This January, as part of The Lancer’s very own “Speaker Series,” students had the opportunity to hear from award-winning author and cartoonist Gene Luen Yang. Yang is most well known for creating the graphic novel American Born Chinese, as well as Dragon Hoops, and for working on the stories for the Avatar: The Last Airbender comics. American Born Chinese won the Michael L. Printz Award and has been adapted into a television series featuring award-winning actors. In addition to his published works, Yang was appointed by President Obama as the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature from 2016 to 2018 and is also part of the Saint Francis family, as the father of multiple Lancers.
The Speaker Series was started by Semira Arora (’25), who thought that “it would be cool for students to hear more about different career opportunities and learn what paths people take who are interested in publication, journalism, things like that.” Last year, the Speaker Series featured the father of Mr. Herhold, Scott Herhold, who gave a talk about his time with Mercury News, as well as writing his own book about actually solving a murder. With it being an incredibly interesting and fun event, the newspaper decided to set up another event this year. Arora explained, “We wanted to do a bit of a different industry because the last one was purely about journalism, and so we reached out to Gianna’s dad—Mr. Gene Yang—who has experience in publication, art, a little mix of everything, and the media with his tv show too.”
After Yang agreed to the Speaker Series, the Editors-in-Chief met him over Zoom during Thanksgiving break to plan out a time and work out logistics. Then, they made posters and advertised on social media, reaching out to other interested clubs on campus such as Book Club and Asian Student Association (ASA) to help promote the event.
A gifted storyteller, Yang created a presentation that explained his life story and how he developed an interest in writing and creating comics. Anusha Jain (’25) says, “I thought his presentation skills were really really engaging like I really liked his use of emojis, it was hilarious.” His engaging presentation detailed his elementary school love for comics and animation, inspired by a fifth grade report on Walt Disney. In college, where he actually studied to be a computer scientist, he kept up his passion for writing, self-publishing his first comic Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks. In 2006, he published his most renowned work, American Born Chinese, based on his favorite Chinese folk story from his childhood. Yang told an inspiring story of managing parental expectations while pursuing his passion and staying resilient in the face of adversity.
Following his presentation, students had the opportunity to speak with Yang one-on-one and ask him questions about his field and experiences while the first episode of American Born Chinese played on. Katherine Winton (’25) notes, “he was very welcoming, answering all the questions from everyone at the end, signing everyone’s things. He was very connected to every single person and did something special for each person’s autograph instead of just moving through the motions so I thought that was really special.”
This speaker event will hold a special place in the heart of many Lancers. Winton continues, “I think, especially coming from someone who had a harder time starting up, it’s really inspirational. It’s one thing to hear from students who are running a high school newspaper, and another thing to hear from someone who has gone through the life lessons and is now a successful artist, successful cartoonist, and had to work through all the struggles to get there.” Arora adds, “there’s a lot of different ways your life can take you and I think something important from Mr. Yang’s talk was about how he had to try a few times before publishing stuck with him and I think learning those lessons that aren’t in a textbook or you can find on social media.”
Even teachers came to listen to Yang’s wisdom. Ms. Rosalyn Moorhouse says, “school events are important to our school culture because they give us an opportunity to hear someone’s perspective that might be different from our own, and not only that but these speakers tend to have experiences, life experiences, that we can learn from, so it’s important for us to, listen, and to gain that knowledge that they’re willing to share with us. Our guest speakers have been so generous with their time and their talent, so I think it’s important for us to listen and to gain their wisdom.”
Yang himself was very excited to do the event and noted how “SFHS students are kinda known for being awesome. Like smart, and thoughtful, and it was just, that was the case.” For students seeking advice on pursuing a similar career, he says, “I only know my own path and I began as a self publisher. I think that’s a great way of starting, because you’re not gonna make a lot of money at it, but, when you’re self publishing, it gives you a full view of what the entire publishing industry is, from the printing to the distribution. You get to know it all; you can think of it like a way of going to school for it.”
With over fifty people attending, the event was a huge success. The Lancer hopes to continue its Speaker Series and bring in more people working in the many facets of journalism and authorship to inspire students.
