Bayan committee ignites!

Recently in my Bayan class we had a group discussion on the "elephant" of the class. It was a constructive period where I believe the Filipino values of kapwa and hiya were involved, while there was alot of emotion stirred it was also an eye opener. Hopefuly the student realized that the entire part of lecture was solely dedicated to his well being. The class period was spent on not trying to put the student on the hot spot but help him realize that college life requires commitment, especially since the class includes the pressures of working in daily group activities which means working together as a team. 

What I got out of class that day was the reality of the Bayan community, it's all about working together and pushing each other to succeed, meaning constructive cristism and acting as adults instead of talking behind ones back and automatically labeling one as the black sheep. I wish well for this student and I know that after that class period he will be more determined then ever to prove his fellow Bayan wrong and get on track. I know, he knows he's capable of doing it but the rest is on him. Best of Luck my Brotha.    

My Role Model.. MP

Growing up I didn't really associate my race with being Filipino. In fact I really had no racial identity in my younger years which I identified myself with. It wasn't until 2005 that I took pride in my culture, that was the year boxer Manny Pacquiao came out to demolish Erik Morales after a unanimous decision loss to him a few months before their rematch, after that he grew to become one of the most popular and influential Filipino figures out there.

As a teenager growing up watching Pacquiao encouraged me to join the sport of boxing at the age of 14, it was only for two years but proved to be helpful in my high school shenanigan days. I can say as a freshman I weighed only 98 pounds and who would think a skinny little asian could fight? I mean wouldn't want to pick on him? Well, I remember a guy came up to me probably weighing 140 during P.E and told me to pull my shorts up to my chest like he did to the rest the kids. Me being the quite individual I was back then got targeted as his next victim, but in my head I was the invincible kid on the block. The outcome, I beat his ass.

Manny Pacquiao helped influence me by up taking the sport of boxing and becoming proud of my race. To me I felt that Filipinos in America got noticed when he came out, it was a rare thing for a Filipino to be on the news or television. Every time he fought my family and friends would gather together to watch him. It is rumored in the Philippines that when he does fight no crime is committed and the battle between the rebels are halted. Manny Pacquiao is a big role model to me and hero. I finally identified myself with Filipino's after I found something to be proud of.

   Old clip of me. I cant even say boxing but beating some guy up in an abandoned house I think I was only 116lb. Haha its always fun to watch someone get dropped anyways! might as well make the blog entertaining. I don't do this kind of stuff anymore but this is an example of high school shenanigans.

Its tooo late...

Hello, I'm a little behind on blogging so far but I'll make up it up by doing one blog a day! Okay so recently or should I say a week ago we went down to city college. I clearly remember the weather was horrible and the parking almost drew me insane and I wasn't even the one driving. But! In the end it was definitely worth it. We got to listen to a historical presentation by Judy Patacsil and co-author Felix Tuyay about a book they released on Filipinos in San Diego.

Judy Patacsil shared with us about Filipinos in San Diego and had a slide show full of pictures of Filipino's which was divided into five chapters 1)Early pioneer and settlers 2)Foundation and community 3)Military life 4)Forging identities 5)Contribution to the community. The collection of each picture had an individual story behind it which she interpreted to us. One story which caught my attention was actually one not told by her, but by a fellow who told a more personal story by allowing us to get in tuned with his families history. He basically went on to tell the tale of his father who went on to get married around four times with a moral of everything happens for a reason because he told us if his father would haven't got married that fourth wife around or so he wouldn't have been born.

Overall Judy Patacsil presentation really allowed me to get a closer look of my race and how they came to be in San Diego.

Dear diary part 2:POEM

    Dear diary, I'm still waiting to get my draft body paragraph revision back, but because I emailed it and am to poor for INsite I fear its lost in the infinite messages my teacher gets. Anyways back to the important stuff, recently in English we went over a poem based on Filipino history it was a poem by Kevin Nadals called "Ikaw", it triggered immense feelings from me I felt angry and as if I was being told a bit of my story through his poem.

Twenty years ago

you told me that life was better.

Better than they used to be.

But then you called me a dogeater.

Monkey.

Oriental.

Nigger.

Chink.

Flip.

Fob.

You told me my skin was dirty I'd never be like you.

You told that I was ugly because I didnt look like you.

Kevin Nadal incites his anger and the past discrimination he and other Filipinos had to deal with living in America as the subordinate race. The fact that his skin color was different and the stereotypes behind the Filipino race brought many insults like the term dogeater, which he mentions including all the insults he and every Filipino has ever been called, he states it.

Reading these lines brought me back to my earlier child years. I remember clearly the insults and the discrimination I went through growing up. As a kid I didn't even know what a chink was I remember I couldn't even respond back the first time I even got called a chink, I just knew it was something negative from the tone of the other kids voice, I was probably only 7 at the time during my baseball years when it first happened. Reflecting back on the past as a child I didn't even know what race I affiliated with yet; I just knew I was different and was already getting ridiculed for my ethical backround, but today I can say I'm proud to be Filipino regardless of the discrimination I faced in the past.

Bayan Community

The Bayan community is a community where students unite along with their teacher as a family, Filipino's and people of other races get together to create an environment where they can work as a family. Everybody in the Bayan community refer to each other as brother or sister in a sense of mutual respect in order to create a sense of family bond. The purpose of the Bayan community is to get students to unite with each other to become involved with the Filipino culture and the values they share.

Being a student involved in the Bayan community, I learned what it meant to be apart of the Bayan family meaning helping each other on assignments, sharing ideas, and following the instructors rules. So far being five weeks into the semester I can say I developed bonds with my classmates better then I do other classes, I feel more united and comfortable around them.