SA���ʴ�ý

Psychology
Manila, The Philippines

That sweet smell of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies? If you’re lucky enough to land in Danielle Yabut’s SA���ʴ�ý dorm at some point, count on it wafting through your hallway late at night, or waking you up early morning.

That’s when the 19-year-old usually gets the urge to make batches of chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies.

“All four years in high school, I would feed the entire student body cookies,” she says of her 110-member high school. “I love to bake.”

Born and raised in Manila, the psychology major says she chose SA���ʴ�ý because “I take my education seriously, and I wanted a challenge.”

It helps that her uncle Gem Yabut ’86 is an SA���ʴ�ý alum, along with cousin Jerome Yabut ’18. Another cousin, Gabrielle Yabut ’23, is a sophomore.

“It’s nice to have family around,” she admits of another important reason she chose to be a Bronco.

But so was a campus tour with her folks where she recalls having “a wonderful time” walking everywhere, from Benson Center to the Mission church—all the while listening to SA���ʴ�ý students share stories about their experiences here. She was hooked.

“I liked the fact that SA���ʴ�ý has a Jesuit community and those types of values. That really helped me make my decision,” says Yabut, who started a baking club in high school with her sister to raise funds for a local elementary school.

Like her freshman class counterparts, Yabut has a range of interests and passions, from streaming Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix to Avatar: The Last Airbender.

She also plays competitive women’s softball, and is pretty good on the kalimba, an African thumb piano.

“I saw someone play it, and I got one online,” she recalls with a laugh. “I learned 10 new songs and even the theme from Jurassic Park. I love Jurassic Park, and I love dinosaurs!”

Yabut says she’s looking forward to meeting new people this fall, even though it won’t be on campus for a while.

Unlike most U.S. students forced to exit school this spring because of COVID-19, Yabut had to leave hers in mid-January after a massive volcano erupted 14 miles from her home in Manila, followed by dozens of earthquakes.

“So the majority of the 2020 year in high school was online,” says the good-natured Yabut, “and I kind of got used to the idea.”

Written by Tracy Seipel