Education: Oceana High School
Abstract: I grew up in San Francisco’s Sunset district and the Daly City/South San Francisco area. My father attended high school in the United States at Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco but never went any further with his education than attending Heald College for two years. My mother attended the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines but never attended school in the U.S. My father is a caretaker to my grandmother who has Alzheimer’s, while my mother is a medical technician at UC San Francisco hospital and Seton Medical Center.
I attended Oceana High School in Pacifica, which was one of the best schools in the Jefferson Union High School district. It was a small academically based school. My parents, like other Filipino parents, really encouraged me to go to college so I could get a good job and be successful. My academic counselor did not help me as much as she did other students who she knew could easily go to a four year college. She told me I that I still had a chance to be accepted by a couple of Cal State and private university’s but even that was uncertain. She said that I should first go to a junior college because she didn’t feel that I was ready to attend a four year college. It was my home room teacher and special services counselor Ms. Disch who really helped me and encouraged me to apply to a four year college. I decided to go to Saint Mary’s College of California and was accepted through the High Potential program.
I am the first in my family to attend a four year college in the U.S. which makes me a first generation college student by SMC’s definition. I work since I did not get any financial help from school. I am currently a freshman at Saint Mary’s and am undecided with my major.
Keywords: mentor, High Potential Program, first generation, family
Happy Birthday, Rodney!
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