As one of the 1.2% of Filipinos in MVHS, senior Lourdes Diaz believes that being in a school with few Filipinos has adversely affected her connection to her culture. Nevertheless, it provided her an opportunity to establish stronger bonds with her brothers, who share the same cultural background.

“[Since we] don’t [know] a lot of Filipinos here, having my brothers is a very nice thing,” Diaz said. “[Our shared] cultural values and heritage definitely plays a role in bringing us together as a trio and makes our experience at Monta Vista unique [since we are a] different type of Asian.”

As an older sister, Diaz encourages her brothers to participate in cultural events, as she finds maintaining a connection with one’s culture important and hopes to instill that value in her brothers. 

“Whenever we participate in cultural activities, I emphasize the importance of rekindling our relationship with our culture,” Diaz said. “I try [to advise] my brothers to [speak] the language more [often] because it’s something that our parents never taught [us], but it’s [important that] we [take this] opportunity, [since it] gives us something to share.”

Sharing a similar experience, freshman Alex Sharma has been able to get advice from their sibling and, MVHS alum Anika Sharma ‘22. After witnessing their elder sibling come out to their parents and the lack of support they received, Alex felt hesitant to do the same. As a result, Alex brought any questions or concerns they had about changing their pronouns and name to Anika, who supported Alex by offering advice on finding resources at school and dealing with transphobia.

“I feel like a big one was just when [Anika told me to] join GSA [Gender Sexuality Alliance], and [they told me that] when people are saying, transphobic stuff you can either A, just ignore them, which is usually what I do, or B if it’s your friends, you just tell [them] to shut up and explain why [what they are saying is offensive],” Alex said.

Similarly, senior Denise Masli tries giving advice to her sister, freshman Courtney Masli. She is determined to provide her sister with valuable advice she wishes she had received. Masli is acutely aware of the negative impacts of peer pressure and is committed to ensuring her sister is equipped to handle it. One of the primary pieces of guidance she gives her sister is not to let the judgment or opinions of others influence her decisions.

It is common for adolescents to experience peer pressure and feel compelled to conform to the expectation of others. Approximately 90% of teens reported that they have experienced peer pressure. This pressure can come from peers and media, resulting in negative consequences for a teenager’s physical and emotional well-being.

“I tell her [to] make sure [that] what you’re doing is what you really want to do because it’s [really] easy to let other people influence your decisions,” Masli said. “Even if it’s your friends, [you need to] make your own choices. And everything else can fall into place.”

Masli understands that high school can be stressful, particularly at MVHS. She offers her sister guidance and support by connecting with her on a shared experience as they both take biology courses. To cope with the stress of the classes, they vent to each other about their struggles and challenges. 

Diaz’s older brother took another approach when helping Diaz deal with stress. He introduced her to Maslow’s Pyramid. The pyramid represents human behavior and motivation, starting with basic needs such as food, water and shelter and gradually becoming more specialized until reaching self-actualization, the desire to become the best version of oneself. This helped Diaz realize that people often focus too much on the higher levels of the pyramid, causing them to neglect their basic needs. 

“He helped [me realize that when] I’m feeling really stressed, [I can] neglect basic needs like drinking, sleeping or eating and that can worsen the effects of stress,” Diaz said. “So something that I’ve tried to implement more in my life is focusing on eating, sleeping [and] drinking water, because that can really make you feel better physically, [so you can] then work on everything else next.”

Masli recognizes that although she may leave for college soon and there may be days without communication between her and her siblings, they know that they will be there to offer support and encouragement whenever one of them reaches out through a call or a text.

“Even though [we’re] going to have ups and downs, [which is] inevitable, I really hope that [my siblings] know I’m always here [for them],” Masli said. “In the end, [I just] hope [they’re] happy with who they’re surrounded with, and they’re happy with what they’re doing. That’s most important.”