned through conducting these interviews, which is how they developed their character–from being a stranger to a friend, naïve to intelligent, and migrant to a leader. They are products of the daily choices they made, responding to life’s challenges with resilience and excellence.
Whenever I’m asked what I do for a living and say that I’m a ninth-grade teacher, people immediately react with a worried look on their faces and say, “You’re brave!” or “Thank God for you because I wouldn’t have the patience.” Teens seem to have a bad rap and are often viewed as dramatic or disrespectful and while this may be the case, at times, we might need to be careful with holding this view because we could be missing out on treasures. Working with teens for seventeen years and having this opportunity to interview these two ladies, I could say with confidence that teens are treasures with stories of struggles and triumphs. In learning their background, I see what they had to overcome to get to where they are and it’s truly inspiring. Zen and Ysabella are but two of many students with stories waiting to be told. Interestingly, both Zen and Ysabella have their sights on Stanford University; Zen would like to become a Mechanical Engineer, and Ysabella, an attorney. I have no doubt that their future is bright and it is my greatest joy to be by their side, as they reach for their dreams, and continue with their journey.
Editor’s Note: This article is a follow-up on the Good News Pilipinas story about the two students’ speeches at the Granger Jr. High School 9th Grade Promotion Ceremonies in June 2023. CHECK OUT the article here.
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