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fasa-umich · 1 year

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Ashley Bouse, FASA's 2022 - 2023 Co-External Chair

Hi FASA,

As I’m writing this testimonial the day it is due (shoutout to miss media milly) I’ve reflected on my experience as a general member turned FASA intern turned FASA board member.

But first I’ll start with some context:

I was born in Dearborn, Michigan at the ripe age of zero, and after living in Detroit for the first two years of my life, my parents made the decision to move us to somewhere smaller… much smaller. For the most part, I lived and grew up in a teeny tiny town (literally a village 💀) in rural Michigan.

Those of you also from middle of nowhere towns in Michigan or honestly anywhere in the Midwest probably know what it's like. I was the only Asian student in my grade for pretty much all of K-12 and was the only Asian student in my entire graduating class. It’s interesting to hear how some schools had entire Asian/Asian-American organizations and even their own Filipino clubs. If my high school were to have had an Asian organization, it would’ve consisted of only three members (i.e. me, Alexa, and Tommy Yang).

Anyways, fast forward, I’ve been accepted into U of M and am living in Bursley Hall. 😭 I had heard about FASA but was pretty hesitant to join. I showed up to Fall Mass Meeting at Rackham (with Bryson 😎), went to the LinkedIn Photoshoot at the Law Quad, and quickly despawned from all FASA events in the Fall.

Photo taken Fall 2021 during LinkedIn Photoshoot by Michelle (aka “media meesh”)

I wasn’t an active member of FASA until the Winter semester of my freshman year. I had a lot of hesitations about joining, but I applied to the FASA intern program on a whim, thinking I wasn’t active, qualified, or even “Filipino enough” to be accepted. However to my surprise, a little less than two weeks later, I received an email that read:

Slay.

I basically forced myself into being active in the organization by becoming an intern. It was both a sense of obligation and eagerness to learn as much as I could about FASA, especially about how the organization operates behind the scenes. I went into the program knowing very little about FASA and had only attended a small number of events. I didn’t know any of the other interns besides Angeli and Andrew who were in FIlipino class with me, however I was excited to get to know all of the other interns and board members.

FASA INTERN GALS ✨

I grew close with the other interns, went to “Teen Beach Movie Night” (iykyk), helped plan and eventually had the intern capstone event, went to many FASA events and made many maaany more memories. I got to know my fam (Xfam = best fam), my sexy lineage (Darago <3), and so many people in the FASA community.

Darago Lineage: Jbapo, Ate Janielle, Ate Kennedy, Kuya Colin, Bry-Bry, Krystelle, Zainab, and adings Ash and Nicole + not pictured: Ate Carina

(also not pictured: the Darakunawa alliance)

EXTERNAL EVENTS

Filipino Americans Coming Together (FACT)

Filipino Americans did WHAT???

The Filipino Americans Coming Together (FACT) conference was the first external trip during my sophomore year. To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what FACT actually was at first. It had been a few years since they had an in-person conference, but this year they were in-person. I sent out my silly little Google forms, texted everyone and their mom to figure out logistics, and toiled on the master spreadsheet until cars, houses, itinerary, and all of the other details that go into planning external trips were figured out.

FACT itself was a little rocky because UIUC’s first in person conference in a while. I heard that many of the workshops went well, however, the quality/structure varied with each. We attended the FACT Variety Show (sorry Ashley Mehta), many of us pushed Joes, and went on our pilgrimage to Seafood City and Jollibee in Chicago. Looking back, it was a challenge trying to figure out how to manage such a large group of people. We had 55 members attend the conference, but Mikey and I managed to ensure no one perished or got abandoned in Chambana, so overall I’m happy with how the weekend went.

One thing that FACT taught me is that you cannot plan everything down to the T and expect it to go smoothly. The unknown of what could happen on an external trip always has made me a little anxious, but sometimes all we can do is plan, put in the effort, and then leave things to their own accord. This position has taught me that you can’t try to perfect everything. When [REDACTED] hits the fan, you must always be ready to pivot and adapt to what the new situation or challenge brings.

Battle of the Bamboo

FASA takes on Chicago

Battle of the Bamboo (BOTB) this year had about double or nearly triple the number of attendees from the year prior. For me, last year’s BOTB was one of my favorite FASA memories and also a big reason why I feel close with many of my friends in the organization today so I urged everyone to go (or else they’d get severe FOMO).

This year’s BOTB was particularly special because of performance chairs and FASA’s exhibition performance of Pagapir. From a planning perspective, we were more relaxed with overall planning for BOTB and focused a lot of our logistics around ensuring that specifically performers made it where they had to be well in advance. We had 55+ attendees with housing being spread out among several different locations. Many people got the chance to explore Chicago, try new restaurants, sing karaoke, etc.

External quick tip: An easy and relatively harmless way to ensure that Filipino time does not demolish your plans/external itinerary is by accommodating for a 30 minute (or more) buffer time and saying that people need to be places earlier than they actually have to be. We cannot get rid of Filipino time, however we can try our best to plan for it and ensure it does not deter us too much.

One big takeaway I had after Battle is that there is a sliding scale between trips being hands-off and trips being planned down to the minute. That being said, there are pros and cons to both sides. If the trip is way too structured, it can be 1.) too suffocating for attendees and 2.) very stressful for externals to maintain this structure. On the other hand, if there isn’t enough structure then people do not feel secure/reassured during the trip. Meaning that in both planning and execution, you need to aim for the external trip to fall somewhere in the middle of this range.

Additionally, things may seem good on paper but there can be flaws and problems that arise the day of when the plan is in execution. It is our responsibility as external chairs to make the trip fun and equitable for everyone, and it is also our responsibility to try to make things right when they do not go to plan. Battle weekend allowed a lot of necessary and valuable dialogue to be brought up/discussed, and I am looking forward to seeing how external trips progress and grow in future years.

Philippine Culture Night

I remember my first Philippine Culture Night (PCN) in vivid detail. From the “sinigang” to the Toledo coconut boys, the Tinikling set, speeches, poetry, speakers, and so on. However, I wasn’t on a committee or a part of a performance group but I knew I wanted to be more actively involved in the night in the future.

For this year’s PCN, I managed the new External Outreach committee with Mikey. It was a bit of a headache to figure out, but we made sure nearby external PSAs were able to reserve tickets and make it to our PCN.

In addition, I also signed up for a PCN dance at the last minute. I’m terribly uncoordinated (e.g. Tinik on the Diag) and dancing has never been my strong suit. That being said, I cannot recommend enough that people join one of the PCN dance groups if they have the time in their schedule for it. Dance practices, as long and tiring as they can feel, became something I really looked forward to during the week. I enjoyed getting to know the other dancers and bonding with them over jokes, shared exhaustion, and a great PCN performance at the end.

Like all things in life, what you put into FASA is what you get out of it. In order to get the most out of the organization, you need to step out of your comfort zone. Sign up for silly little dances and committees and make the most of all of the opportunities to get to know all of the amazing people that make up the FASA community.

To my Co:

Dear Mikey,

We met at Mass Meeting in the fall of freshman year, but my real first impression of you was at the [REDACTED] mixer during the beginning of winter semester when you accidentally butt-dialed 911 on my phone. I thought you were a complete goon, but little did I know that we would end up becoming co-chairs just a few months later.

With that being said, I cannot put into words how thankful I am to have you as a co-chair and friend (among other things). You’ve grown so much since I first met you, and I admire how driven, caring, and considerate have always been. You make me want to be a better person.

Sometimes planning external events/trips have made me want to explode into a million pieces, but you’ve always been there and have given stability to me through it all. From board retreat to organization collabs, external weekend, late night toiling in the Fish Bowl, FACT & Battle, and everything in between, there’s no one else I could’ve done it all with. Now that our tenure is coming to a close, I can truly look back and be proud of everything we’ve accomplished in the past year. Thank you for always supporting me unconditionally and for always being there for me. We did it!! :)

FASA Executive Board 2022-23

To FASA Executive Board:

I’m so lucky to have served my tenure on board alongside each and every one of you. I’m definitely biased, but this year’s board is such a special and talented group of people. Thank you for making Sunday board meetings something to look forward to, and thank you for all of your support, hard work, and dedication this past year.

To the seniors:

Senior farewell hasn’t happened so I don’t need to be too sappy yet. However, as you all go on to do immeasurably great and impressive things, remember that FASA is always here for you and proud of you.

To those considering external chair or FASA e-board in the future:

FASA board has historically followed a trend: People are a part of FASA, become interns, get elected onto e-board, and then burn out over the course of the year. Although this trend doesn’t apply to everyone, it is important that we each do our best to manage burnout. For the sake of the FASA board and the wellbeing of your fellow boardies, please try your best to alleviate burnout and help out each other as best as you can.

If you need help, feel free to reach out to your predecessors. We’re always here to help and we want to see FASA and the new board succeed.

Learn to say no. Say no to events you don’t want to do. Say no to events you don’t want to go to. Additionally, know when to take a step back, especially if the FASA calendar is overpacked, realistically ask yourself what you would like to see/accomplish this semester.

I’ve heard this from past and present boardies a million times and I’m definitely sounding like a broken record, however this is one of my most important takeaways after being on board: Responsibilities in FASA cannot be black and white, either your problem or not your problem. Such a dichotomy could never exist because in a cohesive board, it is everyone’s job for events to run smoothly. If someone needs help in FASA, it is everyone’s job to step up (if they can) and assist their fellow boardies when they need it.

In closing:

As Winnie the Pooh (and Celeste at Sunday board one time) once said:

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

It’s hard and bittersweet to say goodbye to FASA board, but I know it will be in good hands. Thank you to all of FASA and board for your support, love, and friendship this past year. I’m looking forward to seeing what the future board is scheming.

I am also excited to push Sound Bar next year at Battle return to general membership status (joke lang).

It’s been real FASA <3

2022-23 Co-External Chair

Ashley Bouse

#2022-2023 #FASAExternal

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ton-e · 3 years

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Okay wowowow brain rot time but small little X Man fam facts bc the storyline is moving sjsjsj

Originally, Kitty was born and raised in San Francisco, but while she was still living with her parents, they moved to a small, picket fence, cookie cutter town in Kansas. The kind where it was mandatory to attend church if you wanted to exist in the elusive community of he wash up up, boring and bland who make plastic mannequins seem real. The only upside of it is being able to chase the jerk who tried to peek under her skirt with a rifle in hand.

Bobby is from Houston, not having stepped foot much outside his hometown. The furthest he's been from home was running away from the baseball field he grew disdain for when he realized he was the only one who remember it was just a game. He hitched a ride to the next town, somewhere between Angletown and Bay city before his father found and made him walk home beside the car. He doesn't like baseball anymore after that.

Jubilee lived in a crime reeking neighbourhood in Seol, SK, cornered by people who thought it was painfully interesting that a 6 year old could do what she did.

Despite growing up in the Mansion, Charles always made sure to tell Kurt that his roots can always be found in Berlin, in case he ever wants to explore his past. Sometimes, when he was little, Kurt would teleport in Logan's room to play with his old army equipment, his favorite items would be the steel plates with the German map on it. Logan sat through him painting every town, village, and city, because Kurt was excited about the possibility of finding his parents.

Laura's origins seem similar to the ones she had in Logan, - her birth place may have been Eden Labs, but she seems to be very knowledge about Spanish. My take on it is that the nurse who sent Charles and Logan the message in the movie smuggled as many kids as she could to Mexico before she was caught.

Despite Logan saying "I know parenting 'bout as much as Charles knows about track racin' " it's an unspoken rule that every problem or issue linked to the kids is linked to him. Scott will always give him a hard time,- at this point, it's all they know and all they can. Logan is impulsive and rash and curt, too untamed, too aggressive and too little of what Scott respects for them to bond properly, but he will never criticize Logan on how he is around kids, nor will he let anyone else to.

Nightmare or night terror or a school affair, superhero insecurity, being alienated for their x gene or general bigotry, - They can all help with those, but the kids ( Storm deliberately calls them Logan's kids and no one is looking to contradict her) actively seek him out, not because they trust them less, but because they trust Logan the most as he just? Knows what their specific needs are, understands that it's both an isolated and individual incident, tip toeing across the line of mutant and human. He just Knows.

Logan of course freaks out about having been seen as a father figure-- The man should barely be seen as a person figure, let alone a pillar of discipline, protection, security and guidance. Storm and Charles don't really know how to break it to him that when he drives the kids to the mall, movies, park, buys them stuff and makes them eat and take breaks and just generally not die,, it's a bit top late to say he doesn't want to be a dad JSJSJSM

Bobby is the oldest, Laura is the baby

Bobby is 17 (May 12th), Kitty is 15 (August 11th), Kurt is 16 (December 31) Jubilee is 12 (July 4th) and Laura is 7 (November 12th)

#earth 518 #xfam #logan howlett #Kitty pryde #Bobby drake #Laura Kinney #jubilee #Storm #ororo munroe #Scott summers #Charles Xavier #headcanons #text

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