CSUF’s Pilipino Cultural Night 2013 “The Mural”
On Friday, April 5th, 2013, California State University’s Pilipino American Student Association hosted their 26th annual Pilipino Cultural Night. The purpose of these cultural nights is to provide a show full of acting, singing, and dancing, all informing everyone about the Filipino culture as the show progresses. These shows often have a common theme: identity. Let me tell you, there was not a lack of identity during this year’s PCN.
The theme of identity was not shown through the show itself, but through the people involved. Through weeks of practice, I found out more and more about myself. My identity. Through the preparation of this show I learned about my culture and how and why certain things are the way they are now. I was born into a pretty Americanized family. I was deprived of certain social norms of my roots and was deprived of teachings that only my parents were taught. I was missing something. Through this show, I learned about many cultural mannerisms such as the value of family, education, and discipline. By being part of this show, you become part of a family. You begin to do things for other people, and put others before yourself. You learn selflessness. The value of education becomes prominent during the preparation because you have to take care of schoolwork before anything. You begin to realize that you’re not only working hard to get good grades and make your parents happy, but you’re also working hard for your new family. For your brothers and sisters in this club. The whole family is not complete if one person is missing and this family does whatever it can to make sure no one has a reason to go missing and to push each other to be and become the best person they can be. Finally, you learn to be disciplined. Trying your best and giving your all is what everyone asks of you. At times, it may get hard finding the strength within yourself to do what needs to be done, but this family helps you find it. You learn dedication. The feeling of knowing that people are dedicated to you gives you a reason to dedicate yourself back to them. Essentially, you come together with everyone to become one. The importance of family, education, and discipline were the missing factors from my childhood that I have now learned through this club and through this cultural show. They say that you truly find yourself in college and they were right.
