Span Biotech Tutor Gives Back to Alma Mater San Francisco International High School

At San Francisco International High School’s ACE Learning Center, it’s recognized that continuing education is linked to job readiness. The Span Tutor and Span Mentor Programs create jobs that build students’ professional skills and make them more employable beyond the SFIHS community. This is part of a series of SFIHS Mentors and Tutors who report on their experiences with the paid program.

By Guest Blogger Marian Frances Baquilar, San Francisco International High School Alumni and Span Tutor

My name is Marian Frances Baquilar and I am from the Philippines. I first immigrated in the United States at the age of 13, in the year 2012. I graduated from San Francisco International High School (SFIHS) last 2016. I am currently enrolled at San Francisco State University as a Pre-Nursing Major.

SFIHS became my bridge to assimilating in the United States– the alma mater that helped me get through the struggles of living in a foreign country. My experiences in SFIHS vary in different ways considering all the extracurricular activities I did in the span of four years, which makes picking the most valuable experience difficult. If I were to weigh every opportunity and experience this high school has given me, however, I would say the most valuable would be my senior year.

My last year in SFIHS was one of the toughest, stressful year I have ever had in my life. However, I consider this experience as the most valuable as it had helped shape me into the person I am today– wiser and stronger. My senior year was indeed stressful but I believe it was only because of all the knowledge I was trying to absorb while planning my future and gaining outside-of-school exposure through internships. My senior year is the most valuable experience to me because it was a collection of emotions, long lasting memories and events to me. I have gained stronger foundations of friendships, wider academic knowledge and a better view of the world ahead of me during my senior year. The challenges that my last year of high school, has also made me more resilient than I was before– it taught me what my limits, potential and capabilities are.

Currently, I am a Biotech Span Tutor at SFIHS, where I tutor/help seniors taking a Bio Technology class in City College of San Francisco. At times, however, I help with filing or minor office works. My interest in science has long started when I was young and hearing about the opportunity to tutor a science related subject in SFIHS made me highly interested.

Thinking through this, I also thought that the job was the perfect opportunity to give back to the alma mater that has helped me get to where I am today. However, of course, every job has its own challenges and I believe the challenge with being a tutor for Biotech students is not knowing some concepts they are learning. I believe that foreign concepts about their class is what challenges me the most because it limits my ability to help them. Which at times, makes me feel guilty. On the other hand, being able to help them with most of their work makes me fulfilled because I feel that I am using the opportunity the school has given me wisely and that I am doing what I was hired for.