#fasaprofessionaldevelopment

[fasa-umich]

₊✧‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✧‧My FASA Experiences as Boba🧋₊✧‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✧‧ || Zainab Ahmad, FASA's 2023-2024 Professional Development Chair

Introduction

Hi. My name is Zainab Ahmad (zay-nub eh-med), and I am a fiend for boba. That’s what everyone says, though, right? Yes, but dare I even call myself a connoisseur, I have the credentials to prove it:

I worked at CoCo in my junior and senior years of high school (yes, the one on north campus)

I worked at Sharetea my freshman year of college

I had 200 boba drinks in 2021 (I counted)

I won free boba for a year from Palgong

I have a private story (called bobruh 🧋) where I rate boba every time I get it

I absolutely demolished PASS in the boba drinking competition at Rice Bowl ‘23 (we still lost overall ʕ ´•̥̥̥ ᴥ•̥̥̥`ʔ )

POV: you’re beating PASS @ the boba drinking section of the eating comp @ Rice Bowl ‘23

Thus, you can clearly see I have a(n) mild obsession. Thank God I don’t have diabetes!

Wait, what does any of this have to with FASA? Actually, for my testimonial, I will be comparing my experiences regarding FASA to boba drinks. Let’s get into it.

Taro milk tea ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

Respectfully, taro milk tea is the most basic boba drink. It’s by no means bad if taro is your favorite, but it does mean your taste is basic (and that it completely ok ദ്ദിʕ•ᴥ•ʔ ). We all start somewhere on our boba journey, and more often than not it’s with taro (myself included)! How could this possibly intertwine with my FASA origin story?? You guessed it– like so many other FASA members, I went to one FASA event in freshman year and dipped until sophomore year.

Let’s run it back to winter 2021 of my freshman year– technically the first FASA event I went to was mass meeting. But guess what! I attended on Zoom and did not really engage with anything!

So, the first FASA event I truly attended was FAM/lin reveal. I honestly don’t know what compelled me to fill out the form to join a FAM, but I do recall going to Rackham, sitting at a table watching the lin reveals (at this point I did not know what a lineage was so I did not opt to be in one), then the FAM reveals began and I was on the edge of my seat. It was down to me either being placed in H.A.M. or $WAG and truthfully I was hoping for $WAG just because the possibility of the Muslim girl being in H.A.M. would be… interesting (for context, Muslims do not eat pork). Then lo and behold I was placed in $WAG ฅʕ⭑ﻌ⭑ʔฅ I thought it was cute how my new FAM members and I all sat together in a circle & introduced ourselves, and I left that event feeling a little bit closer to FASA.

Taken after my first real FASA event! Idk why I called it a meeting tho!

Then I fell off the face of the Earth in regards to FASA events & didn’t go to anything until the fall mass meeting of my sophomore year (lol but nobody’s laughing)  ₊ ⊹ʕ – ᴥ – ʔ

Thai milk tea ʕづ๑•ᴥ•๑ʔづ♡

By thai milk I specifically mean Ding Tea’s thai milk tea  – my favorite milk tea! But only the version prior to Winter ‘24 (because they changed the recipe this semester ʕ ꆤ ᴥ ꆤʔ). Anyways, as I became more active in FASA as a general member in my sophomore year, I had so much fun! I finally got sorted into a lineage in Fall ‘22 (darago!) & enjoyed debriefing with people that I probably would have never spoken to if it weren’t for FASA.

Darago @ PCN Centennial ୧ʕ•̀ᴥ•́ʔ୨

I never considered myself a dancer (& still don’t tbh) but I learned tinikling for the first time, sucked at it, but eventually danced to Industry Baby at PCN

+ learned to dance like an elegant lady through performing pag-apir at both PCN & Battle

Chins up for pag-apir!

+ danced like a duck by doing itik-itik for Kalayaan.

I wanted to dip my toes into being more integrated with FASA than just being a general member & a performer, so I joined the yearbook committee! I always thought graphic design was fun, & I enjoyed the creative liberties the yearbook gals & I took to make last year’s yearbook <3

I designed the fit check page (right) ᵔᴥᵔ

I enjoyed the FASA community so much that I wanted to contribute to it more as a board member. Thus, I ended up running for both S’Advocacy & PD because I thought my prior experiences/skills aligned well with both roles (fun fact: I was the only applicant who ran for two positions last year). As you can see, I became the 2023 - 2024 Professional Development Chair, & I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

PD lin!

Wintermelon milk tea ⍝ʕ´•ᴥ•`ʔ⍝

I feel like not many people have gotten into wintermelon milk tea, but it’s really good and underrated. I would down it so fast when I worked at Sharetea. So good. But, as we all know, too much of a good thing is no longer a good thing. Woah, this seems like it’s about to go downhill. Let me explain.

Transitioning into when I became a full-fledged boardie & started being one of the people behind the scenes of the ever-loved FASA events, I learned a lot about myself as a leader & about my personal characteristics. A lot of time goes into being a boardie, & being on board made me get my planning skills down to a T– despite me thinking they were already good. I experienced a lot of ups & downs as a boardie, & I utilized my experiences as learning opportunities. I currently am on two other boards (shoutout NOiR & IMSA lol), but I have never seen on organization value community as much as FASA does, & I think that’s something to be treasured.

Board @ senior farewell fresh outta the womb for one of our first events together

As I write this in my final month as your Professional Development chair, I feel ready to pass the baton off to the next. Being a FASA boardie has definitely been a good thing, but I have reached a point where I believe our organization could benefit from someone with a fresh perspective. Time for something new. I have had the great pleasure of being PD chair, & I hope that our members only continue professionally developing!

Hands up, time’s over!

Kita kits,

Zainab Ahmad - ̗̀꒰ঌʕ⁠•⁠ᴥ⁠•⁠ʔ໒꒱ ̖́-

[fasa-umich]

Volume 1 of Christian’s Chapter Book: The Trinity || Christian Guinihin, FASA’s 2022 - 2023 Professional Development Chair

Chapter 1

“Hmmm, Funny, Yes, But Not Funny Haha, Funny Weird!”

Oh Yeah SAFA yeah!? Oh yeah SAFASA yeah!? Oh Yeah FASA yeah! Wait what? It is very interesting that I said both FASA and SAFA. Well let’s take it back to Winter of 2021…

A Photoshoot with my SAFA peeps when I was still at Umich-Dearborn

I just submitted my transfer application through Common App to transfer from University of Michigan-Dearborn to University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Being at the University of Michigan-Dearborn campus, I was part of the Student Association for Filipino Americans (SAFA). I was part of their Executive Board as a Co-Cultural chair. It was an experience since we were still in lockdown, no in-person meet ups, and just stayed indoors the whole year. Come February 17th, 2021, I was sitting on the toilet doing my business when I received an email from the University of Michigan that read “Your University of Michigan Status Has been Updated”! I was scared and my blood pressure increased through the roof. I finished my business on the toilet, whipped out my computer and opened my University of Michigan email, and there it is –

“Dear Christian-Edryan, I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to the University of Michigan.”

Me crying on the floor running around my apartment at Dearborn, I made some calls to friends and family regarding my acceptance at the University of Michigan. After my term was over in SAFA, I was saddened because that will be the last time that I get to see my friends before moving to Ann Arbor.

Chapter 2

“Is It Me, Am I The Drama? I Don’t Think I’m The Drama!”

Fast forward to Fall of 2021, my first semester at Umich, I was stoked and nervous! It is a bigger campus, more people, and it was time for me to make new friends. I was such an introvert when I came to this new campus, did not talk to anyone, was not really looking for any new friends since I already had my best friend who transferred with me, Hillary! We spent each day together studying, eating lunch, and hanging out! Come Festifall, the first table I looked for was the Filipino club, FASA! Walking around the Diag, I found FASA’s table. I was given the spiel of what FASA was by either Christine Agpasa or Jolene Soriano. And this started my journey in FASA… kind of.

My lineage, Tiguianes, after our lineage brunch hangout!

Chapter 3

“Ehpowt!? I’m Not Going To The Ehpowt!” “Yeah You Are!” 

My very first event in FASA was the Fam/Lineage reveal. I was sorted in a Lineage, Tiguianes, and a Fam, eXcellence! It was a blast, I got to meet my Lineage, Estelle Baste and Kuya Mango, and we ran around playing capture the flag. Unfortunately, that was my last event of the semester as I did not go to any of the other events, but I did go to the PCN kickoff, and that is when my journey in FASA actually started as I have made so many friends through PCN committee meetings, and joining PCN dances! After PCN, my next event that I attended was the Intern’s Capstone, An Evening with FASA! I went to this event, and that is when I was convinced to run for board, specifically Professional Development Chair. I made a video of my speech and answered questions and on March 20th, 2022 I was elected to become FASA’s third Professional Development Chair. It was an exciting day, and now here we are about to end my term of Professional Development Chair. On the other hand during that semester, I became more active, joined the GenAPA dances, went to more FAM hangouts and a FAM game that eXcellence won, and choreographed Kalayaan.

Your Professional Development Chair

Chapter 4

“Were You Silent Or Were You Silenced?”- Oprah Winfrey

Being on the executive board has made me more active this school year which is great! I went to my first Halo-Halloween event, danced in Tinik in the Diag, and many more. The best thing that has happened this school year was becoming more involved in PCN planning. I was a choreographer along with my other choreographer, Kennedy, and headed the PCN design committee along with my committee head member Angeli! Angeli and I worked our butts off designing the look for PCN and I would say we did the greatest job! Kennedy and I also worked our butts off Choreographing our compositions of “Panalo” by EZ Mill and “Sneeze” by P-Lo. I worked tirelessly trying to prepare for PCN and once PCN came and went I felt good about myself because not only did I work hard to make PCN look nice and pleasing, but I also “Bridged the Generational Gap-Hiraya!”

The bridge that bridges the generational gap made by Angeli and me

Chapter 5

“Bombastic Side Eye! Criminal Offensive Side Eye!”

There on forward, I have learned so much and gained so much through FASA. Being on board has helped me so much to gain friends, become more professional, and become a better leader! There were many firsts through the PD Chair: the first Mentorship program was made, the first Academic Folder was made, study tables were established, and there are many more to come! From all of these experiences, I have learned that to not be afraid to be the first, be the one who makes the change. I was always afraid that things would not work out, but for most of my proposals that I proposed, it was accomplished by the right attitude!

Chapter 6

“What Is Your Biggest Regret?”- Joseph

Now to bring you all the advice you may need when starting somewhere new! First, when starting from anywhere you work or a new leadership position, get to know the people you are working with! It is best to do so because you may have something similar and get ideas from each other and that can jumpstart your friendship. Working with people you know and that you can banter with is the best thing you can ask for because you can do work and still have fun with them. This will lead to good chemistry between you and your coworkers, executive board members, and any position that you take!

Second, be on time for everything! No matter what club, what job, or whatever it is, be on time! It is never fun when someone is late and we have to move the start time later or having to catch up the person that was late to the meeting. When it comes to any events, be on time. It is an all hands on deck type thing where everyone needs to be there to help out! It is important to help your executive board members when it comes to events, especially big ones.

Lastly and the most important, communication! It is important to communicate to your coworkers, board members, or wherever you are working! When running late, communicate; when you cannot make it to a meeting, event, or anything, communicate; when an emergency comes up, communicate when you can. This is one of the most important ones on my list of advice!

Bonus advice: When you know something will come up on a certain day or anything and you know you cannot make it to an event on that certain day, communicate it ahead of time. This will help your peers plan accordingly if you cannot show up during an event that your organization is holding!

Coming from someone that was a Professional Development for a year, here are some tips to develop yourself professionally! 

Use your resources. When given resources to use, use them! It will be helpful when planning, doing your homework, or looking for jobs, or anything important! 

When you need help, ask for help! It is never fun just sitting on your chair looking at something you can’t figure out when your peers may be able to help you with the task that you have.

When hosting an event, be professional and show that you are approachable and that people can go up to you and start a conversation with.

When you see someone alone or sitting by themselves, don’t be afraid to talk to them and get to know them as they can become your friends and come to more events!

Always use your 8 competencies when working with others:

Career & Self-Development

Communication

Critical Thinking

Equity & Inclusion

Leadership

Professionalism

Teamwork

Technology

Before I go, here are some of my words of wisdom:

Don’t use your mouth, use your eyes.

When there is someone who looks like they need help, help them out.

Use your common sense when needed.

Lastly, have fun with everything you do, but get serious when it is necessary.

Chapter 7

“Thanks To You My Charger Is Not Charging On My iPad Because It Got Used To Your iPad Instead Of Mine!”

Actually before I go, I would like to give thanks to the people who made me who I am today! Thank you to Amanda Sutherby and Christine Agpasa for convincing me to run for Professional Development Chair.  If I was not convinced enough, I would have not run and I would not be as active. Thank you to Jolene Soriano and Janielle Calaunan for extending the application date for my last minute decision for running! Thank you to Michelle Torralba for always being there for me and being one of my number one supporters and bestfriends!! Thank you to Justine Coteng and Catrina Cagalawan for being one of my supporters as well and being the best friend that I could have ever asked for, we sing or whateva!! A special thank you to my Executive Board Members, without your support and your acceptance of me in our board, I would not be the same as I will be today! You all made me feel special, free, and accepted so I thank you once again and love you all! Lastly, I would like to thank all of you! You have all been my supporters from day one and it has been so nice getting to know each and every one of you! I have made so many great friends through this journey and I couldn't be more proud of the memories we have made and our friendship! 

Winter Fam/Lineage reveal 2023

Epilogue

Dearly Beloveds,

I now bid you all a farewell! It is time for me to pack my stuff and head out! It has been nice serving all of you and it was my pleasure to serve all of you! Good bye, slay the day away, it’s been real, and lastly, Good Riddance!!!

Thank You!

Your Professional Development Chair 2022-2023, Christian-Edryan Burbano Guinihin

My Lovely Executive Board Members

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Christine Agpasa, FASA's 2021-2022 Professional Development Chair

Hullo FASA :)

It is I, your favorite north campus loving tiny person and Professional Development Chair, Christine. It’s time for Boardie Testimonial Pt.2 !! Let’s run it back - to a few months after the COVID-19 vaccine rollout - to how it started.

First in-person board meeting!! (Queue the beginning of: FASA's Adventures in East Quad)

After being one of two remote boardies my first year on board, I knew I wanted to run again. Being remote, I felt removed from the casual conversations one would typically have while waiting for an event to start or whilst walking to a new place to study together soon after board meetings. We all felt a disconnect and did our best to maintain the typical boardie bonds, but to be honest, there’s nothing like being in-person, feeling the energy we exchange from one another during events, meetings, and through the simple “oh my god, heyyy” *hug* greetings.

Since the majority of this board had yet to experience in-person event planning and the fact that we were adjusting to being with one another on campus again, we definitely had to adapt quickly and lean on each other often, learning various valuable key lessons along the way.

Goofy 🤪 gorgeous 💖upperclassmen 🐥

Boardie Key Takeaway #1: Every *clap* event *clap* is *clap* a *clap* FASA BOARD *clap* event *clap*

This means that when you head an event you have the entire board supporting you emotionally AND logistically. I am grateful for those that often reminded me of this at times where I felt like I struggled to launch my PD ideas to the FASA community. I would not have had much fun without y’all by my side, especially my fellow whopper juniors, I adore you. Furthermore, the reverse is true while supporting other chairs and the numerous other FASA events. Always be ready to be a helping hand - whether it be in a small way as simple as personally reaching out to one general member to invite them to a FASA event or in a bigger way like facilitating a mini-game during mass meeting. You’re a boardie first, chair second.

Boardie Key Takeaway #2: Be vocal about your needs and boundaries, especially when you think you may need a short break

One of the consequences of the pandemic was that basically everyone became more understanding of others’ personal situations and learned that sometimes we need a mental break. Not only does this extend academically but socially and FASA related too. One constant that I’ve been thoroughly impressed with by this board is that we speak up when our boundaries are crossed, we are vocal when we will be “out-of-office,” and we try our best to let others know when we are struggling and need a break to catch up academically or deal with personal matters. Although it may not be all the time, I feel like this kind of communication has improved compared to past years. Yes, every event is a FASA Board event, but it’s okay to miss one every now and then because FASA does so much as it is and you’re also a student, maybe have a job, do research, or sometimes have other org meetings. The time you offer has to give somewhere. Just remember to always let your board know in case they were counting on extra helping hands.

The duality of 🎓 PD Chair…

This school year, I found myself excitedly taking up a handful of roles in and out of FASA. Here are my takeaways from two of those roles:

PD Key Takeaways:

It can be a lot of behind-the-scenes type of work, so even though you may feel like you’re not doing enough, you actually are

Emails are a huge part of the role - similar to External Chair

Sending concise and action-orientated emails that relay all relevant information and keep up with your timeline for projects is essential

Curating opportunities based on the interests of general members

Following-up with alumni and extending the network further

Meetings with alumni and external orgs can take more time than you think

You want to ensure each person you welcome back into the FASA community feels a personal and comfortable connection with you which can often be successfully accomplished via one-on-one 15 min meetings.

Some orgs will take longer to respond to you than others; always account for that in the timeline

There’s still SO MUCH to be done with this chair.

There were a handful of pandemic restrictions that limited the extent of PD events such as an established alumni homecoming or a full out catered workshop with food.

Although I was able to accomplish majority of my set goals during my tenure via the graduate student panel collab with multiple orgs, the dynamic alumni panel that felt more like a FASA reunion, and our intimate coffee chat conversations with alumni, there are still collabs to be had with professional orgs on campus, workshops that could involve our revived connection to the surrounding PSA community, and the specific underclassmen outreach in which they would greatly benefit from starting their PD journey early. This chair is really what you make it to be.

Choreographer Key Takeaway: LOL that dance will NOT be 100% fully choreographed by the time you want it to be

Ya plan, ya execute, ya realize it’s sometimes not possible anymore - re-choreographing time! No matter how much you and your partners choreograph, there will most likely always be that formation or part of the dance that you can’t test out without more people or without a prop you still need to order. Just expect that to be a fact and ensure you’re having those choreographer meetings every week to lesson plan together, so you know what to teach or workshop each practice. FASA dancers are so patient; I’m grateful to them. Also, shoutout Jolene Soriano, Jason Portugal, Kris Mallabo, and Patrick West!! Creating, teaching, and dancing can be hella tiring on top of everything else, but I personally, do not regret a single moment; hope it was the same for each of you. Tinikling felt full circle to me hehe love our Kuya and Ate choreographers that showed us the way. Thank you FASA Performance for cultivating fun and safe spaces where a freshman could easily make friends and where upperclassmen twenty year olds can happily dance to the Teen Beach Movie soundtrack. Reignite!

…. And 💃Performance Committee Head (Choreographer)

First in-person Philippine Culture Night in TWO Years!! In-person event planning pros 😎

To board + interns: We’ve come a long way. You inspire me each and every day. Thank you for giving this year your all.

For real, thank you Kate for booking those rooms while in this pandemic; thank you ading Caitlin for making me feel truly seen and offering rides back to north; thank you Michelle for being lenient with my advertising and supporting me on an emotional level. Thank you prezies for always welcoming my ideas and voice during meetings. I admire y’all’s leadership a lot.

Seeing you all explore and share a part of yourselves with the rest of the community has been an absolute joy for me. From Shane’s jeopardy surprises to Emily’s martial arts connection via the Kali Class to Celeste’s passion for disability visibility and the numerous events with special themes that everyone catered based on our general members, I could not be prouder and happy for y’all. You did that!!

I pledge unity to form a community of mini-pigs under the Macro Pig 🐷

To any new FASA members that have just joined or are returning from being hiatus due to the pandemic: I want you to know that each time I see a new or rare face on Zoom, at an event, in passing, or even saw you liked a message or post on FASA’s page or groupme, it brightens my day to know that you’re around. You are always welcome in FASA no matter how much you don’t feel “Filipino enough,” or no matter how busy you become and rarely attend events. Someone in FASA will always walk up to greet you and give you a big welcome hug, if you’re comfortable. It’s one of the reasons I love FASA. I’ve always felt seen, heard, and respected in the safe spaces that FASA creates. I hope it’s the same for you, too.

To H.A.M. FAM: WE WON FIRST PLACE IN P.O.T.T.E.R. Yeah, reclaiming our rightful place, I’m a proud Hammie.

To the lineage: We too cute. Also, I’m glad to see the External Chair legacy pass on to you Ryan. Hope you had fun on FASA E-Board!

To those that were not mentioned directly: I am giving you a shout-out right now because you deserve one :)

“I had a premonition that we fell into a rhythm where the music don’t stop for life” 👏 👏

From a freshie fry FASA intern to a sopht-serve External Chair to a whopper junior Professional Development Chair, I have been fortunate to have met countless lovely, kind, and interesting individuals who have all secured a place in my heart from the laughs we’ve shared over the many memes sent in the Fun and Safe groupme to the hot takes debates like whether it’s a requirement to wash your rice before cooking it. My experience in FASA will always hold a large part of my undergraduate memories. I’m eternally grateful to have rarely said that I ever felt “lonely -m” amongst the FASA community. Thank you for a joyous junior year, FASA.

Good vibes always,

Christine Agpasa

[fasa-umich]

Sean Herrera, FASA 2020-21 Professional Development Chair

The day after I was accepted into Michigan’s graduate program, I looked up if they had any Filipino student organizations. I had actually attempted to start a Filipino student association during my time at Auburn University, but my advisor told me I probably couldn’t found an organization based on the THREE (3) Filipinos in the entirety of Auburn’s 30,000 student population. Nice. With this in mind, I looked at Michigan as not only a means to gain my mechanical engineering graduate degree, but also as an opportunity to explore my culture. I joined FASA my first year here, and was elected Professional Development (PD) chair in the following winter semester. Looking back at that decision, it was the first step to a very rewarding tenure on FASA’s executive board.

Serving as Professional Development chair was a daunting task when it was handed to me. Not only was I the first graduate student to be on a board position, this was the inaugural year of Professional Development chair as a position on FASA’s executive board. I basically had no previous programming to work off of, but I held high expectations for what PD chair could provide for FASA. I began to curate events and programs that would explore the intersectionality of Filipino identity and the professional workplace. After all, Michigan already offers a plethora of professional development and career building opportunities, but I aimed to explore how specifically our identity as Filipinos and Fil-Am’ affects this development. The best way I thought to accomplish this was through having distinguished FASA alumni speak on their lived experiences, and on how they leveraged/navigated their Filipino identity in their careers. Having former alumni speak on these topics throughout my events this past year has been an honor, and learning from their experiences across different industries has definitely put perspective on how I can leverage my own Filipino identity in a more activist-based role in my engineering work. COVID, however, has been a blessing and a curse to the PD chair. It took away a lot of my potential events: in-person alumni panels, TED-Talk type of events for general members, and even serving as a point of contact on Homecoming weekend, just to name a few. On the other hand, the pandemic has also normalized virtual events, and I had the unique opportunity of interacting with alumni all across the country and globe for a diversity of experiences. But frankly, more can be done. PD chair’s responsibilities as a FASA board member are far from defined, and there’s always more room to grow. I’m really looking forward to where the next PD chair takes this position and how it will continue to create a lasting impact on FASA.

Shamatilyn

At a personal level, I cannot thank FASA board enough for what it has provided for me. Grad school is extremely taxing, and frankly it’s a learned skill to find time for your passions outside of school or research. FASA board was something I had to set aside time to do, literally forcing me to not do school work for a part of my day. This may all sound silly, but in theory, if any given grad student put 100% of their time into school work and research, they would literally have no time for anything else. Finding this compromise between grad school and your life outside of academics is essential to your overall well being and success, and I’m happy FASA Board helped me recognize this. You need to find external motivations that can support you beyond what you are professionally working for, and in my opinion you’ll be happier in the long run if you do so. Could I have spent less time at apartment 403? I probably and maybe would not call that a false statement. But it is certainly not one I regret to admit! (Shoutout to the boyz.)

The Boyz of 403

Being a grad student officer in a primarily undergraduate organization was definitely an interesting experience, especially in the beginning phases when not many people knew me. “Did you expect to be hanging out with undergrads this much?” - Says anyone ever after they figure out I am an active member in FASA. I had actually brought this question up to one of my friends back in Alabama, and he told me that as long as I was around people that put me in a position to learn and grow, does it really matter? I certainly have my own graduate student cohort, but FASA board really allows its officers to learn beyond their single chair responsibilities. I personally never had the opportunity at Auburn University to connect with literally a single person of the same ethnic background. Exploring your culture with others is invaluable, and my peers on FASA board have made me learn so much about my heritage in my time. If anything, I’m happy this experience has allowed me to connect and become close with younger students at a level I never anticipated. I want to end this section on this thought exercise. Is it strange for the grad student to hang out with undergrads, or is it strange for undergrads to hang out with a boomer grad student such as myself? Cringe much? I’ll let you decide. But if you wanted to know the answer, I am always right.

The Boardie Boomers

It’s funny how I ended up on a FASA board position in which I am supposed to provide direction in people’s careers and professional lives, when I myself have no idea what I want to do after I graduate from Michigan. Look at me, the professional development chair who needs to be professionally developed! Interestingly, while I have certainly made great progress professionally at Michigan, my time in FASA has allowed me to grow significantly in all aspects that aren’t professional. I may not know exactly what career lies ahead for me, but my cohort in FASA board has pushed me to learn about what I value in my life and outside of my work. Objectively, stand-up comedy, singing, playing the ukulele, and choreographing an indigenous coconut dance does not sound like the usual accolades after people are done with a Mechanical Engineering master’s degree at Michigan. But it’s this creativity that I love about FASA Board. FASA Board always pushes you to grow whether you realize it or not, and It has certainly allowed me to realize how important a creative outlet is in parallel to my professional career.

Bye FASA Board UWU OWO

Thank you FASA for allowing me to grow in ways I could not imagine, and for connecting me with individuals who would become some of my closest friends. It was an honor to serve as the first grad student and first Professional Development chair for FASA, and I am excited to see PD chair grow in the future. For anyone running for Board, I encourage you to keep in mind that the value you gain out of board is well beyond the scope of just the specific position. It extends to the relationships you form, and the experiences you have with others who also wish to explore Filipino culture. My time on FASA board was invaluable, and I’ll carry these lessons with me well beyond my time at Michigan.

Weagz,

Sean