Liza Deocampo

Student

“Most of the teachers at SMC have masters and doctorate degrees. I think they’re just as good as teachers at any university.”

“My family and I just got back from Las Vegas and we’re broke now,” says Liza Deocampo in her typically energized fashion. “But it was my dad’s money,” she adds laughing, “so I really won’t feel the loss.” Liza arrived in LA only a year ago from the Philippines but speaks flawless English. “My parents came here seven years ago, but I stayed behind and went to an all-girl school where they teach very well,” she explains.

Liza is currently studying theater arts and journalism. “In my first semester I was a nursing major. But it really wasn’t what I wanted to do at all. I just love acting,” she continues. “It’s a tough career, extremely competitive, but it makes me happy. So I’ll just do the best I can with it. I really love Shakespeare so, who knows? Maybe the world is ready for a Filipino Ophelia.”

Liza was recently sitting at a table crammed with cookies out on Club Row, selling her wares to raise money for the Filipino Club. “I’m the Interclub Council representative for our club,” she says. “And we’re doing a lot of interesting things. We talk about the issues, like gang members and what’s going on in society,” she says. “And we get together with a lot of other Filipino clubs from other SoCal campuses. It helps sometimes to meet with other people of your own ethnicity who understand your feelings about home.”

Liza says that SMC has given her no problems with her adjustment to a new country. “I think the people here, the teachers, are all great. And it’s the kind of place where you don’t have to make up your mind about what you want to do on the first day of classes. You can experiment here before you make up your mind about the rest of your life.”

Back