Living in San Francisco and Daly City, I was surrounded by Filipinos and it was my normal. It wasn't until I went to college that I had the experience of being The Other when it came to my race. At first, I was ashamed because I was mostly alone, grasping at straws to find other Filipinos and, at the bare minimum, other folx of color to find community in our shared Otherness. Today, it's a source of pride. I share my Filipinoness every moment I can, and I represent it everywhere I can.

New Orleans is the first place I've lived where I was able to choose purely based on what I wanted. For college and grad school, I went where financial aid led me. When I was applying for jobs, New Orleans wasn't really a high place on my list, but something in my heart was pushing me to move here, and so I accepted the job and found my way to the city. I learned about St. Malo and the Manila Men, and sometimes I think about if my ancestors pulled me to move down here because of it.