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fasa-umich · 3 years

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Christine Agpasa, FASA 2020-21 Co-External Chair

Hullo FASA :)

It is I, your fellow bucket hat-wearing tiny person and External Chair, Christine. First and foremost, I would like to say thank you to everyone who I have interacted with in FASA- from a small “hello” to long 4am EST talks- I have learned from and felt welcome by every single one of you. I appreciate you all. Never have I ever felt so seen and heard as quickly as I did with FASA mass meetings, cultural workshops, dance practices, and one to three-hour board meetings. FASA truly and rapidly became a place I call home. Thank you for trusting and believing in me to be one of your 2020-21 External Chairs; it means the world.

It all started with a Battle in my home city Chicago

As some (lol actually almost everyone) already knows, I was lucky enough to begin my cultural awakening in high school as part of Lane Tech’s Filipino Club Kapamilya Habang Buhay (KHB). For the first time, I interacted with more than one other Filipino-American outside of my family, and I was enamored by the loudness and extraness of those I met. Through learning traditional Filipino dances, I gained the opportunity to be more connected with my culture early on and experience a staple midwestern Filipino-American event Battle of the Bamboo (BOTB). As I opened the show with a flick of the wrist and a few hops in between bamboo sticks, I felt pride for my Filipino heritage for the first time, and knew I wanted my college experience to be full of more dancing, more loudness, and more Filipino/Filipino/x-American culture. It was set in stone as I legit met FASA people during said Battle. They were eating lunch at the table next to where my club and I were feasting. Knowing that I would be attending UofM and that there was already an established Filipino org there, my friend sitting across from me called “them” over, intimidatingly tall, older college students- one being my future Kuya EJ and the other being one of my future FASA presidents, Matt, who is pictured above. Although that was a nerve-racking conversation for little ole high schooler Christine, it compelled me to seek out FASA at Festifall, and I will forever be grateful for the interaction. Battle will always hold a special place in my heart- as I returned to perform with my newfound FASA family, pictured below, and as it led me to an interest in External Chair.

My Battle homecoming with the former Freshie Fries

We an External Lineage huh

I would not be writing this specific testimonial today without the love and endless support of my external lineage Kuya AJ and Kuya Reggie and my lovely co-chair Lauren Escote. It seems so long ago my lineage sat me down at the top floor lounge in North Quad and told me all about the stressful and joyous wack times of External Chair right before COVID-19 kicked us out of campus. Eradicating my misbeliefs that I had to “know” people to perform the best job of External Chair and exciting me with the possibilities and connections that FASA members could strengthen and start with the position, I immediately knew that External Chair was a role I wanted to take on and challenge me. Reminiscing back to my time as FASA intern, I am grateful for the chance to experience not only how FASA board works but also the planning of FASA’s BOTB trip with Kuya Reggie. It gave me confidence while running that I knew I could handle at least some External Chair duties already. However, as we all know and despite all my expectations, a pandemic had other plans....

Being in a pandemic, almost every plan I had in mind before being elected was tossed away with a half court no-look shot bucketed >swish<. Here’s three things I’ve learned from it:

FASA’s very first collab with La Casa- the Latinx Org on campus!!

Don’t let certain barriers stop you from executing your vision, just run them over with a bulldozer (duh) or get a grappling hook, attach it to said barriers, and lock it onto a spaceship so they can fly into the void of outer space (yes I know this is random but it helps my following point). If you really want to see something happen during your time in your position, you have to find ways to ensure it can be developed. For instance, it was important to me to have FASA host a cultural shared history workshop with the Latinx org on campus. I wanted to grow FASA’s relationship with other orgs outside the AA&PI community and wanted to give members a chance to interact, meet new people, and learn from them, during a time where meeting new people was actually not advisable and just slightly dangerous in-person. With the help of a former external chair, my co, a few friends on La Casa board, and our wonderful guest faculty speakers, I’m happy to say that conversations and connections were still made even in a virtual setting.

Not only did I learn this tip from my external role, but I also observed this with other boardies. Shout-out FASA Social Chairs Jalene and Joson for an iconic, memorable, and enjoyable pandemic experience. As a more virtual member, I thank you for all the intentional work you invested into your events as it often was the highlight of my sometimes isolating sophomore year. Your ideas propelled FASA board into an excited and creative state-of-mind; I appreciate you both.

Asserting my dominance with >compassion<

Have compassion, give the benefit-of-the-doubt, and make your interactions with other orgs intentional. This job is often dependent on other people, so it’s basically a “must” to be flexible, adaptable, quick-on-your-feet at decision making, understanding, and firm in each interaction with other orgs, whether it be drafting an email to ask for materials for PCN or leading a collaborative meeting with four other orgs on a Zoom call. Don’t be afraid to be the first to reach out and take on an authoritative role during meetings. If you know what you need logistically, be sure to make that clear when asking for input. Also, understand that things happen and not everyone can meet the due date all the time, so always set deadlines much earlier than when you actually need them. You never know what is truly going on behind-the-scenes of someone’s life, so you must be patient and try to view it from their POV. Maybe they just don’t have the energy to respond when you would like, and that’s okay. Furthermore, when you don’t know how to respond to a message, ask other boardies! Sometimes you play the middle person and have to relay messages back and forth because you don’t have the info at the moment or you want others’ opinions on how to proceed. It is absolutely okay and encouraged to ask for help!!

FASA board is just one layer (or jacket) of responsibilities of many

Check-in on your fellow boardies and learn to recognize when they need help. You may not know it straight away, but sometimes other boardies can feel overwhelmed or stressed out juggling everything on top of being a FASA board member. Quick check-ins are especially needed when some people are better at hiding it than others. Thank you Kate Sullivan for always being a constant light, empathetic being, and socially-aware level headed person that I aspire to be. You have taught me the value of check-ins while Kuya AJ has taught me that, depending on the person, there are times you have to just say, “hey, I can do this task for you, don’t worry about it.” Since I know I am a board member first and chair second and the fact that a lot of my External Chair duties were heavily altered this school year, I had the opportunity to be social chair #1.5, meedja chair for a hot two seconds, and attend various meetings through other boardie positions that required zero expectation of me to be there LOL, and I would do it all again, especially, if it guaranteed that my fellow boardies felt supported and recognized for all that they did.

I am a little plant; watch me grow

Overall, as I became ingrained in FASA my freshmen year, attending almost every single event, participating in FASA dance, talking in a tiny dorm room until the sunrise with the former freshie fries (now sopht-serves), road-tripping to external events, and eventually working under board as a FASA intern and then External Chair, I was able to meet and spend time with a variety of people with a diverse set of backgrounds. Thus, when I became more of a virtual member towards the beginning of my sophomore year, I felt worried about feeling Fear of Missing Out (F.O.M.O.). However, this wasn't the case for most of my time on FASA board because I genuinely felt I grew somewhat closer to at least a few members.

My Co is a sweetiepie

Lauren Escote, oh how I am glad, lucky, and grateful to have had you as my co-chair. Your attention to detail, Google Calendar-based time management skills, and your cute doggos and amount of lovable squishmellows you own never cease to amaze me. The way you hold yourself in meetings and not stumble through your words like I sometimes do when taking point makes me proud to have you on my side. Thank you for deciding to take on the role of External Chair, in your third year of FASA board/intern, with me. I appreciate you and hope that the future FASA board can make you proud of your senior year.

Just a H.A.M. making my way downtown, waddling fast, faces past and I’m homebound

Since joining FASA and spending quality time with numerous beautiful, wonderfully kind, and brilliant people, I have been told- just by a few individuals- that I have 6 ft energy. I have learned that they meant I hold a certain presence in a room, which was honestly kind of surprising and flattering to me because I was always known simply as the nice, quiet, smart person before college. I feel like this would have never been possible without the safe, inclusive, and culturally cultivating environment FASA created for me. A rarity- I felt confident in myself and my abilities. I felt like I could grow into my full and authentic self by being with others that were basically 100% comfortable with belting out karaoke and being emotionally vulnerable in front of others. Janielle Calaunan, for example, is one of the people who encourage me to be my true self with her stylish fits and unapologetic love para sa kultura which are gorgeously translated during meetings as she isn’t afraid to speak her mind, even as a mere FASA intern. Another person who has demonstrated how much more fun it is when you open up is none other than Joshua Peralta, my Posse bud. He makes me so proud and honored to have been the one to introduce him to FASA, and I am ecstatic to see him grow within the org as Performance Chair. Josh, you have the ability to make everyone readily smile with your presence and friendly greetings; thank you for that and all the backflips.

TO THOSE THAT FELT LIKE THEY BARELY CONNECTED WITH FASA THIS SCHOOL YEAR: I see you, I hear you, and you are not forgotten. This year was especially tough for those that stuck with a completely virtual setting or for those that were a little more reserved with having in-person gatherings. I want you to know that each time I saw your face on Zoom or saw you liked a message or post, it brightened my day to know that you’re still around. You are always welcome in FASA no matter how much you don’t feel “Filipino enough,” and I hope that some messages in the Fun and Safe GroupMe at least brightened your day.

To AdBESTising committee: y’all already know - much love <3

To board + interns: You inspire me each and every day. Thank you for making Kaibigan Korners enjoyable and for joining mine. I loved seeing your faces. Truly a highlight of my day.

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

Lastly, being a part of H.A.M., my lineage, the sopht-serves, and finally FASA board, I have learned so much and it is all thanks to the people I’ve met and the stories they’ve shared with me. I am happy to have been a part of fostering this community for others, and I can’t wait to see where FASA goes next year.

Good vibes always,

Christine Agpasa

#FASAExternal #2020.21 #fasasecretary

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