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Milestone Series, Part 8: Three Regional Conferences, Two Weeks, One Common Identity

Pilipino American students and organizations came together in three different regions at the same time
Article by Ryan Quezon
August 5, 2010
Community

One of the biggest challenges that BakitWhy.com has faced was covering three Pilipino-American Conferences, in three different regions of the country, on consecutive weekends. First on the agenda was the University of Southern California for the Southern California Pilipino American Student Alliance (SCPASA) conference.  The next week, BakitWhy.com members found themselves at the Midwest Association of Filipino Americans (MAFA) conference at Indiana University, Bloomington, and at the Filipino Intercollegiate Networking Dialogue (FIND) conference held at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Each of the organizations had a unique theme for their conference. SCPASA's conference was themed "Balikbayan: Putting Life Together in Care Packages for the Future." MAFA's delegates enjoyed their theme of "Children of the Sun: Different Stories United by the 8-Point Sun." Lastly, the theme for the FIND delegates was "Laban" - meaning "to fight." Students from schools in each of the three regions came together for a wealth of information they may not have been able to gain anywhere else.   
 
Covering these conferences was no minor task.  College Outreach Coordinator Krystelle Robeniol attended the SCPASA conference, while Community Outreach Coordinator Rina Dakanay and Public Relations Director Kat Amidar met up with Midwest Regional Contributor Ryne Dionisio at MAFA, and Director of Business Development & Project Manager Kaywan Shiraz met up with East Contributor Ryan Quezon for FIND.
 
By covering and providing outreach to the conferences, BakitWhy.com wanted to share how Pilipinos in other parts of the county can come together to learn more about what truly binds us all. The three conferences all had the similar goal of empowering Pilipinos with the tools to build a better future and to strengthen the community. Guest speakers were invited to the conferences, inspiring college students to learn about their culture and history of where they came from so that they understand where they are going and what is in store for their lives to come.
 
According to Krystelle:

Everyone [at SCPASA] was welcoming and friendly. We were even able to get SCPASA to shout out to MAFA & FIND! . . . Throughout the entire day, all the students were busy in their workshops, learning, working together, and contributing their own knowledge, skills and talents. When they all came together as one to give their counterparts a shout out from miles away, it really hit home that these inspiring individuals are only a small segment of an even greater Pil-Am student community across the nation who are poised and ready to make their ripples and move mountains.

MAFA's conference "covered a good range of Pilipino and Pilipino-American topics (almost too big of a range...) and contributed to the education and . . . the maturation of the Midwest community," says Ryne. The same definitely can be said about the SCPASA and FIND conferences.

After having met the MAFA students, it put into perspective how different Fil-Am colleges are in comparison to here in California," says Kat. "I learned that Fil-Ams aren't as consolidated as other areas.  I've known that, but it's different to see and experience it.  The collective energy from these students who had travelled from all over the Midwest, was something to be admired and respected.

Four months earlier, BakitWhy.com covered and provided outreach at the FACT (Filipino Americans Coming Together) Conference at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Kat recalls an experience which she describes as a turning point in how BakitWhy.com conducts outreach outside of the Southern California region:

There was a moment in the keynote talk, from Prof. Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, where she speaks of this book by Carlos Bulosan entitled "America in is the Heart".  I read it as an undergrad in a Philippine studies class.  In fact, many students all over California were required to read this book, having been at the height of campaigns for Tagalog and P-Studies in the early 2000s in the California state school system.  So when Allyson asked the audience of about 2000 in the room if they had read the book, to my surprise, only maybe 7 people raised their hands (including Allyson)....3 graduates from UC Irvine, 2 grad students from San Francisco State, and 2 academia and community organizers based in CA and NY. 

Personally, I had no idea what to expect at the FIND conference. Even though I graduated from an East Coast school, we did not have a Pilipino student organization, and I had never attended a FIND event. I've heard of FIND through various friends who attended some of the member schools, but until this year I had been left out of the loop. After attending this year's conference, I realize that I had missed out on a valuable experience that I didn't know was available to me as an undergrad. I can only hope that Pil-Ams throughout the US will take advantage of these experiences at their colleges and universities if they are available.
 
BakitWhy.com is honored to have shared the experiences of SCPASA, MAFA, and FIND with all of those who have attended. These conferences, and many others of their ilk, are a testament to the unity that we all share within our community.

 

As BakitWhy.com moves forward continuing to serve as an online community for Pilipinos and those interested in our culture, we hope to be a means for you and others alike, to strengthen our ties with each other, and to remind each other to "Go BIG!"

 

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