The KasamaRep position is one of the most important Executive Board positions as it serves as the gateway between the membership and E-Board. It’s a one-of-a-kind experience and we’re all here to ride it. The KasamaReps serve as Executive Board members with an intention to lead and learn, hence the the reps are also called interns. All-in-all, a KasamaRep is a voice of the membership, a leader in training, and an Executive Board member. Below are your 2020-2021 KasamaReps.

---

First-Year Kasama-Reps

What are some ways that you think you would be able to represent your class?

I would say that I have a nurturing and loving personality. I would put effort into reaching out to everybody, getting to know them and bringing us all together. I am an active listener and will take everyone’s voices into consideration. I want our experience to be something we create together. I also think I have the energy to hype up my class!

From previous experience, how have you dealt with managing your time during stressful situations?

I would reconfigure my stress into a drive to get work done. Energy cannot be destroyed but can be transformed. It’s physics! I’m highly adaptable. That’s biology! I can appropriately adjust my time management to better suit my personal needs.

What does being your own culture mean to you? What are some ways you can share this meaning with the members of Kasamahan?

Culture is multifaceted and self-defined by the individual. My culture reflects my personal experience as a Fluid/Queer, First-Generation Pilipinx-American, born and raised in Los Angeles. I would encourage my fellow members to explore how they define their culture and heritage. Which parts were inherited, adapted and created? Being your own culture is as simple as embracing all those parts.

What are some ways that you think you would be able to represent your class?

I may represent my class by meeting with them and having informed discussions on what they want to see in the future. With the information, I will discuss with the board the ideas which may be implemented. I will also draft events and ideas for my fellow transfers and first years to enjoy and ease their transition into the organization and USF. I would also serve as the first year and transfer’s voices during the board’s decision-making using the thoughts and ideas they have conveyed. 

Why are you interested in representing your class?

As a transfer student, it isn’t easy to find your community and have a distinct voice. I have come across several leaders who generally talk about their people, and sometimes even speak for them instead of talking with them. I aim to be the uniting voice between the ideas and visions of my class. As transfer students, we come from different backgrounds and therefore adapt to circumstances and environments differently. I want to listen to my classmates and understand where they currently stand and what potential solutions would work for everyone going forward. Also, as transfer students, we may feel challenged to unleash and reach our potentials. As a representative, it would be my responsibility to find each of my classmates’ potential and have the courage to develop such. It would also be my responsibility to create and sustain positive relationships between transfers and other students through the Filipino culture. I want my fellow transfer students to feel empowered and essential, and to know that they have a say in things. Being in this position, I represent my class and the Kasamahan organization and the Filipinx community. Therefore, I would like to create inclusive spaces and commit my aspirations of recognizing the Fil-Am community and Filipino culture into action.

What does being your own culture mean to you? What are some ways you can share this meaning with the members of Kasamahan?

I take absolute pride in being in my own Filipino culture. I believe that this pride is prevalent among Filipinos worldwide. When meeting a fellow Filipino abroad, whether it be someone familiar or a stranger, the word “kabayan” always comes to mind. I think it is a word that can encapsulate the unity and essence of what it is to be Filipino. The values of respect and selflessness embedded into the Filipino culture, which is evident in doing the “mano po” to the elderly, shape my identity and how I function in society. Coming from the Philippines and entering a world of uncertainty, there have been times wherein I felt the need to conceal this identity. But I’ve learned that my culture is what has defined and shaped me to who I am today, and it is nothing to be ashamed of. Some ways that I can share this meaning with the members of Kasamahan are by engaging them in Filipino practices and activities to give them an idea of what it feels like to embrace your own culture. For example, there is a practice called “boodle fight” in the Philippines, and it involves a variety of food in the center of the table, and under is a banana leaf. (I’m not the best when it comes to describing.) Participants use their hands to eat the food. The boodle fight symbolizes camaraderie, unity, equality, and trust, traits I believe Filipinos possess entirely.

Sophomore KasamaRep

What is one strength and one weakness? How do you think working in a team setting can help nurture and improve these qualities?

One strength I’d say I carry is building on top of ideas; when it comes to brainstorming, I like thinking to the details of what could be included to events, workshops, etc. One weakness I have is needing clarification on certain instructions, meaning I’ll most likely be asking a lot of questions and needing constant communication. When it comes to working with a team, I like to build and affirm that trust with peers. When that trust is built, my work flow will progressively come with ease and get better overtime.

What are some ways that you think you would be able to represent your class?

Even though there is still the situation of covid going on, there are still ways that I could represent my class in different situations. One big plan is to keep in touch with my class constantly with upcoming workshops/events. Other plans could be having small trips to different food areas around SF, having trips to the filipino cultural centers in SF, and most importantly, get input from the class of what events they’d want to have next (all with practicing social distancing and wearing masks of course).

What does being your own culture mean to you? What are some ways you can share this meaning with the members of Kasamahan?

Being in my own culture means holding responsibility to carry it on to upcoming generations; in my opinion, culture dies out when no one takes the responsibility to carry it. I hopefully want to imply this meaning by emphasizing the importance of workshops we hold and encouraging the filipino based/YPSP classes that are offered at USF. There are places such as the SF Filipino Cultural Center and SOMA that sometimes go unnoticed; I hopefully want to remind my peers that these places exist for education in our own culture along with community building.

---

Junior KasamaRep

Tell us about one experience in Kasamahan that affected you (i.e. the way you see yourself, your culture or etc.)

Alright, this is kinda a weird one. It was one night during Barrio 2019 Run-Throughs, before I had even officially joined Kasamahan. I dropped off food for Sly and Julie while they were rehearsing in UC4, but I thought I’d stick around a bit. Fast forward and suddenly it was 12:30 A.M (I had never stayed this late), Ate Mics, Kuya Nate, and Ate Ria were making their big speeches. Their voices carried an incredible amount of power, and heart–I mean, in the moment I was awestruck. It also happened to be the night of sweatshirt reveal…so I think the screams of membership helped burn the memories in. The more and more I thought about that night, the more it dawned on me that I hadn’t ever experienced that kind of unfettered passion for culture. That is what drew me in so much. What would it be like to not just watch, but join in and share that feeling with all of them? To sit in that big group, looking up at the CD and ED and being fired up after an exhausting 6 hour rehearsal? And in experiencing that, could I then unlock a part of my identity that I’ve hidden away? Now, I am here in this organization, finding the answers.

What do you hope to gain by interning for Kasamahan’s Executive Board?

I am always curious about understanding how I operate, as well as how others around me operate. What situations make me feel uncomfortable, and what can I do to remove that aversion? Where do I feel most comfortable, and how can I uplift others to become more comfortable with that? What kinds of attitudes do I need to take on in order to effectively employ subjectivity and objectivity in a group collaborative setting? These are all questions to which I hope my time as an E-Board intern will help to answer, or at least begin to answer. Ultimately, this experience would be a significant stepping stone in bringing me closer to my best, fully realized self. 

Why are you interested in representing your class?

I’m a believer in unity fostered by transparency. Open, honest communication is the way. If we seek to live out the message of unity and solidarity, I think this begins with making efforts to dissolve the barriers between E-Board and general membership. For some, it can be intimidating to approach E-Board members or feel comfortable sharing their thoughts due to the hierarchical nature of the organization. While no one person is to blame for this, I believe that it is on all of us to help each other break down these mental walls. Primarily, this would mean opening up constant channels of feedback and communication between the two, beyond the general anonymous feedback form and office hours. As I want to see this provided for my class (and membership as a whole), why not be the one to help enact that? I want to play a part in closing the gap, in order to strengthen the integrity of Kasamahan and expand the family that I have found in this place.

---

Senior KasamaRep

What does being your own culture mean to you? What are some ways you can share this meaning with the members of Kasamahan?

To me, being a Filipina-American means strength, compassion, and community. I’ve learned that these are very strong values within my culture through my experience in Kasamahan these past three years. Through sharing those experiences and helping other members experience them for themselves is how I want to share what my culture means to me. 

Tell us about one experience in Kasamahan that affected you (i.e. the way you see yourself, your culture or etc.)

My first Barrio experience changed the way I felt about and saw my culture. Before coming to USF, I never had the chance to learn about Filipinx history or understand what it meant to be Fil-Am. However, through the long hours of rehearsals, emotional but motivating speeches, and so many new friends connected to this experience, I started to embrace my culture. Putting on the attire and performing dances that represented the cultural tribes in the Philippines brought such a different perspective to what being Filipinx meant. Through watching the skit inspired by the Fil-Am narrative, I started to understand where my story fit in. Feeling that Barrio magic affected the way I felt about my culture. Through this experience, I started to embrace and be proud of being Filipina-American. 

What is one strength and one weakness? How do you think working in a team setting can help nurture and improve these qualities?

One of my strengths is that I am a very good communicator. I think that working in a team will allow my communication skills to continue to improve since I will need to be constantly communicating with the other KasamaREPs, Director of Membership, and the rest of the Executive Board. One weakness is that I can be quite stubborn sometimes. However, I think that since the Executive Board is on the bigger side, it’ll allow me to improve this quality as I’ll need to be more flexible and compromise. 

---