Did recent college grad Amanda think that attending UniPro Summit would be integral to setting up a staged reading in New York four years later? 2016 Amanda can confidently say: no, she sure didn’t. As a friend once told me, “It’s not always one big dramatic decision you make and your life changes – it’s all the micro-choices you make day-to-day.” To that I also add, it’s a grateful spirit and our bayanihan, open to possibility and eager to help, that sets our lives and art in motion.

You know that feeling when you realize something and want to tell everyone around you? That's what I felt after attending the EPYC Conference in August. When you become empowered, you want to share that with the community around you. 

Growing up as a Filipino-American in a very diverse town, my identity was something that I constantly wrestled with. I noticed that in my group of friends, I was always the “token asian guy”. This never bothered me though.

The problem with Filipinos is that we need a reality check. Our pride restrains us. We will never fix the problems described above because we don’t see them as problems at all. Well, this is me. I’m a fellow Filipina with a reminder that we’re flawed. 

What are qualities or experiences that you associate with Filipinos? As someone who is Taiwanese American, thus non-Filipino, I believe that I am tackling this question from more of a different perspective.

Throughout high school and middle school, I dabbled countless times through different cliques just to see where and how I would fit in. It was a lot harder for me personally because I was, and still am, an introvert. I noticed at a very young age that I did not look like my fellow Caucasian peers.