Kristin San Ramon

My last MFAS started out rocky, but the weekend got better once we arrived at the hotel. This was the first year MAFA held a formal dance for all the participating schools. It was great seeing old faces and meeting new ones! Also, the first day of MFAS was my 22nd birthday!

 

One of my workshops was Conference Within A Conference (CWAC). This is where MAFA board spoke to us about their positions and what MAFA stands for. CWAC has always been an eye-opening workshop because this is when leaders from other Filipino organizations speak of their own struggles as an organization. We always learn from each other and it reminds us that not every organization is perfect.

 

My favorite part of MFAS this year were the MFAS family games. Everyone was assigned a family from different schools. (Examples of family names were: Mango Peelers, Coconut Drinkers No Chasers, Wowowinners, Tinikling Step Crew, Baluters, etc.) I only knew one person in my group of twelve. I loved building memories with them and surviving the games with talented and enthusiastic teammates. All of the games were great ice-breakers for us and it definitely gave me ideas for our own organization.

 

Overall, it was a great way to spend my birthday/spring break/last MFAS! I highly encourage all of you to experience any Fil-Am conference within your time at Marquette. The conferences have always brought me closer to members of Bayanihan and other FIlipino organizations in the Midwest. The next one is Filipino Americans Coming Together (FACT) at UIUC. Plan ahead!

 

RIane Taday

First off, I want to mention how beautiful Ohio is! Ohioans are so friendly, I'm honestly debating if I want to move there when I retire!

 

Anyways, MFAS was an awesome experience. This conference, so far, has been my favorite. I was kind of worried I was not gonna enjoy my MFAS experience this year at first because there were only five of us going, but it in the end it kind of worked out. The fact that we didn't have such a big group pushed us BSOers to branch out and network. For example, during CWAC (Conference within a conference) I met and befriended so many amazing e-board leaders of different PSAs throughout the Mid-west.

 

I would say my favorite part about MFAS were the Barkada Games. What happened was that they randomly assigned delegates to a group, our barkada, and we competed in different team building games to win the grand prize (bragging rights and free v-show admission lol). I loved my barkada! SHOUT OUT TO THE BALIKBAYAN BOXERS! =D

 

Hmm...my least favorite part was the bus ride back to Chicago...shout out to Mr. John Tobin for being my bus buddy!....if you ask him about our bus ride, he would probably confirm this statement and share our pain. Also shout out to the guy behind me snoring louder than a blue whale during mating season, you were awesome!

 

But seriously, I highly suggest that you go to MFAS before you graduate (yes, you need to cross this off your BSO bucket list!)

 

John Tobin

In March, I went to my first MFAS conference. It was a highly enjoyable and educational experience, where I both made lots of friends and learned more about Filipino culture. While there, I attended two workshops, the first focused on race and how it plays a role in people’s lives, while the second was about gender, particularly the oft overlooked contribution of Filipino women in science, politics, and the arts. After the workshops, everyone was divided up into families of about ten to twelve people. We then competed against the other families in a series of team-building games. It was in this last part of the official conference that I met the most people, making friends with the other members of my family as we worked together. The conference was hosted this year by the University of Toledo, and they did a fabulous job ensuring that everything ran smoothly. MFAS was a great experience, and I really am excited to go again.