biculturalism: angel fernandez.

For me, Fil-Am is a Filipino living in America who falls into a lot of intersectionalities with race, religion, age, sexual orientations, career path, economic status, etc. Since there’s a limited amount of Filipino Americans with minimal history, Filipino’s battle the oppression of incorporating our American views with our Filipino values. Since there are less people to relate to, our generation is still crafting the definition and understanding of what it means to be a Filipino. Some of the things that have helped me shape my Filipino identity is finding a sense of community. Being a first generation Filipino-American, my parents were the first to migrate here to America leaving all their friends and family behind (as many of us). Growing up, I realized American families would get together 

often on special occasions, whereas some holidays I'd just spend it with only my three other family members. But, family doesn't have to mean blood related. A Filipino community called FAANPS started to grow in my hometown, and those people in that community to this day I consider as family. With more students transitioning into college and leaving their homes, the atmosphere for everyone changes from what most traditional Filipinos are used to. We naturally have the skill of welcoming new people into our lives because of how our Filipino culture is, and we can contribute to bring and share it to our universities. Our identity of being Filipino-American shouldn't be seen as a disadvantage, but to be seen as an opportunity to create a more diverse community by making everyone else feel included, regardless of who they are.

​Learn more about Angel!
School: University of Washington Bothell
Major: Business (Accounting & Finance)
Fun Fact: I’ve never had a cavity 
What she is up to now: I’m FASA sa UWB Secretary 2018-19 and I couldn’t be happier with the team I am working with!!