Realizing Potential

By Miguel Sanchez

High school is a time when students mature and think about their futures. And it is the teacher's duty to help kids realize who they can become. Teachers have the power to encourage or discourage students on their path to success. 

A person who teaches with heart, someone with whom you can actually connect as both a student and a friend.

One encouraging and caring teacher is Ms. Emily La, who teaches English and debate at Yerba Buena High School. 

Ms. Emily La has supported many students throughout her years of teaching, including me. Teaching for her is more than just getting kids to learn; it's about understanding and learning from each other and knowing what's to come in the future.

Ms. La has been a teacher for 11 years, being a Teacher who has taught different levels of English 1, 2, 3, ELD 2, 3, & 4, and AP Seminar, and throughout her experience teaching, she sometimes sees herself in her students. Being a teacher to many students throughout the years has brought many wonderful memories, which have helped La feel closer to the YB community.  

La: “There are many moments where I see some of my old self in some of my students. In a way, I can relate to them and maybe somehow they can relate to me too, and I think through that connection it's what keeps me here.”

Being a teacher to many students throughout the years has brought many wonderful memories, which have helped La feel closer to the YB community. 

La’s own journey has helped shape her path as a student, planting seeds for her to become a teacher as she has taught, learned, and shown important life lessons to friends and students.

After finishing high school, she attended Evergreen and De Anza Colleges, where she got involved in student organizing and learned about her identity as a Southeast asian and the experiences that her parents had to face living in America. 

La: “ So I actually transferred to UC Berkeley, I went to community college, I went to Evergreen, I went to DeAnza, and then after 2 years I transferred to UC Berkeley. The school was not a school that I expected to get into because it was absolutely prestigious.”

In the beginning, before La thought about transferring, she would actually take a family trip with her brother to check out the campus; however, La did not like it. 

La: “I even remember when my family forced me to go on the campus tour, because my brother, who is a year older, was checking the campus, and I just remembered hating, like not wanting to be there because there is no way like that I'm gonna end up at that school, and this was like maybe 3 years ago. And next thing you know, I end up going to UC Berkeley, and so it's kinda crazy, in retrospect I think it was actually meant to be.”

However, after being at UC Berkeley, organizations and the campus allowed La to realize how connected she is to everyone, learning about different cultures and their meanings. 

La: “ I learned a lot about hip hop culture, and I took a class on Tupac, which was cool too.”

As a student and a future teacher, La chose to learn about Tupac because she knew nothing about him. However, after learning for some time, she was able to appreciate and understand the cultures by connecting with the different students who attended the class. 

La is one of the best teachers who is there for anyone; however, as a teacher, she is also into self-defense, like Kickboxing. 

During the pandemic, when it was almost over, La decided to join to help maintain a healthy lifestyle. But after a little practice, her coach thought it would be good for her to start fighting. 

 La: “I think at this point in my life, I was like 31, and at that age, your body starts changing a lot. And so I just needed to keep up with my health, you know?” I want to do this for my health, but my coach was like, You should fight, you'd be really good, 'but I think that through his encouragement, I decided that I was going to join the sparring team.” 

Since joining the sparring team, La has found a liking for sparring. Her first ever fight would be a year after joining, and since then, La has fought 4 times. Although currently La has thought of the idea that she could teach kickboxing. 

La: ”I've definitely thought about it.” “ I have in my mind thought about how cool it would be if one of the after-school programs could be kickboxing. I would love to make something like that happen because I know there are a lot of kids at our school who would be interested, but don't have the avenue.”

In my opinion, La has been a wonderful teacher who has helped many students figure out who they can become. La has helped students shape their journeys just as she once did. Someone whom I can really trust is her, as she has helped me since my first year at Yb. 

By being her student, I have learned how to be more confident in speaking to other people and in class. I have learned how to be myself and to be kind towards others. La has taught me to be mature as I grew older and to focus on the important things in life, like college, work, and family.