One thing you can count on in life is change. Some of our staff grew up in Milpitas and can tell us what it was like when they were growing up in Milpitas High School.
Social studies teacher Roy Huang said he was in high school 18 years ago, and his experience was not that different from how it is now, except for technology.
“When I was in high school, the advent of portable cell phones just came along,” Huang said. “Then, they charged 10 cents per text message. Data is not free; it wasn’t fixed then, but it was super expensive because you can rack up the bill really high.”
When he was in high school, it was similar to now in that students tended to spend time with the same groups, Huang said.
“You have certain cliques that just hang out with each other constantly, whether it be by ethnic group, or whether it be by which elementary school or middle school you went to,” Huang said.
The demographics have changed a lot since he attended MHS, Huang said.
“Our Mexican population, our Vietnamese population, our Filipino population decreased, and now our Indian population grew,” Huang said.
Another difference is that the school definitely has more activities now, Huang said.
“Everything from after-school events to clogs, dances to different cultural shows, the food trucks, and the sporting events – it’s a lot more structured now,” Huang said.
Milpitas is a special place, especially for those who grew up here, Huang said. Many of his close friends from Milpitas, even though some of them moved away to places like Southern California or New York, he added.
“Milpitas has a school system that allows kids to grow up in the same elementary school, to the same middle school, to the same high school,” Huang said. “So then these are people that you know your entire life, from this small 20-person kindergarten classroom. Even though they move away, and then they come back to visit, you guys are still best buds and know each other as you were growing up.”
I had a good childhood growing up in Milpitas, Math teacher Ivy Nguyen said.
“Most of my teachers were very nice, and there was a lot of diversity,” Nguyen said. “There was a lot of diversity. I felt like the community, student community was pretty nice as well, for the most part, at least from what I saw, I felt like students tended to get along with each other.”
Coming back to Milpitas as a school teacher makes Nguyen happy, she said.
“So it brings me a lot of joy to be able to come back to my community and give back, and help other students in the ways that my past teachers helped me,” Nguyen said.
When Nguyen was a student here, she only knew a few people with an iPhone, and there was relatively less technology back then, she said.
“When I was a student here, smartphones weren’t as prevalent, because I feel like I only knew a few people who had an iPhone when I was in high school,” Nguyen said. “So basically, text messages cost money, going online costed money. Even taking phone calls costed money. So like, I couldn’t call my friends until after 9 pm or and I couldn’t text my friends until maybe I got home, and I could go on like, Instant Messenger and talk to them.”
There are more electives and APs now, Nguyen said.
“There’s so many more sports and a lot more AP classes offered now,” Nguyen said. “So, for instance, I don’t remember having AP environmental science or AP psych. We really only had, like, AP Physics, AP Chem, AP Bio, stats, AP calc, then all the history ones, but we didn’t have some of the more, like accessible AP classes that more students could take.”
It was odd at first to come back to Milpitas as a teacher, Nguyen said. She really couldn’t wait to leave as a student, but coming back felt weird, she added.
“I feel like the students here are so great,” Nguyen said. “I’ve never had many issues like teaching the students here, and I love that I can connect with them on so many levels. I mean, even though 14 years ago was a really long time, there’s some things that don’t change, and there are a lot of experiences that I have that I can share with them.”
