Member Stories

Geoff, East Palo Alto Academy High School

I think it’s fair to say that when I first got the call to come work for BAYAC, I was very nervous. I had just found out that I was going to be offered another job, one that would allow me to also work with youth, be paid more, and one that was closer to where I was living. On top of that, I was going to be working with kids from East Palo Alto, a place where in high school, and even today, has a reputation of being a very dangerous area. However, after talking to my parents, I realized the great opportunity that I was being presented by coming to work for BAYAC, both for personal and professional growth. Through my experience this year, I have seen how wrong stereotypes can be and so fortunate to have worked with students who have changed my life.

I currently work at East Palo Alto Academy High School, a school that is very different from the one I went to. The demographic is mostly Latino and African American and many of these students will be first generation high school graduates as well as the first in their family to go to college. On top of that the school is very small, with the total size of the school being about 300 students. On the contrary, my high school was about 1600 students and primarily from an affluent White and Asian community. I work primarily with the students who are enrolled in the “Early College Success Program”, a program that allows them to take classes from Cañada Community College so that they can earn college credit in high school. More importantly however, I serve as a tutor and mentor to many of the students that I interact with, helping them with homework, college and scholarship applications, and helping them navigate their world to the best of my ability.

A friend of mine once was trying to convince and question me on my personal career aspirations, saying, “Wouldn’t you want to work with students like the ones from our high school because they are better prepared and you don’t have to battle with them as much? It wouldn’t be as hard.” Thinking back to that conversation, I realize that one of the most important lessons BAYAC has taught me is that in life, sometimes we are presented with the easier path, but that doesn’t always mean we should take it. I would not trade my experience from EPAA for anything. It has lit a passion for education and working with youth in me that I protect and stand for dearly. On top of being a witness to the students maturing before my eyes and to have played a part in their realization of the importance of education, it has forever changed me. Seeing that light “go on” in the students I interact with makes me believe they will succeed in whatever is in front of them. This would not have been possibly had I not been apart of BAYAC. For this reason, I will always be thankful.