“Saint Francis has helped me find who I am through the clubs and activities I've joined. After Covid, I went through some rediscovery of myself. What really helped was the immersion program and service work. They changed my perspective on my life and the path that I want to take after high school. I realized my passion for helping people. I so deeply want everyone to have an equal opportunity to be successful, and it's hard for me to see people suffer. So if there's any way I can do my best to alleviate that, I will do it. I want to go into healthcare, specifically nursing. If I was a little uncertain before, I am much more certain now that that's what I'm meant to do.

Last year, I went to the Puerto Rico immersion during spring break with nine other students and three educators. We worked on three different houses in various stages of reconstruction after Hurricane Maria. At the house where I worked, we repainted the outside. It was fun because we had three site leaders from the organization that we worked with, and they were big role models for us. The days were long and hot, but we listened to music on the speakers, and we got to know the site leaders. So we weren't just doing service work, we were getting to know people.

This year, I'm looking forward to basketball season and getting to manage the team one last time. I'm also excited for my track and field season. I do shot put and high jump. Then, there are the clubs I'm doing, and I’m excited to explore those opportunities. I'm a leader — a student ambassador and a board member of Rally Board, Ignite and CSF.

One thing I’ve liked this year was being able to work as a student ambassador at the President’s Celebration and talking to alumni who were in my position. I saw how excited they were when I told them I was a senior. I was a little intimidated at first to talk to them, but after a while, I realized how easy it is to talk to adults and how much good it can do for students to hear from other people's experiences.”

Abby Bullock ’23

“My academic journey has been a huge part of what I enjoy here — getting to be on campus and doing projects and labs and cool stuff that we didn't get to do last year. Definitely, my writing has improved. I write one manuscript per summer, but I have been working on this murder mystery for a while. I’m polishing my writing skills in class, and having teachers work with me has helped my writing for short stories, poems and music. As far as my creative process for writing songs, I start by playing with chords and see what I feel, and I channel that emotion into lyrics. A big thing for me is writing songs that matter, songs that make people feel something or have an important message.

I'm part of the Future Medical Students Association. I want to be a pediatrician and I know plans might change, but getting that experience now and combined with the leadership opportunities of student council and the Saint Francis Family Club has really helped me. I hope that it'll open some doors in the future.

My family is huge for me. Their support has been super integral to everything I do on campus. I'm always thinking about them, and they're praying for me, and me for them. Their love is amazing, and without them, I would not be here today. They’re essential to my spiritual, mental, and social development. My values and my morals — this was a great gift that I received from my family.”

Marissa Del Rio ’23

“When I joined the Fanaa South Asian Bollywood dance team @sfhs_fanaa, that was my first experience with a family team environment. That's where I connected with my culture of dancing, the music and the people. I also joined SASA @sfhs_sasa, or South Asia Student Association, in sophomore year. We connected with one another during Zoom meetings, but what it meant for me was that I could talk to people about who I am. I don't see myself represented in other parts of my community. So it was nice to be able to express that emotion with people around me. That feeling of being connected and engaged in my community, my school, was something that I have always wanted, and I'm happy to say that I found it.

Martial arts has been a key part of my life. I've been training for 12 years and brought my passion to SFHS by founding the Martial Arts Club @sfhs_martialarts in my freshman year. I have my second-degree black belt in taekwondo and first-degree black belt in self-defense. I began teaching martial arts online through my non-profit Fit4Grit Academy @fit4grit_academy to hundreds of youth in the US and India during the onset of the pandemic, telling them how to practice respect, dedication and perseverance. Respect has a lot of connotations; I learned there's respect for yourself. That's one thing that I have tried to deal with — understanding my limits, and I learned to be more understanding of myself, to say, “hey, maybe I can't do this yet. I'll try again next year” or “maybe I am not fitting in with this group because that's not who I am, and that's okay.”

I’ve been doing competitive speech and debate for seven years. This year, I switched to extemporaneous speaking. For the speech I gave to the Mountain View Rotary Club, the topic was on the impacts of the sedentary lifestyle on youth since Covid. I won, and I’ll be competing alongside all the top winners from the area for the next level. What I’ve learned through practice is that if you can get past the hurdle that someone is judging you when you’re speaking, your words will come out smoother because those nerves will go away.”

Adarsh Gupta ’23

"I currently participate in cross country and track, and I’m on student council. I’m also a leader of the Filipino American Student Union and of Ignite, which is the youth group on campus. I noticed that everything that I enjoy has to do with my identity, my cultural background and my religious background. I see myself as an individual rather than just a student. I’ve learned a lot about myself through these clubs and when I took on a leadership role, I learned a lot even more about myself and what I want for the future.

One thing I love at Saint Francis is that if you want to learn how to do something, there’s always the opportunity to do it. One thing that people don’t know about me is that I like to sing so I’ve decided that I am going to join choir. I’m a very outgoing person and there’s a lot that people know about me, but I’m sure people will be surprised to know that I’ve had a long time interest in singing.

To be a Lancer, you’re truly someone who wants to make the world a better place. I feel like I’ve changed so much over the first few years that I’ve been here, and I think Saint Francis has given me the platform to present new ideas and speak about the changes in our society. The opportunities here have challenged me and brought me outside my comfort zone. I want to lead by example and share my good experiences here on campus with others. It’s so rewarding getting to see people enjoy the work that you’ve put out. I want to extend my leadership roles and continue with them beyond my years here. This school prepares you for life. I will take what I have learned here into my future as a leader."

Ava Grace Sanchez '25

“It's nice to be part of the Saint Francis community. This is really my first year. At the start it was overwhelming because there were so many people. At my last school the entire eighth grade was 24 people. In general though everyone here has been friendly. I'm part of the Speech and Debate Club and the Business Club. I feel young people don't know how things like the economy works. The club teaches you about it, and it’s valuable information.

I've been doing archery since I was nine. It's called the mental sport because in order to master archery, you have to focus on your breathing. If anything is different from the time you shot before, it will alter your shot a lot. Archery calms me down because it helps me focus and get my priorities straight. I won the state championships during the summer, and I participated in the national competition and got eighth. Archery isn't a common sport so it was nice to meet like-minded people. 

I would like to come out of sophomore year being a better person and knowing more about my identity. Being an archer is a big part of that because I've been doing it for so long, and it has shaped a lot of me. But I would like to get a more rounded view of who I am.”

— Samika Yami ’24