Emerging Leader: Amanda Andrei

Age: 24 Hometown: Woodbridge, VA Current Residence: Ashburn, VA College of William and Mary, 2010 Anthropology and Math minor

Meet Amanda Andrei, an Artificial Intelligence Engineer at MITRE Corporation.* Essentially, she does everything from building computer models to working on organizational change management with various government agencies in the Washington D.C. area.

Andrei, a multifaceted Fil-Am, is also well-versed in the realm of creative and performing arts, which has been quite influential in her life. Since high school, she’s been involved in acting, directing, making props and assistant producing. In her senior year of undergrad, she took a playwrighting class and wrote the award-winning play Every Night I Die, which is set in rural southern Philippines during the 1930s. It has had staged readings in Arlington, VA at Little Theatre on the Run, and has been performed at the 2011 Capital Fringe Festival and the College of William and Mary.

“It’s important in life, being able to tell a story,” Andrei reflects. “Theater is very fulfilling. I love creating for the sake of creating and touching the human soul. Theater is the most effervescent of the arts, so you never get the same show twice; it’s never the same [and only] there for that moment, so it’s really precious.”

When thinking about her identity, Andrei takes both her Pilipino and Romanian heritage into account. She writes for Asian Fortune, a newspaper based in DC. In college, Andrei yearned to learn more about the Philippines. She explored her connection to her roots while participating with the Fil-Am organizations at UVA and William and Mary, being actively involved in FIND, and while studying abroad at Ateneo de Manila University.

Andrei would like to see the Fil-Am and Pilipino community cultivate the arts.

“I’ve taken writing classes, and there have been times where I have questioned my identity in the writing of my pieces because I didn’t know if anyone understood, [and have thought to myself] ‘Should I be less brown?’”

While working with the Smithsonian and the Organization of Chinese Americans, she learned the importance of education, arts, culture and outreach. She envisions this for the Fil-Am community in the DC area, particularly with the establishment of a safe space or program where Asian Americans and others can be trained in performance and writing.

“We need more of those voices and perspectives. It doesn’t always have to be about the Philippines; I’d rather have someone tell a good story,” notes Andrei.

Andrei offers the following advice to fellow Fil-Ams and Pilipinos.

"Don’t be afraid to spend money on your heath,” adds Andrei. “I pay for [and use] a monthly pass to the yoga studio, have acupuncture done and eat healthy."

"If you’re still in college, take some technical courses, such as math, computer science, or GIS. You may not like it, but to survive in today’s world, you should have that component,” Andrei advises. For those studying just hard sciences, don’t be afraid to get a minor in something else. “You need to have an interesting combination. Mix it up!” notes Andrei.

“Carve out your own space. You don’t have to do what everyone else is doing. No one I know really has it all; if they do, they’re really lucky. If everyone’s telling you what you have to do and what you have to be, remember to be true to yourself. Be practical, but still allow yourself to dream. Be open to the universe."

Photo credit: Dan Tran

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*About The MITRE Corporation The MITRE Corporation is a not-for-profit organization that provides systems engineering, research and development and information technology support to the government. It operates federally funded research and development centers for the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Homeland Security, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, with principal locations in Bedford, Mass., and McLean, Va. To learn more, visit www.mitre.org.

You Bring Out the Filipina in Me, A Poem

In the spring of my junior year in college, I decided to write a poem every single day for an entire year. This project evolved into something much more. I decided to continue writing until Commencement exercises, until the day I had my diploma in hand. Today, my project stands at 390 days, with 391 individual poems; early on in the project I had so much to say, that I ended up writing two pieces for one day. During this journey, I expected my pens to pour out my thoughts and troubles. I wanted to make space in my cluttered mind, and be at peace with myself. So, I kept a paper with me at all times, scribbling in the margins of class notes and my planner. Any emotion that I was feeling, or event I was experiencing, I tried to capture it in a concise handful of words. At the end of the day, I’d sit down for about an hour to piece together my thoughts. Most nights, I’d begin three or four different poems before deciding on a common theme or concept. Then, I’d just go with it. This often meant most of my poems were written between the hours of midnight and 3:00am.

In February of my senior year, I attended the East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU) conference. I went with a few of my closest friends from William & Mary’s Filipino American Student Association; we embarked on road trip from Williamsburg, VA, down to Duke University in North Carolina. There, we had the opportunity to meet amazing leaders in the Asian American community and participate in various workshops.

As a young writer and poet, I immediately chose to attend the "Spoken Word and Activism" workshop, facilitated by Bao Phi. In the workshop, we watched and discussed 1700% Project: Misaken for Muslim, a piece by Anida Yoeu Ali, which challenges racial profiling and hate crimes against those perceived as Muslim or Arab. Afterwards, Phi shared some of his own pieces. One that stood out was titled You Bring Out the Vietnamese in Me.  I connected with the piece instantly, as it inspired me to write my own version as part of my poetry project.

It’s been a year since I wrote this poem. I’ve only performed it a couple times before some close friends, but I’ve been too afraid to share it because it never seemed relevant for any of the open mic events I’ve attended. After my project ended, I started reading through all of my poems, from start to finish. It’s really interesting to see how my writing has evolved over the course of my project.

Originally posted as Day 314, I present it to you now. Maybe I’ll have the courage to perform it on stage one day.

Inspired by: Sandra Cisneros’ “You Bring Out the Mexican in Me” and Bao Phi’s “You Bring Out the Vietnamese in Me”

You bring out the Filipina in me.

The jeepney-riding miracle worker. The island sweetheart of art. The gutom na ako, but not really in me.

You bring out the Filipina in me. The war-stricken tropical paradise, pained by martial law under Marcos, trampled by the feet of Imelda and her closet of over a thousand shoes.

The anti-Colonialist mindset that might set the world on fire. The tainted skin that refuses lightening creams. The Illocano and Kapangpangan and Tagalog and Spanish rolled into a single dictionary in me. The easy to assimilate into American culture because of English-infused classrooms in the motherland.

The Magandang Gabi, lechon-eating, Soon-to-be doctor and lawyer in me. The OFW working in the Middle East, sending remittances back to children, or the daughter of a US Navy officer, for he joined the Americans out of necessity. And yet you still bring out the true Filipina in me.

The young, activist peacemaker, that yearns to clean up corrupt acts that plague the Philippine Sea. The “I want to return to the homeland to give back” because that all I’ve worked for. The wealth of knowledge, once I graduate from college, need to make a difference in me.

You are the one I turn to, and turns to me for love, for my home is built with always-open doors. With it’s plastic-covered couches, fully-stocked pantry piled high with cans of Spam, dried manga, sweet condensed milk walis-swept tiled floors, and sometimes kneeling on piles of kanin for being naughty in me.

You bring out the feisty, ghetto-fabulous wannabe itim in me. Yeah I said it. The lover of all R&B

and jammin’ to old school rap in me.

You are the rays of sun on my very own flag, the guiding stars that surround me.

You have taught me the truth of mahal kita and salamat, for I love to give thanks when it is not required.

Oo : you, have been woven into the mosquito nets that shield me. You are the protector of me.