“I wanted to see with my own eyes the origin of success,” Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on his visit to Stanford on June 24, 2010.
In 2005, Adrian Estenzo Torres was featured in this column as the first Filipino-American who graduated high school Valedictorian from International School Bangkok (ISB). Five years hence, Adrian or Ryan has successfully tucked two degrees to his name — Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, Palo Alto in June 2010 and June 2009, respectively. He now works at Arista Networks in Menlo Park, Silicon Valley as a software engineer. While other 22-year-old young adults are still struggling to find their identity and niche in society, a Philippine Science High School student from Cebu has found his place in the sun and how!
Of the 30,000 applying at Stanford University each year from all over the world, only six percent finally get accepted. Of this, probably more than half are high school valedictorians, too. This was the sort of competition that Ryan was up against. It was tough enough to get accepted, let alone to persevere and graduate, yet he completed both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in less than five years — a tribute to the hard work and dedication he poured into his academic and professional life.
Upon learning that Ryan was accepted to Ivy League schools like Stanford, Brown University and was waitlisted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his mom, Elisa, cried — out of joy and out of uncertainty where to find the funding. Coping with the cost of an Ivy League education was no easy task for Ryan who was born to a middle class family — Gil Torres (former vice president of United Laboratories) and realtor Elisa Estenzo. By leap of faith, however, Ryan, having earned 19 college credits after passing the advanced placement exams, entered Stanford University as freshman in 2005.
God had his way of blessing Ryan with opportunities and a heart filled with strength and courage. He ventured into all avenues that would make it possible for him to study there. Ryan applied for US government and university scholarships, availed himself of the study-loan program and worked in various departments at Stanford to support himself. He had his on-the-job training at Goldman-Sachs, New York as web development analyst. During summer break, Ryan worked as database manager at International School Bangkok and was a tutor in Physics and Mathematics to Thai college students. In graduate school, as teaching assistant to Engineering Professor Subhasish Mitra, a leading scientist in robust design, he was paid for full cost of his tuition, his health insurance and a salary. He never ceased working.
In his senior year, he decided to pursue his Master’s degree right away, while the theories were fresh in his mind, instead of accepting a job offer in an IT company. Between academic courses and his job, he bought books and self-reviewed for the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), a requirement for graduate studies in the US. Considering the tough competition worldwide, his acceptance to the graduate program took him by surprise. Queried about his Math score in the GRE, he said “800.” Out of? “800,” he modestly answered. Despite a perfect score in Math, he still wondered why he was accepted at the Stanford Graduate School of Electrical Engineering!
Studying in Stanford was a lesson on humility and a great test of character. “However hard I tried to study for exams, there would always be other students who would do better,” Ryan sighed. It needed a lot of emotional and mental toughness to get through, especially for him who was by himself in California. And yet, he persevered and focused on his goals with passion. He learned to be resilient and faced many disappointments with a grain of salt and moved on from there.
A Stanford experience afforded perks and psychic income: lectures of luminaries like Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Dalai Lama, the privilege of having Nobel Laureates as professors and golfer Michelle Wei as a classmate, and sharing the same dormitory as Tiger Woods and Reese Witherspoon.
Moreover, it opened a whole world of academic resources and access to real-life opportunities. Part of the curriculum is a study in an affiliated school in Asia or Europe for a quarter. It was in Stanford Center for Technology Innovation, Kyoto, Japan that Ryan chose. Thirty-five of them, students, along with their professors, flew to Japan to learn not just engineering subjects but also Japanese culture. Japanese language had to be learned to enable communicating with their foster families.
Ryan has a gift for languages: Thai (fluent in speaking, reading and writing), Spanish, English, Filipino and Cebuano. He studies foreign languages on his own and practices conversing with native speakers. Niponggo is now an added skill.
Exposed to the rigors of the academe, Ryan had to be adept at time management. He balanced schooling with a social life especially because he didn’t have close family relations nearby. He belongs to Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, a member of Catholics at Stanford, Thai-American Intercultural Society and of course with Filipino-American Student Union where monthly dinners with its Filipino members are organized by him.
Ryan loves anything Pinoy involving himself with Filipino activities. During President Noynoy Aquino’s recent meeting with Ayala Foundation/ Philippine Development Foundation in California, Ryan volunteered to be an usher to be able to see the President in person, listen to the discussions and save on the $250 dinner ticket. That is how resourceful he is.
It’s not all work and no play for Ryan, mind you. Ever an adventurous spirit, he skydives, bungee jumps and counts scuba diving as his favorite sport.
Not only is Ryan blessed with a sharp mind, he also has a heart of gold and social consciousness. At ISB, he was recipient of the “Community Service Award” after spending 400 hours (of the required 40 hours) with orphans and disabled children in a nearby orphanage.
In 2007, he conceptualized and organized a health education advocacy in a slum area in Cebu called “Gubat Batok Bitok” (War against Worms) mindful of the presence of intestinal worms as the number one cause of absenteeism among schoolchildren. This was under the auspices of the Southeast Asia Leadership Network (SEALNET), an NGO founded and funded by Stanford University and in coordination with the National Institute of Health-UP Manila. As the Philippines’ country leader, he supervised 17 foreign youth leaders in their community immersion work and led the mentorship of students from UP Cebu High School who ensured its continuity, on account of which, UP Cebu High School was awarded as one of the “Ten Outstanding Youth Groups in the Philippines.” The project is on its fourth year and going strong with more foreign volunteers taking interest and actively participating in our country.
While in Cebu for holidays, Ryan is at times invited to give talks to students about leadership, creativity and “thinking outside the box.” The students are awed with his varied experiences, depth of wisdom and a sense of humor to show for it.
Ryan is happy and humbled to be part of the lean staff of Arista Networks, a maker of 10-gigabit Ethernet switches and a forerunner in “cloud networking” technology. He admires a corporate culture that encourages collaboration rather than competition in its pursuit for excellence and customer satisfaction. Friday after-office “powows” over beer foster camaraderie and close friendships. With the environment cordial and conducive, creativity comes to fore. Likewise, Arista underscores a culture of modesty as employees go to the office in comfortable wear and company owners, Forbes Listers, Andy Bechtolsheim (co-founder of Sun Microsystems) and Google investor David Cheriton, ride the bicycles to work.
Ryan seems like a regular happy-go-lucky fellow that you see on the street, one whose request to his mom is to buy him boxer shorts and rubber slippers “kasi napudpud na” from too much walking and biking around the campus. But underneath this simplicity is a man who has achieved much for his age — diplomas from a most sought-after university, a high tech job he loves, an advocacy for the country, hobbies to do and friends and family who adore him. “Every waking moment is a time for purposely living,” according to him.
Ryan encourages young Filipinos to aim high, doggedly pursue their goals and be willing to face the difficulties along the way — like he did. Conveying his success formula to his precocious 10-year-old brother, Lylie, who is in Grade 6 and dreams of studying in Stanford or Harvard in the future and whose college education he commits to shoulder, he would admonish, “Study and work real hard all the time. You must be consistent.”
He is and will always be proud of his Filipino heritage. On his graduation days for both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, Ryan consistently wore his barong Tagalog under his toga that was draped with the Filipino flag.
Mabuhay Ryan!