Fil-Am kids win in ‘Growing Up Asian in America’ contest

SAN FRANCISCO – Proud and excited Filipino American parents gushed as their grade-school children received prizes for their winning entries in the 21^stAsian Pacific Fund’s annual Growing Up Asian in America contest.

The awards celebration took place recently at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco in commemoration of the annual Asian American Heritage Month in the city.

The Filipino winners were among the more than 600 Bay Area Asian and Pacific Islander American students, grades Kindergarten through 12 who presented their ideas in art, essay, poetry and video “to honor their personal heroes with gold medals.” This year’s theme coincides with the XXXI Olympics to be held in August this year in Rio de Janeiro Brazil.

One of the largest youth celebrations of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in the nation, Growing Up Asian in America, which began in 1995, “provides a unique platform for young people from Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma Counties to creatively explore and celebrate being both Asian or Pacific Islander and American.”

Literature, artwork, videos

Nearly a thousand Bay Area students in grades kindergarten through 12 submit artwork, essays, poems and videos on a single theme to compete for over $20,000 in cash and prizes.

The Asian Pacific Fund is a community foundation that helps donors reach their philanthropic goals of supporting organizations that serve the most vulnerable members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and raise awareness about pressing community needs.

This year’s Fil-Am student winners and their entries were Angelique Grace Gomez, 10^th grade, 9-12^th grade art honorable mention; Laverne Quilatan, 8^th grade, 6-8^th grade essay winner; Kerena Williams, 7^th grade, 6-8^th grade video honorable mention — https://vimeo.com/161847222; Christine Abella, 12^th grade, 9-12^th grade essay winner; and Bridget Childs, 11^th grade, 9-12^th grade essay honorable mention.

Among the people that the students awarded with their gold medals were parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings while others honored members of their communities including teachers, mentors, coaches, friends and classmates who were strong and inspiring individuals that have helped shape who they are today.

Tibetan inspirations

Valenzuela City, Bulacan, native Christine Abella, 12^th grader of Oceana High School, who submitted her essay entitled “Silky Dresses” had her mom, older sister and grandmother in mind as she wrote it.

“But the characters that I chose were my Tibetan identical-twin friends Lhamo and Kunsang for seven years and who attended the same school because of their dedication in embracing their culture actively contributing and connecting to their ethnic community,” Abella explained.

She said further: “They will not let a crucial component of their identities fade. It is something really important to me because although I am an immigrant I didn’t feel like embracing Filipino culture as much as I should be. That is something that I am trying to do now embracing my culture and always identify as a Filipino because of my friends’ influence in me.”

Christine also confessed that although she could understand Tagalog, she could barely speak it partly because she feared criticism from proficient speakers.

“Ignorant, so ignorant, I allowed myself to be,” lamented Abella. “My friends’ dedication and mindsets inspire me to cling onto my heritage and to thoroughly embrace my background and community because self-identifying as Asian is not enough.”

Christine’s mother Cristina describes her daughter as a very hardworking student who gives importance to belonging to a Filipino family, who also tries her best to be aware of and involved in community activities.

“She gives encouragement to the young ones like her by babysitting and helping her teachers tutor their students. She is also a salutatorian graduating student at Oceana High School with meritorious and community award. She has been offered scholarship from both the San Francisco and San Mateo counties. With these achievements, we feel very, very proud to raise her up with the right values with respect for the elders and a great love for her mother country even if she is now in the U.S.,” Cristina beamed.

Her parents’ examples

San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City-born 8th grade Lincoln Middle School student Laverne Quilatan won in the 6^th– 8^th grade category for her essay “In Honor of the Resilient,” which is about people who did not have very much in life but still had the will and the strength to keep fighting.

“When my parents went took us to the US, it was pretty difficult for them. I remember living in a very small apartment. Even though they did not have very much still they did their best. Looking back I see how far I’ve come and I am just truly amazed by them,” Laverne recounted. “The Filipino family value that inspires me most is keeping the family together no matter what.”

Louverna, Laverne’s mother, couldn’t help but be proud that her daughter kept up with the Filipino culture while growing up as a child and a student in the US.

“I am happy that she realized the difference of growing up here and there when went she back to the Philippines last year. She knows very well the difference on what she has to grow up with the difference even though we are in a different culture here in the U.S. I told her to follow what is right and avoid what is wrong,” Louverna disclosed.

Mother honored

Aragon High School student Angelique Grace Gomez turned in an artwork “Herlin,” the name of her mother. She was born in Redwood City to an Ilongga mother and a Kapampangan father.

“My winning piece was inspired by my mother Herlin, a loving mother and wife who may be proud to be an American citizen but has not forgotten about her Filipino roots. She is a nurse who was diagnosed in 2008 with liver cancer, which she has been battling ever since. She always has a bright smile on her face and her determination, perseverance and overall joy really inspires me to go on and look at my life optimistically every day,” Angelique divulged. “My hardworking dad, on the other hand, is my idol for having perseverance.”

Angelique said her parents did not forget their roots and raised her in a very Filipino way that made her very familiar with the language and culture.

“I am not afraid to be a Filipino and I will happily display that. They raised me too well to not forget my Filipino values,” Angelique stressed.

Angelique’s father Alex, an engineering graduate in the Philippines who works on two shifts as a caregiver, is proud that both Angelique and younger sister Anjanette are straight A valedictorian students.

“They are our only treasure. Their mom and I are really proud of them because of their accomplishments in life thus far. We are touched by their hard work, recognition of what we do for them and what we are going through,” a teary-eyed Alex state. “As parents, we are also inspired by their achievements to do more.”

“This year’s program gives students an opportunity to explore their upbringing and to celebrate the family and community members who have made a positive impact on their lives,” said Audrey Yamamoto, president and executive director of the Asian Pacific Fund.

“It’s an honor to give voice to the unique perspectives of our youth and to acknowledge their ideas and creativity in celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month,” she added.