1. If you’re going to make your life into a drama or film, what will its name be and why?
“Believe, Beyond.” It means having faith to go beyond limitations and boundaries. I was just an ordinary girl from the Philippines with no rich family, no extraordinary talents. Just a regular girl with big dreams. However, from a young age, I knew in my heart I wanted to explore a bigger world beyond the Philippines. Different people have different faiths and life philosophies. For me, I am religious and do regular prayers to God. I always hold the belief that what I want will eventually happen and all I need to do is to follow my heart and persist. Everyone has a dream to go beyond, and we need faith to achieve that.
2. Can you tell us about your stories in different countries?
My dad was a scholar, and he received a post to study theology in Michigan. He brought 6-year-old me, and it was my first experience living and studying in another country. We lived in international housing there. I remember in our class, there were only four students who were not American, including me. Three others were from Japan, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
One memorable thing. My skin is relatively dark even in the Philippines, and in the Philippines, people generally desire white skin and see it as beauty. In the U.S., however, I saw a list of women sunbathing outside. I asked why, and they said “I want to make my skin darker. You have a very beautiful skin color. It was literally an eye-opening thing for me. It taught me that sometimes, we need to get out of our own culture and the traditions we are confined in to realize our sparkling advantages.
After my dad finished the post, I went back to the Philippines. Then, I went to New York on full scholarship to learn acting, which was another magic experience itself. After that, I had a teaching post in Malaysia , then Beijing, China for eleven years, and now I am teaching theatre and arts in Phuket, Thailand.
3. What’s one or several particularly interesting cultures you’ve encountered along the journey?
When I was in Canada, I lived in Vancouver. I wasn’t a very out-door person, but Vancouver had so much access to nature, and I gradually appreciated the nature part of my life after living there.
Malaysia is a very interesting place and mixes three cultures together: Malaysian, Chinese, and Indian culture. It has amazing food. You call eat by makan in Malaysian, and it was the first Malaysian word I learned.
Living in Beijing for eleven years, I was impressed by the rich Chinese history and cultural heritage. I went to the Forbidden Palace, temple of heaven, Great Wall, and many other places that were opened only to the emperors in ancient history and represented very interesting histories. China also has an amazing community. I bonded with Beijing people in my neighborhood very closely through the pandemic.
Now in UWC Thailand, it’s yet another unique experience with people from over 100 nations meeting together in this school and living closely with one another. Each place I went to has its unique gifts, challenges, contexts, and cultures. My biggest takeaway is to be flexible, open-minded, and willing to take risks. Then you’ll be able to experience different lifestyles and have an enriching life experience, which is probably also Universe Memoir’s value as you introduced.
4. How do you see the diversity of cultures and the importance of embracing diversity?
I think one needs to immerse herself to truly blend in the local culture. When I was in Malaysia, I was teaching theatre. I attended rehearsals and theatre performances together with the local actors. I learned the culture through theatre and built deep bonds with the actors. My advice for getting to know a new culture will be to find something you’re truly passionate about, share the passion, and build the community.
In case of the importance of diversity, I see it as extremely important. Embracing diversity allows us to learn different perspectives, expand our thinking, and become more empathetic. We can learn from how people from other cultures live, what’s important to them, and what brings them joy and pain.
In the school I’m currently teaching in, UWC Thailand, we have a visibly diverse community group with vibrant intercultural national representatives. It is like a microcosm of the world, mirroring real-world international challenges, and allowing students to practice how to create a culture that includes different nations in this small context we are in, portraying UWC’s mission of using education as a force to unite people through real actions. In addition, this practice takes place not only in classrooms but also in dorms, cafeteria, gym, and everywhere, like a real cultural melting pot.
5. What are the most important things in your life? How will you answer the question “what’s the meaning of life”?
There was a very long-running research in Harvard that took about 70 years of track interviews, and the topic was about what makes you happy. The answer I agree with the most is the quality of relationships. I’ve got many supportive, loving relationships that made up my life, including my faith, family, friends, community members, students etc. We live, love, and laugh together.
When I was young, I had a list of things like traveling across the world and many others that I thought chat consist a meaningful life. As I got older now, however, I realized that happiness can be found in ordinary things in life. I like the concept of finding extraordinary in the ordinary. It is certainly important, though, to feel that call to big dreams and be bold to chase after them when you are young.
6. What’s your biggest dream now?
When I was young, my biggest dream was to go to New York and be an actor. But I was rejected by Broadway. And now I’m a teacher. Does that make me a failure? Personally, I don’t think so. I always see rejection as a redirection. My rejection to become an actor at Broadway redirected me to teaching and international education, without which I wouldn’t have met my husband, had children, had experiences teaching theatre and arts.
I encourage young people to dream, the bigger and the crazier, the better. Don’t let fear stop you. Many people will be stopped by fear to live their best life. As a minority woman from a small developing country in East Asia, I was able to go to so many countries. So you definitely can also achieve your dream. Always believe in the possibility.
7. What’s the biggest challenge that you’ve overcome?
I love to travel. However, being a Philippinese, I need to apply for a visa to go to nearly everywhere in the world. I need to fill out different forms, stand in lines, complete interview etc. This might not be anything big, but it ward a constant reminder from the world that I needed permission to do what I love. I wanted to jump through that.
I always questioned: Why do I have to do this? Why don't I have that privilege of a convenient passport? However, these are also the things that give you resilience to pursue what you really want. Sometimes, you just have to do it.
Actually, when I had the opportunity to study in New York with a full scholarship, I almost wasn’t able to go there. I hold a degree in a Philippine university, but it needed validation from the North America Institution to be accepted. My university is one of the best universities in the Philippines, but it was as if I was told that it’s actually not good enough. Fortunately, my friend is a lawyer in New York and she helped me get the acceptance papers.
Producer & Interviewer & Text & Editor: Isabella Wang
Translator: Roy Liu
Formatting: Amy Pan
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