Kirsten Matematico was one of four students on the panel, who said that while she loves being Filipino, growing up attending predominantly White schools made it a challenging journey for her to fully embrace her identity. It was only when she joined Hancock, her first year there, that she said she finally felt at ease discussing her culture.

“I joined the APEX club and that’s where I felt more pride in my culture. I was like, ‘Oh, I can be open about it,’ because in high school, so many people would be like, ‘Why do you make that your personality? Okay, you’re Filipino, so what?’ So I just never felt comfortable being able to talk about my culture and being here it’s so nice. I love it,” said Matematico.

Asian Pacific Education Xenomania (APEX) engages students in learning about a variety of Asian cultures, traditions, and cuisines with the hope of expanding their knowledge and understanding of Asian and Pacific Islander history, present and future.

Hancock student Andrei Josh Villalobos sang, “Take me out of the Dark,” by Gary Valenciano, and said he is a singer who believes there is something that is greater than himself. “I believe gifts are given to us by God for his story, not for ours. That’s why I decided to sing that song,” he said.

“It shares the gospel in a season where you are in this dark place and it shares there is hope on the other side of that, and that hope is God,” said Villalobos. “So this song reminded me of that and that is the type of artist I want to be. I just want to use this gift that God gave me to share his glory and the good news everywhere.”

Villalobos said singing has always been a part of his life — he began to sing at age four and was taught most of what he knows from his mom who is also a singer.

“It’s been a blessing growing up in that household around music and church,” he said.

Keynote speaker Juanita Tuan, counselor at Hancock, shared her personal experience as a Taiwan-born Chinese American and encouraged students to do their own research when it comes to learning about the significance and history of Asian Americans.

“It’s important to have these celebrations that are designated by months, different cultures and groups because these diverse groups have enriched our history here in the United States,” said Tuan. “Generations of Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders have contributed to what we enjoy today and it’s not always reflected in what we learn every day in school because there is so much to learn.”

At the age of 10, Tuan moved to the United States and faced the challenge of learning English from scratch.

“I only knew three words, hello, goodbye and thank you,” she said.

“For a long time I was living in two worlds. My home world, which was Chinese and then my outside world, which was American. I straddle between the two and tried to make sure that the two worlds didn’t collide, but then as I got older and grew I realized I had to do things on my own terms and blend the two worlds to make it my own,” said Tuan. “ I don’t think that is unique to just me, I think it’s probably true for a lot of ethnic minority groups. Especially when you’re visible, when it’s obvious you do not look like the rest.”

The event was sponsored by the Associated Student Body and food was served during the event including Magic Dragon Asian Cuisine and included items like chowmein, fried rice, orange chicken and broccoli and beef.