MARCO YAO BATE
University of Pennsylvania How was your high school life?
It involved a lot of personal growth as I gained more confidence in the decisions I made. I learnt that the mistakes and failures I met in my academics and extracurricular activities were necessary lessons in dealing with adversity and developing resilience. On a lighter note, my high school life was packed with enjoyable and memorable experiences. Travelling with friends to Marawi City to distribute toys and supplies to children, supplying solar-powered lamps to off-grid farming villages, representing ISM’s badminton team in interschool competitions, exploring Beijing and living with locals during my summers, and latenight hangouts with friends are a few of the unforgettable highlights of my high school life in ISM.
How was high school particularly in a pandemic?
It was a challenging experience that required adjustments in my study habits and in the way I connected with teachers and peers. Many of my extracurricular activities had to be modified to function in an online setting and unfortunately, sports competitions were cancelled. While initially stressful, learning via Zoom became the new norm, and as I adapted, the rest of the year until graduation went by smoothly and quickly.
Though I was not able to step into the campus at all during my senior year, I managed to visit the school with friends a day before graduation and ISM prepared a heartwarming virtual ceremony that I personally felt was still a great way to wrap up my high school experience.
What are you most excited for?
I can’t wait to experience in-person interaction once again on campus, meet new classmates and engage with professors. I’m also eager to discover the internship and research opportunities on housing affordability, financing, as well as city planning at several large-scale institutions in Philadelphia. Finally, I also really look forward to the academic opportunities available at Penn, especially the diverse offering of classes and multitude of extracurricular clubs that will allow me to pursue my interests in urban development and economics in a global setting. I will be pursuing Urban Studies.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
I see myself returning to the Philippines and applying what I’ve learnt at Penn towards developing innovative solutions that can tackle some of the many social issues our country currently faces. Hopefully by then, I’d have formed some sort of startup company that can help me achieve my goal of bringing meaningful improvement and change to our society.