Since 2002, professor Liza Marie S. Erpelo has made a profound impact on the students she has taught and worked with. From teaching English and literature to her work in extracurricular activities such as Pilipino Cultural Night (PCN) and the Kababayan Learning Community (KLC), former and present students praise her for the impact she has made on their lives and describe how they want to continue the legacy of spreading knowledge of Filipino culture at Skyline College.
Erpelo was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. As the daughter of a Navy father, she moved around constantly, living in Alaska and Rhode Island before settling down in San Diego. Growing up, she loved watching cartoons, listening to music, especially Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 Countdown, and pop culture. Her office is filled with figurines and posters showcasing pop culture icons. In her free time, Erpelo likes to travel, cook, and try new foods. She also loves watching musicals and dancing, and even teaches Zumba classes.
In 1991, she enrolled at San Diego State University (SDSU) as an English major. After graduating from SDSU, she came up to the Bay Area in 1997 for graduate school at San Francisco State University (SFSU), studying literature. However, she also fell in love with English composition and ultimately finished school with two master’s degrees, one in English literature and one in English composition. In 2017, she started her mission to get her doctorate in Educational Leadership, and in 2020, she graduated with a Ph.D from SFSU.
She got her first teaching job at SFSU in the fall of 2000 as a lecturer, and met Karen Wong during a workshop, who currently works at Skyline in the President’s office as the Coordinator of Institutional Effectiveness. Wong approached Erpelo and asked her to apply to Skyline, thinking she would be a great fit in the community and to increase diversity among faculty.
In 2002, Erpelo decided to take a chance at Skyline and never looked back. Ever since she was young, Erpelo said she always had the idea she would be a teacher one day. She said that she loves teaching because of the feeling of accomplishment she gets from helping others gain knowledge.
“That kind of sense of ‘Oh, I helped somebody and they get it’; for me, that was the turning point that I knew I wanted to become a teacher,” Erpelo said.
Today, Erpelo teaches English and literature at Skyline, and has taught English literature, Filipino-American literature, Asian-American literature and helped write the Queer literature course. Next semester, she will be teaching a literature course on graphic novels, which goes hand-in-hand with her love for pop culture.
“Our job is to provide you with the tools and then see how you apply your worldview into what is happening,” Erpelo said.
Erpelo has also been the head of the KLC since 2003, when the dean at the time asked her to revive the program after it was put on hiatus. Although unfamiliar with the program in the beginning, she has grown KLC into what it is today: a space where Filipino and Filipino-American students can learn reading and writing skills through Filipino and Filipino-American content.
Erpelo said she finds the learning community important because it is necessary for students to see others just like themselves in an academic setting to give them the courage to continue their quest for knowledge.
“The more that we see ourselves in the studies, in the history, in the books we read, the literature, I think the more it inspires students to keep going with higher education; to go into teaching, to go on with bigger and better things because representation matters,” Erpelo said.
Erpelo is also a part of the Filipinx Student Union (FSU). In addition, she makes sure local high school students get a chance to explore Filipino culture just like Skyline students. At Westmoor High School, KLC Counselor Jonathan Justo teaches a class in Filipino culture, which acts as a pipeline to encourage those students to one day join the KLC.
Erpelo said she knows she will not be teaching at Skyline forever, which is why her end goal is to one day pass the torch of what she has started to the students she has taught, knowing that teaching Filipino culture through art and literature can bring out those who feel isolated and intrigue those who wish to seek more information about what it is like to be a Filipino-American.
“When I see my other students being involved in their community in ways that, ‘I know you learned that from us [the KLC],’ that’s all I want to see,” Erpelo said.
