PASAE AND PAA

Pilipino Alliance of Scientists, Architects, and Engineers.

Pilipino Academic Alliance.

That's where I am in my life. Like many other things I have devoted myself to (i.e. VHS Leadership and Class of '09, Kaiser Richmond, Filipino Club, Scarlet Masque, JV Football) I will give my everything towards these organizations' purposes. The best thing about it is that everything is run by the students, for the students-- meaning that its all freewill about what your input is. You can put in as little time or as much time as you want, and I love that shit.

Thinking about how things are structured, the less structure there is, the more I like it. I hate authority and levels of hierarchy, and I gotta respect someone first before learning or listening to them.

The more time I spend with PASAE members, the more I feel like I belong. It's a small group, twenty-seven members, logically since it is a minority-based club in the technical field, which marginalizes it even more. Their vibe is hella chill, but still on top of shit. That's hella me. Like I can relate to the guys in PASAE-- Smart-ass Engineer types but still chill and not nerdy and square status. Plus Raymond's doing it! When Mary gets to Berkeley, we finna get her in haha

I like PAA, I think PAA is dope and what they do is dope, it's just that PASAE is more my scene. PAA is where I definitely see myself applying what I learned in Leadership and stuff, with all the planning and setting up events, fundraising and shit. Plus they do PCN (Pilipino Cultural Night), which a whole lot of other universities do like SFSU, UC Davis, and way more. PAA has hella energetic fruity guys, less technical majors, more humanities majors, so you can see why PASAE is more my scene, but I can see myself with PAA meeting hella people and getting involved and shit.

I thank God everyday for the opportunity he's given me by letting me be able to attend such a good university such as UC Berkeley. I fuckin' love this school. People here are wired the same, like people gets active, people are young bright individuals, and there's always something going on at anytime. And I just thank God for this chance to be here, to grow, to experience, and to just live life, man. It's great.

I'll leave you guys with some words of wisdom in some assigned reading I had, "On Providence" by Seneca.

"Why it is that many evils befall good men if the world is governed by providence?... Providence rules all things and that god is concerned for our welfare... It is superfluous to point out that so mighty a structure does not persist without some caretaker... these phenomena do not happen without a plan... God's course is the same. He does not treat the good man like a toy, but tries him, hardens him, and readies him for himself... God's attitude to good men is a father's; his love for them is a manly one. 'Let them be harassed by toil and sorrow and loss,' says he, 'that so they may acquire true strength.'... By suffering misfortune the mind grows able to belittle suffering."

I like to live to inspire others, to motivate others. I like to live as an example.