“We were strangers, starting out on a journey”

When I interviewed Ashley (Jones) Santillan, Class of 2013, I felt as if we had truly similar St. Francis High School experiences, where we met lifelong friends and were encouraged to follow our passions, even though our graduation years spanned over a decade apart. Her warmth, charisma, and especially her love for others radiated through the phone. She exudes the deep, gratified happiness of those who are relentlessly following their passion.

Ashley attended Saint Philomene Parish School in Sacramento, and during a shadow day, she experienced a welcoming, warm, and easy-going vibe on the St. Francis High School campus. This sparked her excitement to attend SFHS and led to four years of strong sisterhood and numerous opportunities to explore the performing arts. She fondly remembers an impactful moment from the Freshman Overnight Retreat when her class was told that the girls around them might one day become their future best friends and bridesmaids, and that forethought came to life many years later, as five of her six bridesmaids were friends she made at St. Francis. This group of friends has supported her through life, especially hyping her up to pursue her goals, celebrating milestones together, and loving her in hard times without judgment. Their early bond was formed through dance at St. Francis, including the hula team, hip hop, and the annual Filipino Pearl of the Orient performances. In addition to this sisterhood, Ashley spoke of her hula teacher, Laureen Macugay, who was like a second mom and treated her hula team like a family. This faculty member was so passionate about her students succeeding, and she stressed the importance of being there for each other while building their confidence to try new things. This SF family instilled a courage in Ashley to pursue her passions and enabled her to have the drive to seek out, create, and try new opportunities.

After St. Francis, Ashley took that confidence and headed to UC Davis, where she graduated with a human development degree. She was initially headed down the pre-med route but changed her mind to pursue nursing once she started volunteering at the UC Davis Medical Center. While volunteering on a pediatric unit, she saw herself in the nurses who were always present at the bedside providing compassionate care to their patients in their most vulnerable moments. Ten years later, she would come full circle from volunteering to working as a nurse at the UC Davis Medical Center in the Adult Cancer Clinic.

Before working at UC Davis Medical Center, Ashley attended Concordia University, earning her bachelor’s degree in nursing. There, she found that her coursework aligned with her passion for serving others, with the balance of sciences that reinforced her holistic approach to care. Post-graduation, and during the Covid-19 pandemic, she worked at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles as a float nurse and was trained across 14 different pediatric specialty units throughout the hospital – a job that was both exciting and rewarding. A few years later, Ashley and her husband made the decision to move back to Sacramento, as they were expecting their first child and wished to be closer to family. 

Ashley’s proudest professional accomplishment isn’t one great triumph but instead all the countless interactions she has with patients and families, from helping them navigate a new cancer diagnosis to celebrating the end of cancer treatments with the ringing of a bell. She knows meeting and caring for people in their most vulnerable moments is what she was meant to do. This calling is what motivated her to continue her growth within the field of nursing, and she is now working on her doctoral degree in nursing and studying to become a Family Nurse Practitioner at the UC Davis School of Nursing.

Reflecting on her time at St. Francis, Ashley remembered a religion teacher, Mr. Joe Poggi, who encouraged students to not judge each other and always be kind to one another. One memorable example of how he strived to create an inclusive culture that bonded the girls was when he asked his class to sit in a circle and pass around a paper with each other’s names, allowing them an opportunity to write each classmate an affirmation or share something they admired about that person. He taught them to not be afraid of what others think and to never assume what another person is going through. Many years after graduating from SF, Ashley returned to campus and saw Mr. Poggi, who greeted her saying, “welcome home.” Upon returning to her SFHS home, the lyrics from the song “At the Beginning” rang true. In 2009, she was a stranger starting out on a journey that led to a place that will always be home to her and part of a community forever. She would encourage current SF students to explore new opportunities and friendships, not hesitating to do kind things for others, as you never know when a stranger will become your best friend – best friends that will be there for you throughout this wonderful journey of life far beyond your four years together at St. Francis High School.