reminisce: shazmi hipol

Growing up I wasn’t really connected to being Filipino-American. I say this because I grew up within a Filipino-American family but had Japanese culture mixed in since I grew up in Japan. I would wear and show Pinoy pride by wearing the Filipino jacket and knowing bits and pieces of Tagalog. However, as I came to Western and joined FASA, that experience changed my outlook on my identity. I was able to feel a connection and build relations with other people that look like me and shared similar stories of being at home with Filipino families like family potlucks and karaoke and 

etc. The culture shock that smacked me in the face when coming to Western was that I grew up from a well diverse community back at home and I realized that I appreciated that. Western is a very white dominant university and I utilize the esc clubs especially FASA to maintain and keep in tact my Filipino roots.