Robin Letim interview
Item
Title
Robin Letim interview
Creator
Letim, Robin
Banh, Jenny
Relation
Central Valley Southeast Asian Successful Voices
Coverage
Fresno, California
Date
2017
Rights
Copyright has been transferred to Fresno State
Identifier
SCMS_casv_00018
extracted text
>> So, hello Robin. Today if you could tell us your name and spell it as well as the date and please tell me verbally that
you consent for me to record you now.
>> My name is Robin Letim. First name Robin R-- as in red, O-- as in octopus, B-- as in boy, I-- as in igloo, and N-- as
in Nancy. Letim L-- as in lion, E-- as in egg, T-- as in tiger, I-- as in igloo, and M-- as in mouse. And what was-- my
date of birth?
>> Yes. Also can you please give me verbal approval?
>> I give you verbal approval to use->> To record.
>> -- to record.
>> Okay.
>> I gave you verbal approval to record me. Yes.
>> Okay, great. So Robin I've explained to you that I'm going to interview 30 Southeast Asian-- successful Asians like
yourself and ask you basically the barriers and bridges that got you to succeed. We have a very low Southeast Asian
graduation relatively and what I want to do is I want to take your questions-- I mean your answers-- and just like Jason
before and I want to get a list of all the successful things that you want in school, right? For instance, Jason's like
mentoring program-- I want-- I want smaller-- so I will actually list it and it will be anonymous and I will actually go to
the president and say you know I've interviewed 30 students-- I won't say their name. But I will say they have told me
that they want this, this, and this. And that I will very much ask them for these programs and then if there are common
barriers I will mention them. But the main thing is what you want at Fresno State for you to graduate within four or six
years. That is the main thing.
>> That makes sense.
>> That is the main thing. So I will be asking you barriers and that's important but the main thing I'm focusing on is
definitely what you want at Fresno State.
>> Okay.
>> Okay. So let's start. Robin, what is your gender?
>> My gender is male.
>> Male? Okay. What is your birth year?
>> My birth year is December 26, 1991.
>> Just your year. Okay.
>> '91.
>> '91. Okay. What is your undergraduate major?
>> Business major with a focus on information systems.
>> With-- okay. What is your generation in the United States?
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>> I'm-- I guess I'm a first generation because I am a Filipino immigrant.
>> All right.
>> I originally lived in the Philippines.
>> Excellent.
>> What is your mothers and fathers highest education?
>> My-- both of them are college graduates.
>> Oh, wow. Wow, okay.
>> In the Philippines?
>> Yes.
>> Oh, gosh. Oh. Interesting. That is a very-- you are one of the only ones I have that have a college graduate. That's
very rare, actually. I think you are like now the only one. So I think that would probably make a difference. But talk
about that when we talk about family.
>> Okay.
>> All right. So both your parents. What are the majors of your parents?
>> My father is a business major as well
>> Oh.
>> Yeah. He was a business major. He actually-- well during that time he didn't really focus much on his studies but he
still graduated barely.
>> Okay.
>> He owned a chain of arcade games.
>> Oh, wow. And what about your mom?
>> My mom is an architecture major.
>> Well.
>> She brought her work into the United States.
>> Architecture. That is actually-- your mom is also the only one I've met that has a BA. Wow. That's very rare for a
Southeast Asian. Extremely rare. Okay. All right. All right. What was your-- is your family actually composed-- what
was it composed of then and what is it composed of now? I mean you have the same siblings you have then and now?
>> Yes. I have the same siblings. Actually, well-- I lived in the Philippines. Obviously I was born in 1991 and I came to
United States in 2006. So that puts me about 15, 16 years old when I came into the United States. During that time I
actually--
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>> Wait, I'm sorry. Came to the US and what year?
>> 2006. September, 2006.
>> 2006 and then you came at 15?
>> 15 or 16. I was born in 91. So age->> Okay.
>> During that time I was actually-- let's see. I had a semi regular childhood from 1991 two 2000 and then my mom
actually left for the United States in 2000. And she was on the I guess a tourist/work visa. Like the majority of people.
The reason I'm not asking you directly is because I want to explain the reasons why there's a change. So my mom came
into the United States in 2000. For three years it was pretty much radio silence because we honestly don't know.
>> Okay.
>> So we were living with my father from 2000 to 2003.
>> Okay.
>> My mom came back from the United States in 2003->> Okay.
>> -- with a guy.
>> Okay.
>> So->> Okay.
>> -- during that process we realized that she had gotten married but she wanted to bring us because we would have a
better-- she realized we would have a better life and we would have a better future in the United States. It took her three
years to complete all of-- you know make sure all of our lives are given to you know in the United States. So that's how
we came in 2006. So to summarize all, and the Philippines, I-- we lived the majority of our lives with our parents but for
a good three or four years we were pretty much just living with my father who is actually visually disabled. And in 2006
we just like that with no connections from anyone whatsoever, we all of us me and three of my younger siblings moved
to the Philippines-- moved to the United States with my mom and my stepdad.
>> Okay.
>> What is your GPA?
>> I'm sorry. That was a long->> Oh, no. Thank you.
>> My GPA when I graduated was I think a 3.47.
>> Wow. Excellent. Wow, that's very high. What is your ultimate degree aspiration? I mean do you want to get a BA or
do anything else after or--
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>> I->> -- what is your ultimate degree aspiration?
>> My ultimate aspiration when it comes to my major is not-- is not to focus on getting a BA-- no. Not focusing on
getting a masters or anything like that because I just want to do well in my education but my major doesn't really require
that.
>> Okay. Excellent. What is your socioeconomic background, working, middle or affluent-- which is wealthy.
>> Oh. Middle.
>> Middle? Okay. The high school that you went to in the Philippines and the US was it public high school or private?
>> It's private.
>> Oh, okay. And then was it a private Catholic or private regular or->> There is no private regular.
>> Oh.
>> Usually when it comes to colleges there's always some sort of religion in there.
>> Oh, really? I didn't know that.
>> Yeah. That's why all of private colleges they are named after saints or->> Really?
>> -- disciples just because it's all-- it's a Roman Catholic country.
>> That is right. So are you also Roman Catholic?
>> I was born and raised a Roman Catholic. Go to a Christian church. My religion right now is I guess what you might
want to call I'm independent.
>> Okay. Okay, interesting. Oh, thank you. I'm learning a lot. I had no idea that this was the case.
>> Yeah. All right. Well I would assume that everyone in your Filipino high school was Filipino, is that the case?
>> Filipino high school?
>> Yes. What was the ethnic background? So I'm actually->> Majority Filipino.
>> Sorry. I'm just going line like->> Oh, okay.
>> -- oh, high school, public [inaudible]
>> And this is in the Philippines, right?
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>> Yes. Were they all Filipino?
>> Depends on the type of school. Because I actually jumped to different schools.
>> Okay. I have-- because I haven't been-- I didn't stay in the same-- oh, my mic->> Oh.
>> I didn't stay in the same school for longer than two years at the most.
>> Okay.
>> So I was jumping between schools.
>> So did you go to the Philippines two years and the US for two years?
>> No. I was hopping between high schools in the Philippines.
>> Okay. And then when they all Filipino ethnic group?
>> Depends on the school. If the school is a much larger bigger school some sort of like a mix between high school and
college yes there's a big better chance of other races being in there. But when you are in you know one of those lower
income schools, chances are there's-- is probably going to be all Filipino. Maybe one or two other like maybe
Caucasians or I don't know. Usually a white person or a black person.
>> Interesting.
>> Yeah.
>> Interesting. Are the Blacks are they Africans or African-American or the African from the Philippines?
>> Usually they are probably-- they are most likely probably half.
>> Oh, okay.
>> Like half black half Filipino.
>> Oh, interesting.
>> Yeah.
>> That's interesting.
>> But they are always like live here but they just had American dad or an American mom.
>> How interesting it. Okay. So that's kind of what you grow up with?
>> Yeah.
>> Okay. What is your favorite subject in college? What is your least favorite subject? And why?
>> My favorite subject in general is English. And my least favorite subject is math.
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>> English. Okay.
>> And that's actually unusual for Filipino who is an immigrant.
>> The stereotype is going to be you are an engineer.
>> Yeah. Engineer, yeah.
>> What's your favorite professor or teacher and who was your least favorite professor or teacher and why?
>> I didn't-- well my favorite professor is Ray Jihadi [phonetic]. He's an adjunct professor. He goes back and forth
between Fresno city and Fresno State. But the way he taught my class is very-- it reminds me of the Philippines.
>> Really?
>> Which went very easily.
>> Tell me more. Like how does he do it? How does he teach that is similar to the Philippines?
>> He's very-- the way the Philippines teaches it is because in the Philippines when you go to school, it's like Japanese.
They-- you aren't stuck in your-- well not stuck. You pretty much kind of like live in your own classroom.
>> Okay.
>> And you don't go to your professors, your professors go to you.
>> Oh, interesting.
>> Yeah.
>> Tell me more. Please tell me more.
>> So it's like let's say like kindergarten or preschool where you have your homeroom and you pretty much you get to
know your classmates. That's how it is. But it happened throughout. The only time it would stop is if you are in college
in the Philippines. But if you are like before college and before college you live with your classmates.
>> And then your teacher switches to you.
>> Yes.
>> But how does [inaudible]
>> You have an advisor.
>> Okay.
>> Like you have your own dedicated oh this is our I guess parent. But yeah. They switch and that's how Jihadi was. He
made us feel like we are-- we are kind of like his students.
>> Okay, cool.
>> He made me feel like that. Especially he put kind of like put me aside and like tells me like good job and stuff like
that.
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>> Wow.
>> He made me feel like it's a personal professor thing.
>> Awesome.
>> Which I know like a lot of-- a good amount of students kind of our [inaudible] about that mainly because they're not
used to it.
>> Yeah.
>> But I actually like that personal touch.
>> Okay. My least favorite professor just someone who I can't really say their name because I don't->> Okay, yes.
>> Yeah. I can't say their name. But they make you feel like you don't care. Like you shouldn't care about was going on.
You should care about the system. Like they are going to make you-- they're not going to make you motivated. They are
like this is all this is here on just giving it to you just because.
>> Okay.
>> But [inaudible] talk trash about it. But make you feel negative about the whole subject in about the whole learning
experience.
>> Oh, interesting.
>> The complete opposite of how I'm used to.
>> Okay. Very important no. Okay. Excellent. And again these are-- as I told Jason, these next questions, we are almost
one-third done. Because after that I'm going to go into barriers.
>> Yeah.
>> And so barriers is the second, third and the successes is the third third. Okay? So as I told Jason, you may not know
these answers. So you can just take a pass. Okay?
>> Okay.
>> Okay. So in this question specifically, how many-- and again the Philippines is the highest going college nation and
actually all of Southeast Asia. If you look at all of Southeast Asia, they have the most college graduates.
>> Oh.
>> Out of the entire.
>> That's great.
>> So I will ask you the questions but if you don't know the answer just pass.
>> Okay.
>> Pass, okay?
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>> I'm probably going to guess or something.
>> Okay. Why do so many Filipinos go to college? Because in the Philippines it's the highest country.
>> Yeah.
>> Why do so many Filipinos or not that many Filipinos go to college? And let's just focus on the Philippines. Why do
so many Filipinos go to college in the Philippines?
>> College or just school in general?
>> College. It's the highest BA in all of Southeast Asia.
>> Long and short of it, parents.
>> Parents?
>> Parents.
>> Okay. What are the parents doing? Because parents in Malaysia are also but they don't have the BAs.
>> The reason-- it's because it honestly depends on the parents.
>> Okay.
>> If the parents don't force you to go to college, you don't-- you probably wouldn't go to college. I know a lot of
friends who after-- well even during junior high school they were just be blasé about it. Just because their parents aren't
that kind of people to push them to go to school. So they would end up not going to school. But if your parents are on
your case about the whole time you would go to school.
>> Okay.
>> Because we are so [inaudible] with the family thing of how-- of the obligation to go to school for the betterment of
your family.
>> Okay.
>> So that's why you go to college. That's why you go to school. That's actually-- that's originally why went to school is
to make my-- make life better for my family.
>> Interesting.
>> But because of the United States, I was eventually-- I eventually embraced the idea of I'm doing this for myself not
for the others. Individuality, per se.
>> So in the Philippines it's pushed to go to college the family but in the United States you're doing it for yourself?
>> Yes. That's the biggest difference between the United States and the Philippines.
>> Okay. So now let's actually switch from-- let's go outside of the Philippines and talk about the United States.
>> Okay.
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>> Filipino Americans also have-- if you compare Southeast Asians->> Okay.
>> -- the highest graduation rate. But if you compare with others like when you talk about South Asians, it's quite low,
right?
>> For the Philippines?
>> Why are Filipinos graduating so much higher than Hmong, Mien, Laotian, why is that?
>> Honestly speaking it's because of assimilation.
>> Okay.
>> Because you know how the United States is. The United States is like as long as you embrace our culture and as long
as you go with what we do you are probably going to be successful. Filipinos our culture is already intertwined with
American culture because of our history.
>> Okay.
>> And we-- when something like-- when an American culture goes to us we embrace it with tenacity. We embrace it
with vigor and it helps us be more adaptive towards American culture and that's why when you see-- that's why when
you see-- why you see a higher percentage. It's because we adapt easier because we are already used what in the
Philippines.
>> Can you speak more how you are used to it in the Philippines? Like how are used to it?
>> English is our second language in the Philippines.
>> Oh, okay. English->> We are taught English alongside Tagalog in all of our languages.
>> Is it first-grade? Like when do you start English?
>> From the-- since you are a baby.
>> You're kidding?
>> You are-- our native language is Tagalog->> Okay.
>> -- but in school you are taught English. For them, and school in the Philippines, English means sophistication.
>> Really?
>> English means class. English means you are really good. And English means you are more classy, I guess.
>> Okay.
>> Whenever you are fluent in English and you talk fluent English in the Philippines, you already look like wow, this
person is something.
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>> Interesting. Okay.
>> And because of that mentality, we are pushed to know more about the English-- the American culture. The only
problem with that is our exits.
>> Okay.
>> When we go into the United States and we are fluent in English->> Okay.
>> -- but our accents give us away.
>> Okay.
>> Because it shows immigrant. It shows minority.
>> Okay.
>> And that's a like you said that's a very-- that's not taboo but you know-- that kind of pushes is automatically down
because minorities. What was the question again?
>> So, I asked why is it that Filipinos have the highest graduation rate and then I asked like what->> The high-- yeah, okay.
>> -- I asked why is it entwined. But in the United States if you compare Filipinos with Hmong, Mien, you said that
they already know English and they are assimilated. Is there any other difference that Filipinos have in comparison to
Hmong, Mien, Laotian Cambodian?
>> Will yeah. The assimilation, honestly. If you-- because I dated a Hmong girl. I noticed the difference between my
culture and her culture. And it's drastically different. Hmong culture->> Tell me more.
>> -- actively pushes away assimilation. Well assimilation is such a harsh word. Actively pushes away adapting. You
know about their culture? About->> No.
>> Oh, okay.
>> I'm from LA.
>> Okay. So like because I know about Hmong. Hmong culture have a Doshi you can't date someone outside your race.
>> Oh, you can't?
>> You usually don't. They look down upon you. Put that mentality or culture in the older people-- in the Hmong
culture men were if you are-- if it's not Hmong is automatically bad.
>> Oh.
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>> And that's for conservative folk. Progressive parents, they really don't care as much. But that's the biggest difference
between Filipinos, Hmong, Mien, and all that stuff, is because older generations and some current generations still have
that onset of our culture is still the best and we will do everything we can to stick to that culture even if it means being
detrimental to their educational experience. That's why a lot of Asians in my opinion are having a hard time succeeding
in society in general is because they are embracing their culture in a way that prevents them from going up there.
>> Wow.
>> Well Filipinos sad to say, they have a tendency to drop their culture at the drop of a hat. That's why we are pushing
so hard Filipino clubs and you know the older generation is pushing so hard to show them that the Filipino culture still
exists, however, younger generations don't really care as much anymore. Unfortunately.
>> Okay.
>> But because of that, they are, you know succeeding like crazy because hey->> They are. Economically they are the highest->> They're the highest because->> -- economically.
>> -- they understand. They understand that you just got to adapt. And in general Filipino culture has no problem with
that.
>> Oh, wow. So thank you. That's a very good inside. I didn't think of it that way. Okay. Great. So let's go along with do
Filipino students have strong relationships with administrators and faculty? Do think in general? Think about your club- because I think, you know->> To be honest, not that I can think of. Mainly because I don't really know much Filipino faculty here.
>> Okay.
>> Like the only person I know that sticks out at the top of my head that is a Filipino faculty member is the dog days
staff member-- bald guy? But he's with the student association, I think-- SI [phonetic]?
>> Is he-- is his name Randy?
>> Kind of.
>> Randy?
>> Yeah.
>> Randy-- I'm pretty sure he's Filipino.
>> Yeah.
>> Randy something? He works at the Dean's office. Randy something.
>> Yeah. [inaudible] Yeah. I think so. [inaudible] oh, no, no, no. I think he's Japanese.
>> Oh, okay.
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>> That's not the-- no. He's the one that works at [inaudible] administration building with->> I don't know who that is.
>> -- with the dog days people. The->> Oh, okay.
>> Yeah. Yeah, he ran the orientation.
>> Okay.
>> He runs orientation. But that's the only person because some of my friends know him. There's->> I think there's Christopher [inaudible] the IT guy is Filipino.
>> Oh.
>> Chinese Filipino.
>> Yeah, there's-- [inaudible] there's more staff that's Filipino then there is faculty.
>> Okay.
>> And->> Oh, more staff.
>> More staff that's Filipino than there is faculty.
>> That's actually very important that you know that. Thank you.
>> Yeah. Because I know more Dutch I know more staff Filipinos than faculty Filipinos.
>> I think it's because you go to this Cal State. But had you gone to Cal Poly Pomona-- a lot of Filipino professors.
>> Yeah. Well->> It depends on the school.
>> It depends on the school.
>> Yeah, it depends on the school.
>> But Fresno State->> Yeah.
>> -- probably not.
>> Actually at Fullerton there's quite a few. Okay. And Cal Poly.
>> Yeah.
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>> Like tons Cal Poly. Like professors.
>> There's a lot.
>> So my counterpart at Cal Poly is Filipino.
>> Yeah. Oh, we will focus on the [inaudible] but I think I know why.
>> Okay. All right. So I'm going to jump. Have you ever been mentored?
>> Define mentored.
>> Like one person [inaudible] that you know talked to you, helps you-- no?
>> Okay. What were the teachers in the place-- did you go to high school also in the US or-- you went high school in
the US and the Philippines, right? So let's split it. What were the teacher's expectations of you? Neutral, high, and low in
the Philippines, what were the teacher expectations of you in the US, neutral high or low?
>> Expectations by like how they want you to achieve?
>> Mm-hmm. Like do they think that you would be at big achievement or had neutral or was it low? They thought oh,
you know because you are minority you would have a low expectation?
>> It's actually quite different. It's actually the opposite in my opinion because the teachers in the Philippines I don't
know if you know, but education there's actually kind of-- it's pretty low. The education quality is pretty low. In the way
that we don't have much funding and all that stuff. Not much funding which means not much equipment or you know
stuff like that. Which means [inaudible] which means teachers don't really push as hard. So we end up with just pretty
much just having fun, I guess. And with that in mind we don't really have the-- there's not as much backing for us to
pursue farther than that in the Philippines.
>> But you were pushed to go to college, though?
>> In the Philippines?
>> Yes.
>> No.
>> Oh, no?
>> No.
>> So your teachers->> I just tend to do good.
>> Okay, wow.
>> Because I kind of-- because I was interested in English so whenever is English my interest sparked like when up. So
I kind of do well. But for the rest of the subjects and just blasé about it.
>> Interesting.
>> Yeah. Because no one is really pushing me to do more. Until the United States.
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>> Okay. So now let's switch to the United States. In the United States the teacher expectation of you, was a neutral,
low or high?
>> It's high.
>> High. Tell me more.
>> It's high in the way that I actually feel the teacher wanting me to do better. And it's more obvious. It's more->> In what way?
>> Huh?
>> What do you mean by obvious?
>> Obvious as in their actually take me in and I feel like I can actually talk to the professor in person. During school
hours. There's only a few times in the Philippines where does that but that's because you know they are like we have
already hung out so much. But they don't make a-- they don't make an active approach to get to know us. It just happens
to be that we hang out so much that it just tends to happen that they became like-- the teacher became like our I guess
mentor. But in the United States is different because they actually have to actively approach you because we are
[inaudible] we are always like leaving. That's the difference. It's a passive approach in the Philippines and a very active
approach in the United States.
>> So, question-- and this is a very important question. As an Asian male, do you think that they treated-- the teachers-treated the genders differently? For instance, in the Philippines, it's okay to ask questions?
>> It depends on the economic quality of the school. If->> So you can ask questions? Is it culturally okay to like raise your hand and ask questions?
>> Yeah.
>> In the Philippines.
>> If you have a rowdy class they don't care.
>> They don't care?
>> But is it culturally considered rude->> No.
>> -- to ask questions?
>> No.
>> So it's normal to ask questions?
>> No, it's normal to ask questions, but also keep in mind that we are not individuality per se. There's a certain
militarized concept about it.
>> Oh. Oh, interesting. Please continue on.
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>> It's like the Japanese.
>> Okay.
>> Where you know you have uniforms->> Oh, you have uniforms?
>> Yeah, we have uniforms.
>> Oh, I didn't know.
>> You have standard school uniforms. We have the polo shirts, we have slacks, and we have to buy them from the
school themselves.
>> Okay.
>> And if you are in the public school it's still the same thing.
>> Really?
>> Yeah. Like I don't-- I've never been to their public school->> Okay.
>> -- because really when you-- you are really only in public school if you are actually in the poverty and you are living
in the ghetto area. You are living in shacks.
>> Okay.
>> That's when you go to public school. That's how low it is. When you're in a private school it usually means you are
working class income, stuff like that. But yeah. We were-- we wore school uniforms->> Okay.
>> -- like the usual like polo shirts with slacks and stuff like that with dress shoes every single day.
>> Wow.
>> And we also lined up in formation for the Filipino flag and->> Oh, wow.
>> -- and we do the prayer thing. And we-- it's very militarized and very religion based.
>> Okay.
>> With the United States and when I came to the United States culture shock. It's drastically different. And I didn't
know how to apply myself because everything there is so brand-new. I'm still not used to that. I feel like I deviated.
>> Oh, no, no. This is perfect, actually. In the Philippines were women treated-- students-- treated the same as male
students?
>> In the Philippines?
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>> Yes. And also in the US. Like do both.
>> But in regards to Filipinos?
>> In the Philippines were Filipino student females treated the same as Filipino males? And in the United States did you
see that the females are treated the same by the teachers?
>> It's-- oh, okay.
>> By the teachers.
>> So it's not peer to peer it's like how you [inaudible]
>> Teachers. Teachers. Did the teachers treat the Filipino girls the same as the Filipino boys?
>> Yes. And here's the funny thing.
>> Okay.
>> When it comes to education, when it comes to being good at something->> Okay.
>> -- they expect the girls to be better.
>> Oh, really?
>> Just because there's a certain-- not stigma, but there's a certain way of thinking that girls are just inherently smarter
than guys. And guys are just there just to mess around and-- honestly, it's the truth.
>> What?
>> Yeah.
>> No.
>> Well, it's->> Okay.
>> -- not mess around in that way. We were just rowdy. We are rowdy kids. But girls tend to be more in the straight and
narrow.
>> Okay.
>> However, when it comes to working when it comes to having the heavy responsibilities, when it comes to just
having the power roles, it's the guys.
>> Okay.
>> The girls have more expectations built upon them because of the education but the guys have the better positions.
>> Okay. Interesting.
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>> Yeah.
>> All right. Excellent. So let's switch to-- less actually switch to the-- back to the US. Did the teachers-- what high
school did you go to here?
>> Selma High School.
>> Where is that?
>> That is Fresno County about 30 minutes down here that is->> Is that S-E-L->> S-E-L-M-A High School.
>> Okay. So in that high school, did other-- did I don't know-- what's the percentage of-- did you have a lot of Filipinos
at your school or no?
>> No. Selma is more of a Hispanic town.
>> Okay.
>> About a majority of the people there are Hispanic, Latin American.
>> How->> And there's only->> Okay.
>> -- including my siblings? I mean when I came there there's only-- it was only my younger brother who was with me-and four.
>> Only for Asians in the entire school?
>> No. Only four Filipinos. There was a lot of Asians, but there was only four Filipinos.
>> Let's like make it larger. What was the teacher expectation of all the Asians in your high school? Or was it->> They don't know what to do with Filipinos because they were really never encountered but Asians in general, they
have a much larger expectation because Asians.
>> Okay. Tell me more.
>> Because in-- because they don't really hang out. There's a small group of Asians in that town. So a lot of-- so the
people not community tend to rely on stereotypes.
>> Okay.
>> They tend to rely on stereotypes which is you are smart.
>> Tell me more.
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>> You are smart and you go down the straight and narrow. However you know because of certain things that they hear
about the Philippines or Asians like you eat certain animals that are not usually a part of it-- dog.
>> Okay.
>> They do that. They rely a lot on stereotypes just because they don't know the culture and the problem with that is
they don't try to learn it.
>> Okay.
>> There to those people who are not use to the Asian race-- Hmong, Filipinos and stuff like that-- and there is no one to
teach them about it.
>> Okay.
>> They rely on stereotypes from the media.
>> Oh. That's my next question. What were the notable depictions of Filipinos in the media that you remember? In the
US? Like do you remember any depictions?
>> The biggest one is-- the biggest one I can think of in this is like a short-lived one, there's a TV show called Glee->> Right.
>> -- and then->> Yes, I know!
>> -- they have this girl->> Charlese? [phonetic]
>> -- Charlese->> She's really great, yeah.
>> Charice Pempengco or something?
>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> And she won American Idol?
>> Uh-huh.
>> Oh, not she won, but she runner up and she became popular enough for that. And her name is such a generic Filipino
name.
>> Oh, really?
>> Not generic. It's so stereotypical. It's called Sunshine Corazon.
>> Oh, right. Okay, yeah, okay.
>> And I'm like, of all the things you name a person you name them the most stereotypical name it. It's like you guys
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just grabbed it out of-- just grabbed it out of like a website that's funny names. Like Corozon means love, sunshine
means because it's always sunny in the Philippines. I'm like are you serious? But like that's the most stereotypical like,
and she sings. And she has glasses and she has pigtails. She looks like a Japanese schoolgirl. And that is the most blatant
stereotype of a Filipino that I've seen.
>> Okay.
>> And about later on, like in-- because honestly, Filipinos in the media they don't look like Filipinos to other people.
Only Filipinos know that there Filipinos. You know what I mean?
>> Tell me more. I don't know. I'm not sure.
>> Okay. So, when-- when other Filipinos see that person in the media, we are like oh, hey. That person looks Filipino.
>> Okay.
>> All right? Which they are correct usually.
>> Okay.
>> But no one else does so you don't really bring up the whole Filipino thing. They are regarded as just Asians.
>> Oh, okay. Okay.
>> Because they don't know what a Filipino looks like.
>> Okay, interesting.
>> Because-- yeah. And so there's really no way of oh, hey this Filipino-- this person is a Filipino. There is no
distinction between Filipinos and Cambodians and Thai, and Hmong. They are branded as Asian.
>> But you can tell a difference?
>> Yeah. Filipinos can tell the difference all the time.
>> So you can tell someone who is Hmong or Laotian too?
>> Mm-hmm.
>> Oh. Wow. Okay. Interesting. Okay.
>> There's only certain distinctions-- well sometimes I'm incorrect but usually we are correct.
>> Okay. All right. So we are going to actually only focus on educational barriers. Again, this is the second third, and
then the third third [phonetic]. What do you think educationally that was a barrier for you for graduating from Fresno
State? Like what could have made you graduate in four years? Educational. So I'm in the barrier part, next part.
>> Yeah, I get that.
>> Okay. So-- because->> I'm thinking right now.
>> -- I'm thinking-- obviously we want more Mr. Robins and more Mr. Jasons. Okay? So what were things that held you
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back and graduating in four years and six years? So that is a big question.
>> It's hard because it's not necessarily the school's fault. It's more of the parents. I don't know Jason told you, but me
and-- I was on the lucky end because I had a white stepdad who convinced my mom. But in general, you are put in the
major that your parents want to be in not you wanted to be.
>> Oh, your parents put you in a major?
>> Yeah. I was originally a computer science major.
>> Oh, wow. Okay.
>> And that made a lot of-- that usually makes a lot of money, so they pushed me to do that. And I messed up about a
year of my college career because I ended up in the major that I didn't want to.
>> So you are pushed into the computer science major?
>> I was pushed into a major that I thought I wanted but I ended up not. And the only reason why-- one of the biggest
reasons why I was able to switch is because of my white stepdad.
>> Why?
>> He convinced my mom that it's okay to switch out.
>> Okay.
>> Because you don't usually have that fortune of being able to switch out because a lot of my Filipino friends they have
a hard time leaving their major because their parents want them to do that. Because that's the biggest thing that-- that's
the one thing that their parents have because the parents are you know they are registered nurses or engineering.
>> Right. That is correct. Yes.
>> So the parents have that mindset of->> You are right.
>> -- like I used this way and I succeeded so I want you to use this way because I know that way you will also succeed
as well and I can help you out that but they don't know that sometimes it's just not that way.
>> Okay.
>> And they are not using to accept it, but it's-- they have a hard time accepting it. And they don't realize that there's
more than one way of being successful.
>> Okay.
>> Not realize, but-- yeah. They don't realize it. And that's why people get-- like a lot of my-- a lot of my friends have to
force themselves to be good at something they don't like.
>> Okay.
>> And that includes->> Oh, interesting. Okay.
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>> -- that includes pre-nursing. Computer science, engineering, any kind of engineering. Biology, chemistry, all of the
sciences in general.
>> Oh, really?
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> And I have a friend who she is in school for-- she's been in school for four or five years and it doesn't look like she is
trying hard in school but she is in school because of her parents and she's in her major because of her parents and she
feels like her parents would hate her and she switched majors and the major she wants to switch isn't as profitable as the
major she's in now, which is nursing.
>> She's a nursing major? And what does she want to switch to?
>> I believe she wants to switch to media major.
>> Oh.
>> Communications, I think. Yeah. And that's the hard part if you->> Yeah.
>> -- want to switch to a major this out as profitable because your parents will not see the why do you want to do that?
You are just doing that because of having fun, but you are in college because you need to be successful and we don't
think your major is successful. That's the hard part about me.
>> So Asian.
>> Yeah.
>> So Asian.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> And that's the hard part about me. It's-- going back to the point of the barriers, it's not the school's fault, is the parent- not the parents fault. It's not an issue of the school it's an issue of the parents but what I feel like could be better and
could help out Filipinos it's not-- it's not any of the other like professors or anything like that, it's-- and I know this is a
long shot-- but if a school or maybe even a major like let's say the nursing major in focus or anything like that-- could
actually have kind of like a teacher's thing. Like a PTA if you will.
>> What's a PTA?
>> Parent teachers-- a parent teachers conference or something?
>> Oh, for college?
>> Yeah.
>> But you are over 18.
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>> Yeah.
>> That's the thing. They wouldn't->> It-- they wouldn't->> Because you are already an adult.
>> Yeah. You're already adult.
>> Yeah.
>> And that's the hard thing about it, but I feel like if parents->> So you want like-- you want the school to talk to your parents?
>> I want backup.
>> Oh, okay.
>> I want my parents to be reassured that what I'm doing would benefit me regardless of what they say. Because it's-- I
would I have a hard time-- if it wasn't for my stepdad I would have a hard time convincing my mom that being an IT
guy is beneficial. Even though I've already made money just being an IT guy in college.
>> Okay.
>> Because it still doesn't make as much money as computer science. That's one of the reasons why she's okay with it
because she realized that I can actually make money off of it because I'm already good at it. I can switch. But that's not
the case for everyone else.
>> Right. I have to say that we have-- there's a national law called FERPA which means adults-- we can never talk
about a student's background with another adult. So you have a privacy law so we can never talk to parents ever.
>> And that's the hard part.
>> It's against the law.
>> Yeah, and I don't know about that law, but that's why I know it's practically-- not impossible but a long shot.
>> Yeah.
>> And there's usually no way around it when it comes to talking about education. But->> Okay.
>> What->> Can you explain-- switch to->> Sure.
>> -- what is-- what was the financial barrier for you to finish? What can we do financially for you?
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>> Money and connections.
>> Money? Okay. So did you want more financial aid, for instance? Or did you want scholarship? What did you->> Yes.
>> Okay.
>> Especially at Fresno State.
>> Okay, go on.
>> Because Fresno State I researched-- I researched Fresno state scholarships and college grants and the only
scholarship I've seen was for just Asians in general and that's already a great amount of-- and there is already a great
amount of people going for that scholarship. So, I would like-- I don't know if Jason said the same thing, but he would
like one for Filipinos in general.
>> All right. Very important. I'm writing this down. This is very-- I'm highlighting this.
>> Filipinos-- yeah.
>> Scholarship for Filipinos.
>> Yes. And it would be even better if it was like nursing or business because or engineering because that's their biggest
thing. Pretty much->> This is very important. Thank you so much.
>> Yeah. Pretty much like anyone that's in the STEM program->> Okay.
>> You know the STEM program?
>> Mm-hmm.
>> Yeah, anyone that's in the STEM program and nursing because a lot of people go into that because of being a prenursing.
>> Okay, very important. Thank you. I'm going to highlight that right now. Great. Okay.
>> And also if it would be even it would be more helpful if you are in that but if you're in the STEM program but also if
you actually actively tried to-- the scholarship makes you try to learn more about Filipino culture.
>> Okay. So->> Because-- yeah.
>> Scholarship for Filipinos in nursing, business, engineering, STEM program but scholarship that is something about
Filipino culture?
>> Yeah. Makes you encourages you to be aware of your Filipino culture.
>> Excellent-- of Filipino culture. Okay.
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>> Yeah.
>> Great. Thank you. I highlighted that as well. All right. That is something that I can definitely ask for. For sure. So
thank you. That's an important thing that you added. So we are at the last part which is a success. Okay.
>> Okay.
>> So now we are only going to talk about Mr. Robin. Okay? Just Mr. Robin only. Okay?
>> Okay.
>> What is it about your personality, personal enablers, how can you graduated? What are the personal enablers to your
be a achievement? You can contrast yourself to others, but why personally did you graduate with a BA when so many
Southeast Asian men dropped out? Why?
>> Because personally speaking I was able to be in the right major at the right time. The right time defining that the
major I'm in which is information systems actually a booming major in this society because you know, we are a
technological age-- Golden age. Which in turn made my parents see that if I'm in this major I will do great.
>> What about your personality traits?
>> My personality traits->> What personally-- why you made it? As I told Jason, you are a unicorn. Why? Personally. Like what is your
personality? Because others dropped out, right? Other Filipino men dropped out, right? Other Vietnamese men, Hmong
men, dropped out. What about your personality that made to achieve like personally your-- even outside of your parents.
I mean-- I don't know. Maybe it's intertwined. But what is it about your personality. What type of personality do you
have that made you graduate? Or achieve. Like keep going with all the setbacks, but keep going?
>> I just liked what I was doing.
>> Okay.
>> I honestly just did. I-- going back to my major, I just-- I have a passion for what I do. I like what I've been doing. I->> Okay.
>> -- whenever there is a setback or whatever there is an obstacle, for me personally speaking when it comes to my
education, I have a passion to get-- I have a passion to overcome that. Because I like what I'm doing. I want to finish
what I started and I want to be good at it. And it's all because I'm in the major that I wanted to be.
>> Okay. So the major is really important.
>> Yes.
>> Okay.
>> The focus is really important, yeah.
>> Okay. And I think you already told me about the familial enablers. Okay. So coming from a different country, was
there any kind of-- so moving away from the personal, was there anything that helps you in the community? Such as
church, dance, cultural groups, friends, that helps you graduate? Like is there anything in the community and help you
graduate?
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>> Yeah.
>> You mentioned you are an officer.
>> Yeah.
>> Can you talk about that?
>> The Filipino club.
>> Okay.
>> Magkaisa Fresno State Filipino club.
>> Can you spell it?
>> Magkaisa--it means the united as one.
>> United as one-- and can you spell it?
>> M-- as in mouse, A-- as in apple, G-- as in goat, K-- as in kite, A-- as in apple, I-- as in igloo, S-- as in Sam, and A-as in apple.
>> Okay. Go on.
>> Magkaisa Fresno State Filipino club. I've been in that group since 2012. 2013?
>> Okay. How does that help you?
>> Support system.
>> Support? Tell me more.
>> Support system. I was here in don't before I came to the club I had a small group of friends. I had a good amount of
friends. Common interests, stuff like that. And in essence they are cool. But they weren't enough in the way that I wasn't
able to succeed because-- I was able to succeed because my Filipino club because one support system, and two, a lot of
people were in the same position as I was. They helped me-- they helped me realize what I need to do and a lot of the
people there that are older than me they gave me good advice. It gave me feedback, pretty much they showed me-- in a
way showed me->> Did you have a mentor?
>> Not specific person->> Okay.
>> -- just a broad group.
>> Okay. So, a broad group of-- okay.
>> Because-- yeah. Because I'm the oldest in my-- I'm the oldest in my family which means I don't usually look up to a
mentor unless it's like you know my actual father.
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>> Oh, okay.
>> I just tend to not be that way.
>> Oh, interesting. Okay.
>> I mean I want to, but I haven't really found someone.
>> Is an Asian thing or is it just a personal thing?
>> More of a personal thing.
>> Okay.
>> Is not an Asian thing.
>> Okay.
>> Actually, you know what the? It kind of is both. Because Asians in a way are kind of like ego people.
>> Oh.
>> But the-- well, yeah.
>> Okay.
>> But it's more of a personal thing.
>> Okay.
>> It's more of a personal thing.
>> So what did the club give you?
>> The club gave->> That you are good friends could not give you? You said you had good friends you had a good group of friends->> A lot of it is connections.
>> Okay.
>> A lot of it is because a lot of my friends in the Filipino club are also business majors.
>> Oh.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> Like business and marketing. One of them actually already graduated in a marketing major just this past year.
>> Okay.
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>> But yeah. They - we were able to help each other. I actually became some sort of a mentor to them.
>> Oh, wow.
>> Yeah. Because I was the older one. So I was telling the-- I was giving them advice on what to do and how to do
things.
>> Interesting.
>> Because I've been in there. I more of the guy who gave the I guess gave the way and I was like no, this is what
usually happens kind of deal. And->> What kind of mentoring did you tell them? Like what specifically?
>> Basically the mentoring of what to do if you're in the situation that usually that you're not used to which is Asians in
business, Asians and information systems.
>> Okay.
>> And just a lot of Filipinos tend to rely on I guess older brother or older sister.
>> Okay.
>> Like the mentors. We call them [foreign language spoken]
>> Spell it.
>> Kuya means older brother. K-U-Y-A.
>> K-U-Y->> A.
>> A. Uh-huh.
>> That's a kuya, that's an older brother. Ah-te [phonetic]-- A-T-E-- it means-- it looks like ate, but A-T-E, that means
older sister.
>> Oh. Okay.
>> Those are what you call the older brother and older-- the mentors.
>> Is this a cultural thing for the Philippines?
>> Yes. It's a very cultural thing. That means it's a more brotherly sisterly thing than just oh, you know, you are just
there.
>> So you were a kuya?
>> Yes, I'm a kuya.
>> Oh, and so that's-- and then so it's in the culture to help you. So this actually is very interesting.
>> Yeah. It's in the culture to help each other out.
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>> Okay. Oh, interesting.
>> That's why it feels weird when the whole individuality thing kicks in. Because they're not used-- Filipinos aren't used
to that. There used to helping each other out.
>> Wow. That's very important. Thank you. I'm going to highlight this again. That's-- thank you. Oh, I'm learning so
much.
>> Yeah. That's why when you see a Filipino club or Filipino group you see a lot of bonding, a lot of like brother sister
like connection. Because that's what we thrive on. We thrive on just our siblings. And we thrive on helping each other
out.
>> Excellent.
>> And that's why we build the community-- we build that connection with the other members in the club and the first
day because we want you to feel like you are part of the family.
>> Excellent.
>> And that's what the Filipinos are about.
>> All right. So this is last questions. Okay? So now is everything that you want. Okay? So what-- so I'm going to ask
you down the line, what do you want to so this last part is what do you want to-- for Filipinos or actually all Southeast
Asians in particular Southeast Asian men what do you want to see you so last section is what do you want to see on
campus to help you graduate? So, I'm going to go down the line-- clubs, finance->> That's a very->> Hold on, sorry. Finance, family-- I'm skipping family, but workshops, financial aid, so this is just the be all and all
last question is we need more graduates. In four years what we need to do at Fresno State down the line economic social
cultural, whatever it is to get you to graduate in four years and will also to get you to graduate. So the first one is what
we need to do and have on campus for you to graduate? Just graduate. What we need to do on campus to make you feel
safe to graduate. What do we need?
>> More opportunities.
>> Okay. So more opportunities. Be specific.
>> I know there's a lot of opportunities in regards to what I just said but more opportunities for not just Asians but
people in general to see that there is more than one way to succeed.
>> Okay, more opportunities->> In the way that there are majors that you don't know. Like for me, the way I succeeded was I didn't realize that there
was actually an option in business major for any information systems.
>> Okay.
>> And a lot of-- a good amount of my friends didn't realize that until they were two, three, years into their majors.
>> Okay.
>> In one of my friends actually just told me what my majors about. And I had to tell him because you know it wasn't
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obvious.
>> Okay.
>> A lot of majors that are in Fresno State are not known to the public.
>> So make the majors known.
>> Make the major known. Make the major be more public, make the major be more realize.
>> All right. So make-- that's a specific. Make the majors known. Okay.
>> Try to see-- in a way like try to see what the transfer rate is. Like where are the students transferring from, like in
terms of harder classes and try to see where they are transferring and what major they are transferring into an see the
difference. Is it-- is the major filling up because of the transfer rate or incoming freshman?
>> Okay.
>> Because I didn't know there was information systems major when I was a freshman.
>> Oh, okay.
>> And if I knew that what the information systems was about as a freshman, I would've been there before computer
science.
>> Interesting. Okay. So basically look at the data on freshman and transfer.
>> And the comparison rate.
>> Okay, compare->> And see which ones actually people realize that hey, this is actually the major I want to go to.
>> Okay. That's something we can do. Okay. What workshop do you want to see a campus?
>> Honestly the discovery is like the best thing.
>> Okay. It is.
>> Technology in general.
>> So do you want more-- do you want more workshops on technology?
>> Yeah. I want more workshops on technology because that just doesn't just apply to Asians. It applies to everyone in
general. And honestly [inaudible] is doing a great job at it.
>> Okay.
>> But yeah-- in terms-- just more workshops learning about technology because->> Okay.
>> -- in a way it would be beneficial for-- okay. I'm being stereotypical here, but it's going to be very beneficial for
Asians because you know tech Asian kind of coincides kind of do.
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>> Okay.
>> But he gives more opportunities for Asians to realize that they would rather have that. That that's a very viable
option because a lot of parents don't realize that. And I was able to achieve what I achieved I was able to get the
experience that I wanted to and that I needed to from a major because that became an option when I was still in college.
>> Right.
>> And it helped me out tremendously just tech in general.
>> Okay. So classes.
>> Classes?
>> You want smaller classes? Do you want more classes? What do you want for classes?
>> I want more classes. [inaudible]
>> In what?
>> Me personally? Well here's the thing. I graduated with a major that not a lot of Asians go to. Which means that
whenever I go into that major there's I don't really have as much competition. Because not a lot of people know it. That's
why I was able to-- I switched my major in 2014, 15? So that means I graduated in two years, right? But that's because I
had no block when it comes-- I didn't have to wait for classes. I was actually able to automatically go to classes because
my major-- my option wasn't as demanding. Before.
>> Okay.
>> But obviously with the nursing and stuff like that->> Yeah, yeah.
>> It's way too demanding. That's what the original thing is.
>> Okay. So more classes and you graduated in a major that wasn't as impacted. Okay.
>> Yeah.
>> What classes-- more classes but-- and what about the faculty? You want more faculty? Does it matter? Do you want
more Filipino faculty? Do what were Asian faculty? Does it make no difference at all?
>> It doesn't make a difference to me personally if the person is Filipino or not. Just because I mean the one thing we
can do is bond->> Okay.
>> -- for Filipino stuff. But I do want more Filipino representation.
>> Okay.
>> Just in general like I want people to realize that Filipino culture exists and that it's actually wonderful.
>> Okay.
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>> We do our best in this club but I mean we're just a cultural club. We can do more but we just don't have enough
support for it.
>> Okay. All right. Let's go to clubs. What do you want more support for the college or clubs? What do you want?
>> This is me like putting->> Because I literally will-- what do you want? I mean what did you-- could we have done more for your club? I mean
you need more money? Do more-- what you need? Like do we need a place that's a Filipino club building or room that
is what you need for your club?
>> Yes. That would be amazing, actually.
>> Okay.
>> Not a Filipino club per se but like an Asian center.
>> In Asian center.
>> Center-- because-- [inaudible] An Asian center kind of like what they did with the->> They have at Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton.
>> Yeah. [inaudible] Where they have like a building and each room has its own dedicated->> Yes.
>> -- culture.
>> Yeah.
>> Like one for Hmong, one for Mien, one for Filipinos, one for Cambodian, Hawaiian, because people who are not
Asian tend to mix the races up because they don't know. They don't know the difference. So they-- and we as Filipinos
when that happens to us we tend to I guess not offended but be discouraged with our own culture because what
separates from the other cultures then? If other races can't even tell us apart?
>> Okay.
>> In regards to like our diversity.
>> Okay.
>> And we don't have representation in general for this. Our representation is Asian.
>> Okay.
>> Oh, right.
>> Yeah. Our representation is Asian. When it comes to scholarships, our representation is as long as you're Asian,
Southeast Asian, here you go. There's no Filipino, there's no like focus on that. I mean there's some, but not at Fresno
State, unfortunately from-- in my opinion.
>> Okay. So Fresno State you would want an Asian center, you'd want a focused on a Filipino possible room. Okay.
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>> Yeah. And they have a lot of events in regards to the Hispanic ones. Mexicans->> They do.
>> They have a lot but then again that's normal because it's Fresno.
>> And is 47%.
>> It is 47%. So there's a lot in there.
>> Yeah.
>> There's a lot of you know the African-American stuff. But there is nothing really for Asians in general. I mean you
have the Japanese internment thing here.
>> Yeah they just->> They just have that-- you have some sort of a-- you don't even see Hmong.
>> Right, right. Wow.
>> They had the Hmong New Year. They didn't like even show that part of Hmong New Year at Fresno State even
though there is a great amount of Hmong culture here. I have no idea how many. There is so many Hmong people here.
>> 50% of all Asians are Hmong.
>> Yeah.
>> Who knew?
>> And words the representation for Hmong people?
>> That is-- that's a good one. Yes.
>> There's nothing.
>> There's nothing. Same thing with Filipinos. And honestly, Hmong, Mien in the Philippines are not the only ones.
There's Thai, there's Laotian, there's Vietnamese, there's Korean, there's a bunch of other and but there's no
representation. We have our cultural clubs and there's only so much a cultural club can do.
>> All right. Excellent. Okay. So my last question is is there anything else that you want to add? So I had your financial
I have your classes I had your social, workshops etc. Is there anything else you'd like to add?
>> In the interview?
>> Yeah, anything that you think that Fresno State can have for you to graduate in four years or six years?
>> Four years, six years. The biggest reason why I didn't graduate in four years instead of six years was because I didn't
realize that there was a major there that had what I wanted.
>> Okay.
>> So if there's a way to fix that because it's really hard right now or there's a way to convince but there's probably not. I
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don't think that->> You can't go against the law.
>> Yeah. But moneywise, yeah. Financial aid.
>> Financial aid.
>> Financial aid.
>> Okay, that's for sure.
>> Yeah, financial aid. It's-- I'm looking at my fellow Asians, the girl I dated and she was financial aid money. A lot of
Asians are in the low income part and other than financial aid grants differently that they don't have any other way of
making-- of getting the money that they need to graduate.
>> Okay.
>> So scholarships.
>> Scholarships.
>> Scholarships is the best bet. If there's scholarships make the scholarships more known.
>> Make it more known?
>> Oh, and-- okay. I think I can-- I have an idea. Have Fresno State if there is-- have Fresno State push classes for
nonstudents that help understand-- that teach English. I know it's-- we already kind of have that, but a lot of the reasons- not Filipino just Asians in general->> Okay.
>> A lot of is why is because they just don't understand it.
>> So have English classes?
>> Huh?
>> More English classes? What do you mean?
>> [inaudible] Okay, so the biggest thing that-- will my girlfriend did was she was part of this program that, technical
literacy-- technological literacy-- digital literacy. And that helped out a lot of people. And that's what stunted a lot of
Filipinos a lot of Asians is because they don't know how to deal with technology.
>> Technical English.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> And discovery was helping out with that. They teach people how to - they teach people how to work with
technology. They teach people how to succeed better and in a way that could also help Asians and Filipinos because we
can talk to our-- we contact the older group.
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>> Okay. All right. That's excellent. That's something that I can definitely ask for.
>> Yeah. [inaudible] let them know that->> Okay.
>> -- their soul younger generation Asians that can teach the older generation Asians how to succeed better in life in
terms of literacy and in terms of technology in terms of society. Because that will help bridge the gap between the
digital divide.
>> So what you're saying is do you want us to start a mentoring program for older Asians that mentor the younger
Asians?
>> Switch it.
>> You want younger Asians to mentor the older Asians?
>> In terms of in terms of literacy and technology and stuff like that.
>> So you want-- but you mean outside of Fresno State? Or in Fresno State?
>> Both.
>> Both.
>> Yeah. We could have a reach out-- a reaching out program that says that if there are people like me who are->> So younger to older?
>> Yes. There are people like me who already know what it feels like to do it all that stuff. We already know what it
feels like to how to kind of like be successful as an American Asian.
>> Okay.
>> And who already know the language fluently and who that already is very digitally literate to the point where you
know there can be successful. But the older generation of Asians don't have that. And that's what's keeping them from
being successful in life and that's what's keeping them in their place because they just don't know how to do it.
>> So you are asking students to go out into the community to help out the elders? Is that what you're saying? Or are
you talking about student on student mentoring. I don't understand.
>> Both. It can have both.
>> Both?
>> But honestly, yeah. That's the biggest thing.
>> Okay.
>> Think about it. A Filipino like me who is very fluent in Tagalog but is also very technologically literate and whose
graduated with a business degree? And let's say well I kind of do actually-- let's say I have a affinity for teaching people.
I have an affinity for-- I have a fondness for teaching them how to do things. Letting them know that this is actually
available for you. And I can speak in their tongue so that way they can understand more about it. Put me in a room of
Filipinos who don't understand those who don't really understand the communicative English and who are very
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technologically illiterate and who don't-- who doesn't understand-- well not understand but like who needs some
guidance and that's why they're stuck like that.
>> And are these Filipino? What would it look like? Are they 40s, 50s, 60s or are they->> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> They are like parents, if you will.
>> Okay.
>> We could already do that but we just don't->> Okay.
>> Yeah.
>> What about->> And it's really hard. You know why it's really hard? Because parents the older generation have the mentality of they
know better than the younger generation.
>> Yes. Yeah.
>> And that's the hard part. And they have to get over that but unless they-- if they get over that->> Okay.
>> You realize how-- you realize how much the younger generation actually want to help out the older generation?
>> Okay. We do. We just get shot down by the older generation because they feel like they know more than us. When in
reality, we can help each other out. They just don't let us.
>> Thank you. I'm going to-- that's so great. I'm going to end with that quote just because that's a beautiful quote that
you just said that the younger generation does want to help out the older. But-- and they both need help.
>> We need each othe's help.
>> Yeah.
>> We need their help in understanding our own culture we need their help in understanding society.
>> That is-- that's quite beautiful what you just said. Thank you. Okay. So is there anything-- that's it. Is there-- okay. So
thank you so much. I'm going to turn this off. Let me turn this off.
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you consent for me to record you now.
>> My name is Robin Letim. First name Robin R-- as in red, O-- as in octopus, B-- as in boy, I-- as in igloo, and N-- as
in Nancy. Letim L-- as in lion, E-- as in egg, T-- as in tiger, I-- as in igloo, and M-- as in mouse. And what was-- my
date of birth?
>> Yes. Also can you please give me verbal approval?
>> I give you verbal approval to use->> To record.
>> -- to record.
>> Okay.
>> I gave you verbal approval to record me. Yes.
>> Okay, great. So Robin I've explained to you that I'm going to interview 30 Southeast Asian-- successful Asians like
yourself and ask you basically the barriers and bridges that got you to succeed. We have a very low Southeast Asian
graduation relatively and what I want to do is I want to take your questions-- I mean your answers-- and just like Jason
before and I want to get a list of all the successful things that you want in school, right? For instance, Jason's like
mentoring program-- I want-- I want smaller-- so I will actually list it and it will be anonymous and I will actually go to
the president and say you know I've interviewed 30 students-- I won't say their name. But I will say they have told me
that they want this, this, and this. And that I will very much ask them for these programs and then if there are common
barriers I will mention them. But the main thing is what you want at Fresno State for you to graduate within four or six
years. That is the main thing.
>> That makes sense.
>> That is the main thing. So I will be asking you barriers and that's important but the main thing I'm focusing on is
definitely what you want at Fresno State.
>> Okay.
>> Okay. So let's start. Robin, what is your gender?
>> My gender is male.
>> Male? Okay. What is your birth year?
>> My birth year is December 26, 1991.
>> Just your year. Okay.
>> '91.
>> '91. Okay. What is your undergraduate major?
>> Business major with a focus on information systems.
>> With-- okay. What is your generation in the United States?
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>> I'm-- I guess I'm a first generation because I am a Filipino immigrant.
>> All right.
>> I originally lived in the Philippines.
>> Excellent.
>> What is your mothers and fathers highest education?
>> My-- both of them are college graduates.
>> Oh, wow. Wow, okay.
>> In the Philippines?
>> Yes.
>> Oh, gosh. Oh. Interesting. That is a very-- you are one of the only ones I have that have a college graduate. That's
very rare, actually. I think you are like now the only one. So I think that would probably make a difference. But talk
about that when we talk about family.
>> Okay.
>> All right. So both your parents. What are the majors of your parents?
>> My father is a business major as well
>> Oh.
>> Yeah. He was a business major. He actually-- well during that time he didn't really focus much on his studies but he
still graduated barely.
>> Okay.
>> He owned a chain of arcade games.
>> Oh, wow. And what about your mom?
>> My mom is an architecture major.
>> Well.
>> She brought her work into the United States.
>> Architecture. That is actually-- your mom is also the only one I've met that has a BA. Wow. That's very rare for a
Southeast Asian. Extremely rare. Okay. All right. All right. What was your-- is your family actually composed-- what
was it composed of then and what is it composed of now? I mean you have the same siblings you have then and now?
>> Yes. I have the same siblings. Actually, well-- I lived in the Philippines. Obviously I was born in 1991 and I came to
United States in 2006. So that puts me about 15, 16 years old when I came into the United States. During that time I
actually--
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>> Wait, I'm sorry. Came to the US and what year?
>> 2006. September, 2006.
>> 2006 and then you came at 15?
>> 15 or 16. I was born in 91. So age->> Okay.
>> During that time I was actually-- let's see. I had a semi regular childhood from 1991 two 2000 and then my mom
actually left for the United States in 2000. And she was on the I guess a tourist/work visa. Like the majority of people.
The reason I'm not asking you directly is because I want to explain the reasons why there's a change. So my mom came
into the United States in 2000. For three years it was pretty much radio silence because we honestly don't know.
>> Okay.
>> So we were living with my father from 2000 to 2003.
>> Okay.
>> My mom came back from the United States in 2003->> Okay.
>> -- with a guy.
>> Okay.
>> So->> Okay.
>> -- during that process we realized that she had gotten married but she wanted to bring us because we would have a
better-- she realized we would have a better life and we would have a better future in the United States. It took her three
years to complete all of-- you know make sure all of our lives are given to you know in the United States. So that's how
we came in 2006. So to summarize all, and the Philippines, I-- we lived the majority of our lives with our parents but for
a good three or four years we were pretty much just living with my father who is actually visually disabled. And in 2006
we just like that with no connections from anyone whatsoever, we all of us me and three of my younger siblings moved
to the Philippines-- moved to the United States with my mom and my stepdad.
>> Okay.
>> What is your GPA?
>> I'm sorry. That was a long->> Oh, no. Thank you.
>> My GPA when I graduated was I think a 3.47.
>> Wow. Excellent. Wow, that's very high. What is your ultimate degree aspiration? I mean do you want to get a BA or
do anything else after or--
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>> I->> -- what is your ultimate degree aspiration?
>> My ultimate aspiration when it comes to my major is not-- is not to focus on getting a BA-- no. Not focusing on
getting a masters or anything like that because I just want to do well in my education but my major doesn't really require
that.
>> Okay. Excellent. What is your socioeconomic background, working, middle or affluent-- which is wealthy.
>> Oh. Middle.
>> Middle? Okay. The high school that you went to in the Philippines and the US was it public high school or private?
>> It's private.
>> Oh, okay. And then was it a private Catholic or private regular or->> There is no private regular.
>> Oh.
>> Usually when it comes to colleges there's always some sort of religion in there.
>> Oh, really? I didn't know that.
>> Yeah. That's why all of private colleges they are named after saints or->> Really?
>> -- disciples just because it's all-- it's a Roman Catholic country.
>> That is right. So are you also Roman Catholic?
>> I was born and raised a Roman Catholic. Go to a Christian church. My religion right now is I guess what you might
want to call I'm independent.
>> Okay. Okay, interesting. Oh, thank you. I'm learning a lot. I had no idea that this was the case.
>> Yeah. All right. Well I would assume that everyone in your Filipino high school was Filipino, is that the case?
>> Filipino high school?
>> Yes. What was the ethnic background? So I'm actually->> Majority Filipino.
>> Sorry. I'm just going line like->> Oh, okay.
>> -- oh, high school, public [inaudible]
>> And this is in the Philippines, right?
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>> Yes. Were they all Filipino?
>> Depends on the type of school. Because I actually jumped to different schools.
>> Okay. I have-- because I haven't been-- I didn't stay in the same-- oh, my mic->> Oh.
>> I didn't stay in the same school for longer than two years at the most.
>> Okay.
>> So I was jumping between schools.
>> So did you go to the Philippines two years and the US for two years?
>> No. I was hopping between high schools in the Philippines.
>> Okay. And then when they all Filipino ethnic group?
>> Depends on the school. If the school is a much larger bigger school some sort of like a mix between high school and
college yes there's a big better chance of other races being in there. But when you are in you know one of those lower
income schools, chances are there's-- is probably going to be all Filipino. Maybe one or two other like maybe
Caucasians or I don't know. Usually a white person or a black person.
>> Interesting.
>> Yeah.
>> Interesting. Are the Blacks are they Africans or African-American or the African from the Philippines?
>> Usually they are probably-- they are most likely probably half.
>> Oh, okay.
>> Like half black half Filipino.
>> Oh, interesting.
>> Yeah.
>> That's interesting.
>> But they are always like live here but they just had American dad or an American mom.
>> How interesting it. Okay. So that's kind of what you grow up with?
>> Yeah.
>> Okay. What is your favorite subject in college? What is your least favorite subject? And why?
>> My favorite subject in general is English. And my least favorite subject is math.
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>> English. Okay.
>> And that's actually unusual for Filipino who is an immigrant.
>> The stereotype is going to be you are an engineer.
>> Yeah. Engineer, yeah.
>> What's your favorite professor or teacher and who was your least favorite professor or teacher and why?
>> I didn't-- well my favorite professor is Ray Jihadi [phonetic]. He's an adjunct professor. He goes back and forth
between Fresno city and Fresno State. But the way he taught my class is very-- it reminds me of the Philippines.
>> Really?
>> Which went very easily.
>> Tell me more. Like how does he do it? How does he teach that is similar to the Philippines?
>> He's very-- the way the Philippines teaches it is because in the Philippines when you go to school, it's like Japanese.
They-- you aren't stuck in your-- well not stuck. You pretty much kind of like live in your own classroom.
>> Okay.
>> And you don't go to your professors, your professors go to you.
>> Oh, interesting.
>> Yeah.
>> Tell me more. Please tell me more.
>> So it's like let's say like kindergarten or preschool where you have your homeroom and you pretty much you get to
know your classmates. That's how it is. But it happened throughout. The only time it would stop is if you are in college
in the Philippines. But if you are like before college and before college you live with your classmates.
>> And then your teacher switches to you.
>> Yes.
>> But how does [inaudible]
>> You have an advisor.
>> Okay.
>> Like you have your own dedicated oh this is our I guess parent. But yeah. They switch and that's how Jihadi was. He
made us feel like we are-- we are kind of like his students.
>> Okay, cool.
>> He made me feel like that. Especially he put kind of like put me aside and like tells me like good job and stuff like
that.
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>> Wow.
>> He made me feel like it's a personal professor thing.
>> Awesome.
>> Which I know like a lot of-- a good amount of students kind of our [inaudible] about that mainly because they're not
used to it.
>> Yeah.
>> But I actually like that personal touch.
>> Okay. My least favorite professor just someone who I can't really say their name because I don't->> Okay, yes.
>> Yeah. I can't say their name. But they make you feel like you don't care. Like you shouldn't care about was going on.
You should care about the system. Like they are going to make you-- they're not going to make you motivated. They are
like this is all this is here on just giving it to you just because.
>> Okay.
>> But [inaudible] talk trash about it. But make you feel negative about the whole subject in about the whole learning
experience.
>> Oh, interesting.
>> The complete opposite of how I'm used to.
>> Okay. Very important no. Okay. Excellent. And again these are-- as I told Jason, these next questions, we are almost
one-third done. Because after that I'm going to go into barriers.
>> Yeah.
>> And so barriers is the second, third and the successes is the third third. Okay? So as I told Jason, you may not know
these answers. So you can just take a pass. Okay?
>> Okay.
>> Okay. So in this question specifically, how many-- and again the Philippines is the highest going college nation and
actually all of Southeast Asia. If you look at all of Southeast Asia, they have the most college graduates.
>> Oh.
>> Out of the entire.
>> That's great.
>> So I will ask you the questions but if you don't know the answer just pass.
>> Okay.
>> Pass, okay?
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>> I'm probably going to guess or something.
>> Okay. Why do so many Filipinos go to college? Because in the Philippines it's the highest country.
>> Yeah.
>> Why do so many Filipinos or not that many Filipinos go to college? And let's just focus on the Philippines. Why do
so many Filipinos go to college in the Philippines?
>> College or just school in general?
>> College. It's the highest BA in all of Southeast Asia.
>> Long and short of it, parents.
>> Parents?
>> Parents.
>> Okay. What are the parents doing? Because parents in Malaysia are also but they don't have the BAs.
>> The reason-- it's because it honestly depends on the parents.
>> Okay.
>> If the parents don't force you to go to college, you don't-- you probably wouldn't go to college. I know a lot of
friends who after-- well even during junior high school they were just be blasé about it. Just because their parents aren't
that kind of people to push them to go to school. So they would end up not going to school. But if your parents are on
your case about the whole time you would go to school.
>> Okay.
>> Because we are so [inaudible] with the family thing of how-- of the obligation to go to school for the betterment of
your family.
>> Okay.
>> So that's why you go to college. That's why you go to school. That's actually-- that's originally why went to school is
to make my-- make life better for my family.
>> Interesting.
>> But because of the United States, I was eventually-- I eventually embraced the idea of I'm doing this for myself not
for the others. Individuality, per se.
>> So in the Philippines it's pushed to go to college the family but in the United States you're doing it for yourself?
>> Yes. That's the biggest difference between the United States and the Philippines.
>> Okay. So now let's actually switch from-- let's go outside of the Philippines and talk about the United States.
>> Okay.
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>> Filipino Americans also have-- if you compare Southeast Asians->> Okay.
>> -- the highest graduation rate. But if you compare with others like when you talk about South Asians, it's quite low,
right?
>> For the Philippines?
>> Why are Filipinos graduating so much higher than Hmong, Mien, Laotian, why is that?
>> Honestly speaking it's because of assimilation.
>> Okay.
>> Because you know how the United States is. The United States is like as long as you embrace our culture and as long
as you go with what we do you are probably going to be successful. Filipinos our culture is already intertwined with
American culture because of our history.
>> Okay.
>> And we-- when something like-- when an American culture goes to us we embrace it with tenacity. We embrace it
with vigor and it helps us be more adaptive towards American culture and that's why when you see-- that's why when
you see-- why you see a higher percentage. It's because we adapt easier because we are already used what in the
Philippines.
>> Can you speak more how you are used to it in the Philippines? Like how are used to it?
>> English is our second language in the Philippines.
>> Oh, okay. English->> We are taught English alongside Tagalog in all of our languages.
>> Is it first-grade? Like when do you start English?
>> From the-- since you are a baby.
>> You're kidding?
>> You are-- our native language is Tagalog->> Okay.
>> -- but in school you are taught English. For them, and school in the Philippines, English means sophistication.
>> Really?
>> English means class. English means you are really good. And English means you are more classy, I guess.
>> Okay.
>> Whenever you are fluent in English and you talk fluent English in the Philippines, you already look like wow, this
person is something.
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>> Interesting. Okay.
>> And because of that mentality, we are pushed to know more about the English-- the American culture. The only
problem with that is our exits.
>> Okay.
>> When we go into the United States and we are fluent in English->> Okay.
>> -- but our accents give us away.
>> Okay.
>> Because it shows immigrant. It shows minority.
>> Okay.
>> And that's a like you said that's a very-- that's not taboo but you know-- that kind of pushes is automatically down
because minorities. What was the question again?
>> So, I asked why is it that Filipinos have the highest graduation rate and then I asked like what->> The high-- yeah, okay.
>> -- I asked why is it entwined. But in the United States if you compare Filipinos with Hmong, Mien, you said that
they already know English and they are assimilated. Is there any other difference that Filipinos have in comparison to
Hmong, Mien, Laotian Cambodian?
>> Will yeah. The assimilation, honestly. If you-- because I dated a Hmong girl. I noticed the difference between my
culture and her culture. And it's drastically different. Hmong culture->> Tell me more.
>> -- actively pushes away assimilation. Well assimilation is such a harsh word. Actively pushes away adapting. You
know about their culture? About->> No.
>> Oh, okay.
>> I'm from LA.
>> Okay. So like because I know about Hmong. Hmong culture have a Doshi you can't date someone outside your race.
>> Oh, you can't?
>> You usually don't. They look down upon you. Put that mentality or culture in the older people-- in the Hmong
culture men were if you are-- if it's not Hmong is automatically bad.
>> Oh.
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>> And that's for conservative folk. Progressive parents, they really don't care as much. But that's the biggest difference
between Filipinos, Hmong, Mien, and all that stuff, is because older generations and some current generations still have
that onset of our culture is still the best and we will do everything we can to stick to that culture even if it means being
detrimental to their educational experience. That's why a lot of Asians in my opinion are having a hard time succeeding
in society in general is because they are embracing their culture in a way that prevents them from going up there.
>> Wow.
>> Well Filipinos sad to say, they have a tendency to drop their culture at the drop of a hat. That's why we are pushing
so hard Filipino clubs and you know the older generation is pushing so hard to show them that the Filipino culture still
exists, however, younger generations don't really care as much anymore. Unfortunately.
>> Okay.
>> But because of that, they are, you know succeeding like crazy because hey->> They are. Economically they are the highest->> They're the highest because->> -- economically.
>> -- they understand. They understand that you just got to adapt. And in general Filipino culture has no problem with
that.
>> Oh, wow. So thank you. That's a very good inside. I didn't think of it that way. Okay. Great. So let's go along with do
Filipino students have strong relationships with administrators and faculty? Do think in general? Think about your club- because I think, you know->> To be honest, not that I can think of. Mainly because I don't really know much Filipino faculty here.
>> Okay.
>> Like the only person I know that sticks out at the top of my head that is a Filipino faculty member is the dog days
staff member-- bald guy? But he's with the student association, I think-- SI [phonetic]?
>> Is he-- is his name Randy?
>> Kind of.
>> Randy?
>> Yeah.
>> Randy-- I'm pretty sure he's Filipino.
>> Yeah.
>> Randy something? He works at the Dean's office. Randy something.
>> Yeah. [inaudible] Yeah. I think so. [inaudible] oh, no, no, no. I think he's Japanese.
>> Oh, okay.
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>> That's not the-- no. He's the one that works at [inaudible] administration building with->> I don't know who that is.
>> -- with the dog days people. The->> Oh, okay.
>> Yeah. Yeah, he ran the orientation.
>> Okay.
>> He runs orientation. But that's the only person because some of my friends know him. There's->> I think there's Christopher [inaudible] the IT guy is Filipino.
>> Oh.
>> Chinese Filipino.
>> Yeah, there's-- [inaudible] there's more staff that's Filipino then there is faculty.
>> Okay.
>> And->> Oh, more staff.
>> More staff that's Filipino than there is faculty.
>> That's actually very important that you know that. Thank you.
>> Yeah. Because I know more Dutch I know more staff Filipinos than faculty Filipinos.
>> I think it's because you go to this Cal State. But had you gone to Cal Poly Pomona-- a lot of Filipino professors.
>> Yeah. Well->> It depends on the school.
>> It depends on the school.
>> Yeah, it depends on the school.
>> But Fresno State->> Yeah.
>> -- probably not.
>> Actually at Fullerton there's quite a few. Okay. And Cal Poly.
>> Yeah.
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>> Like tons Cal Poly. Like professors.
>> There's a lot.
>> So my counterpart at Cal Poly is Filipino.
>> Yeah. Oh, we will focus on the [inaudible] but I think I know why.
>> Okay. All right. So I'm going to jump. Have you ever been mentored?
>> Define mentored.
>> Like one person [inaudible] that you know talked to you, helps you-- no?
>> Okay. What were the teachers in the place-- did you go to high school also in the US or-- you went high school in
the US and the Philippines, right? So let's split it. What were the teacher's expectations of you? Neutral, high, and low in
the Philippines, what were the teacher expectations of you in the US, neutral high or low?
>> Expectations by like how they want you to achieve?
>> Mm-hmm. Like do they think that you would be at big achievement or had neutral or was it low? They thought oh,
you know because you are minority you would have a low expectation?
>> It's actually quite different. It's actually the opposite in my opinion because the teachers in the Philippines I don't
know if you know, but education there's actually kind of-- it's pretty low. The education quality is pretty low. In the way
that we don't have much funding and all that stuff. Not much funding which means not much equipment or you know
stuff like that. Which means [inaudible] which means teachers don't really push as hard. So we end up with just pretty
much just having fun, I guess. And with that in mind we don't really have the-- there's not as much backing for us to
pursue farther than that in the Philippines.
>> But you were pushed to go to college, though?
>> In the Philippines?
>> Yes.
>> No.
>> Oh, no?
>> No.
>> So your teachers->> I just tend to do good.
>> Okay, wow.
>> Because I kind of-- because I was interested in English so whenever is English my interest sparked like when up. So
I kind of do well. But for the rest of the subjects and just blasé about it.
>> Interesting.
>> Yeah. Because no one is really pushing me to do more. Until the United States.
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>> Okay. So now let's switch to the United States. In the United States the teacher expectation of you, was a neutral,
low or high?
>> It's high.
>> High. Tell me more.
>> It's high in the way that I actually feel the teacher wanting me to do better. And it's more obvious. It's more->> In what way?
>> Huh?
>> What do you mean by obvious?
>> Obvious as in their actually take me in and I feel like I can actually talk to the professor in person. During school
hours. There's only a few times in the Philippines where does that but that's because you know they are like we have
already hung out so much. But they don't make a-- they don't make an active approach to get to know us. It just happens
to be that we hang out so much that it just tends to happen that they became like-- the teacher became like our I guess
mentor. But in the United States is different because they actually have to actively approach you because we are
[inaudible] we are always like leaving. That's the difference. It's a passive approach in the Philippines and a very active
approach in the United States.
>> So, question-- and this is a very important question. As an Asian male, do you think that they treated-- the teachers-treated the genders differently? For instance, in the Philippines, it's okay to ask questions?
>> It depends on the economic quality of the school. If->> So you can ask questions? Is it culturally okay to like raise your hand and ask questions?
>> Yeah.
>> In the Philippines.
>> If you have a rowdy class they don't care.
>> They don't care?
>> But is it culturally considered rude->> No.
>> -- to ask questions?
>> No.
>> So it's normal to ask questions?
>> No, it's normal to ask questions, but also keep in mind that we are not individuality per se. There's a certain
militarized concept about it.
>> Oh. Oh, interesting. Please continue on.
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>> It's like the Japanese.
>> Okay.
>> Where you know you have uniforms->> Oh, you have uniforms?
>> Yeah, we have uniforms.
>> Oh, I didn't know.
>> You have standard school uniforms. We have the polo shirts, we have slacks, and we have to buy them from the
school themselves.
>> Okay.
>> And if you are in the public school it's still the same thing.
>> Really?
>> Yeah. Like I don't-- I've never been to their public school->> Okay.
>> -- because really when you-- you are really only in public school if you are actually in the poverty and you are living
in the ghetto area. You are living in shacks.
>> Okay.
>> That's when you go to public school. That's how low it is. When you're in a private school it usually means you are
working class income, stuff like that. But yeah. We were-- we wore school uniforms->> Okay.
>> -- like the usual like polo shirts with slacks and stuff like that with dress shoes every single day.
>> Wow.
>> And we also lined up in formation for the Filipino flag and->> Oh, wow.
>> -- and we do the prayer thing. And we-- it's very militarized and very religion based.
>> Okay.
>> With the United States and when I came to the United States culture shock. It's drastically different. And I didn't
know how to apply myself because everything there is so brand-new. I'm still not used to that. I feel like I deviated.
>> Oh, no, no. This is perfect, actually. In the Philippines were women treated-- students-- treated the same as male
students?
>> In the Philippines?
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>> Yes. And also in the US. Like do both.
>> But in regards to Filipinos?
>> In the Philippines were Filipino student females treated the same as Filipino males? And in the United States did you
see that the females are treated the same by the teachers?
>> It's-- oh, okay.
>> By the teachers.
>> So it's not peer to peer it's like how you [inaudible]
>> Teachers. Teachers. Did the teachers treat the Filipino girls the same as the Filipino boys?
>> Yes. And here's the funny thing.
>> Okay.
>> When it comes to education, when it comes to being good at something->> Okay.
>> -- they expect the girls to be better.
>> Oh, really?
>> Just because there's a certain-- not stigma, but there's a certain way of thinking that girls are just inherently smarter
than guys. And guys are just there just to mess around and-- honestly, it's the truth.
>> What?
>> Yeah.
>> No.
>> Well, it's->> Okay.
>> -- not mess around in that way. We were just rowdy. We are rowdy kids. But girls tend to be more in the straight and
narrow.
>> Okay.
>> However, when it comes to working when it comes to having the heavy responsibilities, when it comes to just
having the power roles, it's the guys.
>> Okay.
>> The girls have more expectations built upon them because of the education but the guys have the better positions.
>> Okay. Interesting.
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>> Yeah.
>> All right. Excellent. So let's switch to-- less actually switch to the-- back to the US. Did the teachers-- what high
school did you go to here?
>> Selma High School.
>> Where is that?
>> That is Fresno County about 30 minutes down here that is->> Is that S-E-L->> S-E-L-M-A High School.
>> Okay. So in that high school, did other-- did I don't know-- what's the percentage of-- did you have a lot of Filipinos
at your school or no?
>> No. Selma is more of a Hispanic town.
>> Okay.
>> About a majority of the people there are Hispanic, Latin American.
>> How->> And there's only->> Okay.
>> -- including my siblings? I mean when I came there there's only-- it was only my younger brother who was with me-and four.
>> Only for Asians in the entire school?
>> No. Only four Filipinos. There was a lot of Asians, but there was only four Filipinos.
>> Let's like make it larger. What was the teacher expectation of all the Asians in your high school? Or was it->> They don't know what to do with Filipinos because they were really never encountered but Asians in general, they
have a much larger expectation because Asians.
>> Okay. Tell me more.
>> Because in-- because they don't really hang out. There's a small group of Asians in that town. So a lot of-- so the
people not community tend to rely on stereotypes.
>> Okay.
>> They tend to rely on stereotypes which is you are smart.
>> Tell me more.
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>> You are smart and you go down the straight and narrow. However you know because of certain things that they hear
about the Philippines or Asians like you eat certain animals that are not usually a part of it-- dog.
>> Okay.
>> They do that. They rely a lot on stereotypes just because they don't know the culture and the problem with that is
they don't try to learn it.
>> Okay.
>> There to those people who are not use to the Asian race-- Hmong, Filipinos and stuff like that-- and there is no one to
teach them about it.
>> Okay.
>> They rely on stereotypes from the media.
>> Oh. That's my next question. What were the notable depictions of Filipinos in the media that you remember? In the
US? Like do you remember any depictions?
>> The biggest one is-- the biggest one I can think of in this is like a short-lived one, there's a TV show called Glee->> Right.
>> -- and then->> Yes, I know!
>> -- they have this girl->> Charlese? [phonetic]
>> -- Charlese->> She's really great, yeah.
>> Charice Pempengco or something?
>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> And she won American Idol?
>> Uh-huh.
>> Oh, not she won, but she runner up and she became popular enough for that. And her name is such a generic Filipino
name.
>> Oh, really?
>> Not generic. It's so stereotypical. It's called Sunshine Corazon.
>> Oh, right. Okay, yeah, okay.
>> And I'm like, of all the things you name a person you name them the most stereotypical name it. It's like you guys
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just grabbed it out of-- just grabbed it out of like a website that's funny names. Like Corozon means love, sunshine
means because it's always sunny in the Philippines. I'm like are you serious? But like that's the most stereotypical like,
and she sings. And she has glasses and she has pigtails. She looks like a Japanese schoolgirl. And that is the most blatant
stereotype of a Filipino that I've seen.
>> Okay.
>> And about later on, like in-- because honestly, Filipinos in the media they don't look like Filipinos to other people.
Only Filipinos know that there Filipinos. You know what I mean?
>> Tell me more. I don't know. I'm not sure.
>> Okay. So, when-- when other Filipinos see that person in the media, we are like oh, hey. That person looks Filipino.
>> Okay.
>> All right? Which they are correct usually.
>> Okay.
>> But no one else does so you don't really bring up the whole Filipino thing. They are regarded as just Asians.
>> Oh, okay. Okay.
>> Because they don't know what a Filipino looks like.
>> Okay, interesting.
>> Because-- yeah. And so there's really no way of oh, hey this Filipino-- this person is a Filipino. There is no
distinction between Filipinos and Cambodians and Thai, and Hmong. They are branded as Asian.
>> But you can tell a difference?
>> Yeah. Filipinos can tell the difference all the time.
>> So you can tell someone who is Hmong or Laotian too?
>> Mm-hmm.
>> Oh. Wow. Okay. Interesting. Okay.
>> There's only certain distinctions-- well sometimes I'm incorrect but usually we are correct.
>> Okay. All right. So we are going to actually only focus on educational barriers. Again, this is the second third, and
then the third third [phonetic]. What do you think educationally that was a barrier for you for graduating from Fresno
State? Like what could have made you graduate in four years? Educational. So I'm in the barrier part, next part.
>> Yeah, I get that.
>> Okay. So-- because->> I'm thinking right now.
>> -- I'm thinking-- obviously we want more Mr. Robins and more Mr. Jasons. Okay? So what were things that held you
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back and graduating in four years and six years? So that is a big question.
>> It's hard because it's not necessarily the school's fault. It's more of the parents. I don't know Jason told you, but me
and-- I was on the lucky end because I had a white stepdad who convinced my mom. But in general, you are put in the
major that your parents want to be in not you wanted to be.
>> Oh, your parents put you in a major?
>> Yeah. I was originally a computer science major.
>> Oh, wow. Okay.
>> And that made a lot of-- that usually makes a lot of money, so they pushed me to do that. And I messed up about a
year of my college career because I ended up in the major that I didn't want to.
>> So you are pushed into the computer science major?
>> I was pushed into a major that I thought I wanted but I ended up not. And the only reason why-- one of the biggest
reasons why I was able to switch is because of my white stepdad.
>> Why?
>> He convinced my mom that it's okay to switch out.
>> Okay.
>> Because you don't usually have that fortune of being able to switch out because a lot of my Filipino friends they have
a hard time leaving their major because their parents want them to do that. Because that's the biggest thing that-- that's
the one thing that their parents have because the parents are you know they are registered nurses or engineering.
>> Right. That is correct. Yes.
>> So the parents have that mindset of->> You are right.
>> -- like I used this way and I succeeded so I want you to use this way because I know that way you will also succeed
as well and I can help you out that but they don't know that sometimes it's just not that way.
>> Okay.
>> And they are not using to accept it, but it's-- they have a hard time accepting it. And they don't realize that there's
more than one way of being successful.
>> Okay.
>> Not realize, but-- yeah. They don't realize it. And that's why people get-- like a lot of my-- a lot of my friends have to
force themselves to be good at something they don't like.
>> Okay.
>> And that includes->> Oh, interesting. Okay.
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>> -- that includes pre-nursing. Computer science, engineering, any kind of engineering. Biology, chemistry, all of the
sciences in general.
>> Oh, really?
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> And I have a friend who she is in school for-- she's been in school for four or five years and it doesn't look like she is
trying hard in school but she is in school because of her parents and she's in her major because of her parents and she
feels like her parents would hate her and she switched majors and the major she wants to switch isn't as profitable as the
major she's in now, which is nursing.
>> She's a nursing major? And what does she want to switch to?
>> I believe she wants to switch to media major.
>> Oh.
>> Communications, I think. Yeah. And that's the hard part if you->> Yeah.
>> -- want to switch to a major this out as profitable because your parents will not see the why do you want to do that?
You are just doing that because of having fun, but you are in college because you need to be successful and we don't
think your major is successful. That's the hard part about me.
>> So Asian.
>> Yeah.
>> So Asian.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> And that's the hard part about me. It's-- going back to the point of the barriers, it's not the school's fault, is the parent- not the parents fault. It's not an issue of the school it's an issue of the parents but what I feel like could be better and
could help out Filipinos it's not-- it's not any of the other like professors or anything like that, it's-- and I know this is a
long shot-- but if a school or maybe even a major like let's say the nursing major in focus or anything like that-- could
actually have kind of like a teacher's thing. Like a PTA if you will.
>> What's a PTA?
>> Parent teachers-- a parent teachers conference or something?
>> Oh, for college?
>> Yeah.
>> But you are over 18.
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>> Yeah.
>> That's the thing. They wouldn't->> It-- they wouldn't->> Because you are already an adult.
>> Yeah. You're already adult.
>> Yeah.
>> And that's the hard thing about it, but I feel like if parents->> So you want like-- you want the school to talk to your parents?
>> I want backup.
>> Oh, okay.
>> I want my parents to be reassured that what I'm doing would benefit me regardless of what they say. Because it's-- I
would I have a hard time-- if it wasn't for my stepdad I would have a hard time convincing my mom that being an IT
guy is beneficial. Even though I've already made money just being an IT guy in college.
>> Okay.
>> Because it still doesn't make as much money as computer science. That's one of the reasons why she's okay with it
because she realized that I can actually make money off of it because I'm already good at it. I can switch. But that's not
the case for everyone else.
>> Right. I have to say that we have-- there's a national law called FERPA which means adults-- we can never talk
about a student's background with another adult. So you have a privacy law so we can never talk to parents ever.
>> And that's the hard part.
>> It's against the law.
>> Yeah, and I don't know about that law, but that's why I know it's practically-- not impossible but a long shot.
>> Yeah.
>> And there's usually no way around it when it comes to talking about education. But->> Okay.
>> What->> Can you explain-- switch to->> Sure.
>> -- what is-- what was the financial barrier for you to finish? What can we do financially for you?
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>> Money and connections.
>> Money? Okay. So did you want more financial aid, for instance? Or did you want scholarship? What did you->> Yes.
>> Okay.
>> Especially at Fresno State.
>> Okay, go on.
>> Because Fresno State I researched-- I researched Fresno state scholarships and college grants and the only
scholarship I've seen was for just Asians in general and that's already a great amount of-- and there is already a great
amount of people going for that scholarship. So, I would like-- I don't know if Jason said the same thing, but he would
like one for Filipinos in general.
>> All right. Very important. I'm writing this down. This is very-- I'm highlighting this.
>> Filipinos-- yeah.
>> Scholarship for Filipinos.
>> Yes. And it would be even better if it was like nursing or business because or engineering because that's their biggest
thing. Pretty much->> This is very important. Thank you so much.
>> Yeah. Pretty much like anyone that's in the STEM program->> Okay.
>> You know the STEM program?
>> Mm-hmm.
>> Yeah, anyone that's in the STEM program and nursing because a lot of people go into that because of being a prenursing.
>> Okay, very important. Thank you. I'm going to highlight that right now. Great. Okay.
>> And also if it would be even it would be more helpful if you are in that but if you're in the STEM program but also if
you actually actively tried to-- the scholarship makes you try to learn more about Filipino culture.
>> Okay. So->> Because-- yeah.
>> Scholarship for Filipinos in nursing, business, engineering, STEM program but scholarship that is something about
Filipino culture?
>> Yeah. Makes you encourages you to be aware of your Filipino culture.
>> Excellent-- of Filipino culture. Okay.
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>> Yeah.
>> Great. Thank you. I highlighted that as well. All right. That is something that I can definitely ask for. For sure. So
thank you. That's an important thing that you added. So we are at the last part which is a success. Okay.
>> Okay.
>> So now we are only going to talk about Mr. Robin. Okay? Just Mr. Robin only. Okay?
>> Okay.
>> What is it about your personality, personal enablers, how can you graduated? What are the personal enablers to your
be a achievement? You can contrast yourself to others, but why personally did you graduate with a BA when so many
Southeast Asian men dropped out? Why?
>> Because personally speaking I was able to be in the right major at the right time. The right time defining that the
major I'm in which is information systems actually a booming major in this society because you know, we are a
technological age-- Golden age. Which in turn made my parents see that if I'm in this major I will do great.
>> What about your personality traits?
>> My personality traits->> What personally-- why you made it? As I told Jason, you are a unicorn. Why? Personally. Like what is your
personality? Because others dropped out, right? Other Filipino men dropped out, right? Other Vietnamese men, Hmong
men, dropped out. What about your personality that made to achieve like personally your-- even outside of your parents.
I mean-- I don't know. Maybe it's intertwined. But what is it about your personality. What type of personality do you
have that made you graduate? Or achieve. Like keep going with all the setbacks, but keep going?
>> I just liked what I was doing.
>> Okay.
>> I honestly just did. I-- going back to my major, I just-- I have a passion for what I do. I like what I've been doing. I->> Okay.
>> -- whenever there is a setback or whatever there is an obstacle, for me personally speaking when it comes to my
education, I have a passion to get-- I have a passion to overcome that. Because I like what I'm doing. I want to finish
what I started and I want to be good at it. And it's all because I'm in the major that I wanted to be.
>> Okay. So the major is really important.
>> Yes.
>> Okay.
>> The focus is really important, yeah.
>> Okay. And I think you already told me about the familial enablers. Okay. So coming from a different country, was
there any kind of-- so moving away from the personal, was there anything that helps you in the community? Such as
church, dance, cultural groups, friends, that helps you graduate? Like is there anything in the community and help you
graduate?
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>> Yeah.
>> You mentioned you are an officer.
>> Yeah.
>> Can you talk about that?
>> The Filipino club.
>> Okay.
>> Magkaisa Fresno State Filipino club.
>> Can you spell it?
>> Magkaisa--it means the united as one.
>> United as one-- and can you spell it?
>> M-- as in mouse, A-- as in apple, G-- as in goat, K-- as in kite, A-- as in apple, I-- as in igloo, S-- as in Sam, and A-as in apple.
>> Okay. Go on.
>> Magkaisa Fresno State Filipino club. I've been in that group since 2012. 2013?
>> Okay. How does that help you?
>> Support system.
>> Support? Tell me more.
>> Support system. I was here in don't before I came to the club I had a small group of friends. I had a good amount of
friends. Common interests, stuff like that. And in essence they are cool. But they weren't enough in the way that I wasn't
able to succeed because-- I was able to succeed because my Filipino club because one support system, and two, a lot of
people were in the same position as I was. They helped me-- they helped me realize what I need to do and a lot of the
people there that are older than me they gave me good advice. It gave me feedback, pretty much they showed me-- in a
way showed me->> Did you have a mentor?
>> Not specific person->> Okay.
>> -- just a broad group.
>> Okay. So, a broad group of-- okay.
>> Because-- yeah. Because I'm the oldest in my-- I'm the oldest in my family which means I don't usually look up to a
mentor unless it's like you know my actual father.
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>> Oh, okay.
>> I just tend to not be that way.
>> Oh, interesting. Okay.
>> I mean I want to, but I haven't really found someone.
>> Is an Asian thing or is it just a personal thing?
>> More of a personal thing.
>> Okay.
>> Is not an Asian thing.
>> Okay.
>> Actually, you know what the? It kind of is both. Because Asians in a way are kind of like ego people.
>> Oh.
>> But the-- well, yeah.
>> Okay.
>> But it's more of a personal thing.
>> Okay.
>> It's more of a personal thing.
>> So what did the club give you?
>> The club gave->> That you are good friends could not give you? You said you had good friends you had a good group of friends->> A lot of it is connections.
>> Okay.
>> A lot of it is because a lot of my friends in the Filipino club are also business majors.
>> Oh.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> Like business and marketing. One of them actually already graduated in a marketing major just this past year.
>> Okay.
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>> But yeah. They - we were able to help each other. I actually became some sort of a mentor to them.
>> Oh, wow.
>> Yeah. Because I was the older one. So I was telling the-- I was giving them advice on what to do and how to do
things.
>> Interesting.
>> Because I've been in there. I more of the guy who gave the I guess gave the way and I was like no, this is what
usually happens kind of deal. And->> What kind of mentoring did you tell them? Like what specifically?
>> Basically the mentoring of what to do if you're in the situation that usually that you're not used to which is Asians in
business, Asians and information systems.
>> Okay.
>> And just a lot of Filipinos tend to rely on I guess older brother or older sister.
>> Okay.
>> Like the mentors. We call them [foreign language spoken]
>> Spell it.
>> Kuya means older brother. K-U-Y-A.
>> K-U-Y->> A.
>> A. Uh-huh.
>> That's a kuya, that's an older brother. Ah-te [phonetic]-- A-T-E-- it means-- it looks like ate, but A-T-E, that means
older sister.
>> Oh. Okay.
>> Those are what you call the older brother and older-- the mentors.
>> Is this a cultural thing for the Philippines?
>> Yes. It's a very cultural thing. That means it's a more brotherly sisterly thing than just oh, you know, you are just
there.
>> So you were a kuya?
>> Yes, I'm a kuya.
>> Oh, and so that's-- and then so it's in the culture to help you. So this actually is very interesting.
>> Yeah. It's in the culture to help each other out.
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>> Okay. Oh, interesting.
>> That's why it feels weird when the whole individuality thing kicks in. Because they're not used-- Filipinos aren't used
to that. There used to helping each other out.
>> Wow. That's very important. Thank you. I'm going to highlight this again. That's-- thank you. Oh, I'm learning so
much.
>> Yeah. That's why when you see a Filipino club or Filipino group you see a lot of bonding, a lot of like brother sister
like connection. Because that's what we thrive on. We thrive on just our siblings. And we thrive on helping each other
out.
>> Excellent.
>> And that's why we build the community-- we build that connection with the other members in the club and the first
day because we want you to feel like you are part of the family.
>> Excellent.
>> And that's what the Filipinos are about.
>> All right. So this is last questions. Okay? So now is everything that you want. Okay? So what-- so I'm going to ask
you down the line, what do you want to so this last part is what do you want to-- for Filipinos or actually all Southeast
Asians in particular Southeast Asian men what do you want to see you so last section is what do you want to see on
campus to help you graduate? So, I'm going to go down the line-- clubs, finance->> That's a very->> Hold on, sorry. Finance, family-- I'm skipping family, but workshops, financial aid, so this is just the be all and all
last question is we need more graduates. In four years what we need to do at Fresno State down the line economic social
cultural, whatever it is to get you to graduate in four years and will also to get you to graduate. So the first one is what
we need to do and have on campus for you to graduate? Just graduate. What we need to do on campus to make you feel
safe to graduate. What do we need?
>> More opportunities.
>> Okay. So more opportunities. Be specific.
>> I know there's a lot of opportunities in regards to what I just said but more opportunities for not just Asians but
people in general to see that there is more than one way to succeed.
>> Okay, more opportunities->> In the way that there are majors that you don't know. Like for me, the way I succeeded was I didn't realize that there
was actually an option in business major for any information systems.
>> Okay.
>> And a lot of-- a good amount of my friends didn't realize that until they were two, three, years into their majors.
>> Okay.
>> In one of my friends actually just told me what my majors about. And I had to tell him because you know it wasn't
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obvious.
>> Okay.
>> A lot of majors that are in Fresno State are not known to the public.
>> So make the majors known.
>> Make the major known. Make the major be more public, make the major be more realize.
>> All right. So make-- that's a specific. Make the majors known. Okay.
>> Try to see-- in a way like try to see what the transfer rate is. Like where are the students transferring from, like in
terms of harder classes and try to see where they are transferring and what major they are transferring into an see the
difference. Is it-- is the major filling up because of the transfer rate or incoming freshman?
>> Okay.
>> Because I didn't know there was information systems major when I was a freshman.
>> Oh, okay.
>> And if I knew that what the information systems was about as a freshman, I would've been there before computer
science.
>> Interesting. Okay. So basically look at the data on freshman and transfer.
>> And the comparison rate.
>> Okay, compare->> And see which ones actually people realize that hey, this is actually the major I want to go to.
>> Okay. That's something we can do. Okay. What workshop do you want to see a campus?
>> Honestly the discovery is like the best thing.
>> Okay. It is.
>> Technology in general.
>> So do you want more-- do you want more workshops on technology?
>> Yeah. I want more workshops on technology because that just doesn't just apply to Asians. It applies to everyone in
general. And honestly [inaudible] is doing a great job at it.
>> Okay.
>> But yeah-- in terms-- just more workshops learning about technology because->> Okay.
>> -- in a way it would be beneficial for-- okay. I'm being stereotypical here, but it's going to be very beneficial for
Asians because you know tech Asian kind of coincides kind of do.
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>> Okay.
>> But he gives more opportunities for Asians to realize that they would rather have that. That that's a very viable
option because a lot of parents don't realize that. And I was able to achieve what I achieved I was able to get the
experience that I wanted to and that I needed to from a major because that became an option when I was still in college.
>> Right.
>> And it helped me out tremendously just tech in general.
>> Okay. So classes.
>> Classes?
>> You want smaller classes? Do you want more classes? What do you want for classes?
>> I want more classes. [inaudible]
>> In what?
>> Me personally? Well here's the thing. I graduated with a major that not a lot of Asians go to. Which means that
whenever I go into that major there's I don't really have as much competition. Because not a lot of people know it. That's
why I was able to-- I switched my major in 2014, 15? So that means I graduated in two years, right? But that's because I
had no block when it comes-- I didn't have to wait for classes. I was actually able to automatically go to classes because
my major-- my option wasn't as demanding. Before.
>> Okay.
>> But obviously with the nursing and stuff like that->> Yeah, yeah.
>> It's way too demanding. That's what the original thing is.
>> Okay. So more classes and you graduated in a major that wasn't as impacted. Okay.
>> Yeah.
>> What classes-- more classes but-- and what about the faculty? You want more faculty? Does it matter? Do you want
more Filipino faculty? Do what were Asian faculty? Does it make no difference at all?
>> It doesn't make a difference to me personally if the person is Filipino or not. Just because I mean the one thing we
can do is bond->> Okay.
>> -- for Filipino stuff. But I do want more Filipino representation.
>> Okay.
>> Just in general like I want people to realize that Filipino culture exists and that it's actually wonderful.
>> Okay.
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>> We do our best in this club but I mean we're just a cultural club. We can do more but we just don't have enough
support for it.
>> Okay. All right. Let's go to clubs. What do you want more support for the college or clubs? What do you want?
>> This is me like putting->> Because I literally will-- what do you want? I mean what did you-- could we have done more for your club? I mean
you need more money? Do more-- what you need? Like do we need a place that's a Filipino club building or room that
is what you need for your club?
>> Yes. That would be amazing, actually.
>> Okay.
>> Not a Filipino club per se but like an Asian center.
>> In Asian center.
>> Center-- because-- [inaudible] An Asian center kind of like what they did with the->> They have at Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton.
>> Yeah. [inaudible] Where they have like a building and each room has its own dedicated->> Yes.
>> -- culture.
>> Yeah.
>> Like one for Hmong, one for Mien, one for Filipinos, one for Cambodian, Hawaiian, because people who are not
Asian tend to mix the races up because they don't know. They don't know the difference. So they-- and we as Filipinos
when that happens to us we tend to I guess not offended but be discouraged with our own culture because what
separates from the other cultures then? If other races can't even tell us apart?
>> Okay.
>> In regards to like our diversity.
>> Okay.
>> And we don't have representation in general for this. Our representation is Asian.
>> Okay.
>> Oh, right.
>> Yeah. Our representation is Asian. When it comes to scholarships, our representation is as long as you're Asian,
Southeast Asian, here you go. There's no Filipino, there's no like focus on that. I mean there's some, but not at Fresno
State, unfortunately from-- in my opinion.
>> Okay. So Fresno State you would want an Asian center, you'd want a focused on a Filipino possible room. Okay.
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>> Yeah. And they have a lot of events in regards to the Hispanic ones. Mexicans->> They do.
>> They have a lot but then again that's normal because it's Fresno.
>> And is 47%.
>> It is 47%. So there's a lot in there.
>> Yeah.
>> There's a lot of you know the African-American stuff. But there is nothing really for Asians in general. I mean you
have the Japanese internment thing here.
>> Yeah they just->> They just have that-- you have some sort of a-- you don't even see Hmong.
>> Right, right. Wow.
>> They had the Hmong New Year. They didn't like even show that part of Hmong New Year at Fresno State even
though there is a great amount of Hmong culture here. I have no idea how many. There is so many Hmong people here.
>> 50% of all Asians are Hmong.
>> Yeah.
>> Who knew?
>> And words the representation for Hmong people?
>> That is-- that's a good one. Yes.
>> There's nothing.
>> There's nothing. Same thing with Filipinos. And honestly, Hmong, Mien in the Philippines are not the only ones.
There's Thai, there's Laotian, there's Vietnamese, there's Korean, there's a bunch of other and but there's no
representation. We have our cultural clubs and there's only so much a cultural club can do.
>> All right. Excellent. Okay. So my last question is is there anything else that you want to add? So I had your financial
I have your classes I had your social, workshops etc. Is there anything else you'd like to add?
>> In the interview?
>> Yeah, anything that you think that Fresno State can have for you to graduate in four years or six years?
>> Four years, six years. The biggest reason why I didn't graduate in four years instead of six years was because I didn't
realize that there was a major there that had what I wanted.
>> Okay.
>> So if there's a way to fix that because it's really hard right now or there's a way to convince but there's probably not. I
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don't think that->> You can't go against the law.
>> Yeah. But moneywise, yeah. Financial aid.
>> Financial aid.
>> Financial aid.
>> Okay, that's for sure.
>> Yeah, financial aid. It's-- I'm looking at my fellow Asians, the girl I dated and she was financial aid money. A lot of
Asians are in the low income part and other than financial aid grants differently that they don't have any other way of
making-- of getting the money that they need to graduate.
>> Okay.
>> So scholarships.
>> Scholarships.
>> Scholarships is the best bet. If there's scholarships make the scholarships more known.
>> Make it more known?
>> Oh, and-- okay. I think I can-- I have an idea. Have Fresno State if there is-- have Fresno State push classes for
nonstudents that help understand-- that teach English. I know it's-- we already kind of have that, but a lot of the reasons- not Filipino just Asians in general->> Okay.
>> A lot of is why is because they just don't understand it.
>> So have English classes?
>> Huh?
>> More English classes? What do you mean?
>> [inaudible] Okay, so the biggest thing that-- will my girlfriend did was she was part of this program that, technical
literacy-- technological literacy-- digital literacy. And that helped out a lot of people. And that's what stunted a lot of
Filipinos a lot of Asians is because they don't know how to deal with technology.
>> Technical English.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> And discovery was helping out with that. They teach people how to - they teach people how to work with
technology. They teach people how to succeed better and in a way that could also help Asians and Filipinos because we
can talk to our-- we contact the older group.
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>> Okay. All right. That's excellent. That's something that I can definitely ask for.
>> Yeah. [inaudible] let them know that->> Okay.
>> -- their soul younger generation Asians that can teach the older generation Asians how to succeed better in life in
terms of literacy and in terms of technology in terms of society. Because that will help bridge the gap between the
digital divide.
>> So what you're saying is do you want us to start a mentoring program for older Asians that mentor the younger
Asians?
>> Switch it.
>> You want younger Asians to mentor the older Asians?
>> In terms of in terms of literacy and technology and stuff like that.
>> So you want-- but you mean outside of Fresno State? Or in Fresno State?
>> Both.
>> Both.
>> Yeah. We could have a reach out-- a reaching out program that says that if there are people like me who are->> So younger to older?
>> Yes. There are people like me who already know what it feels like to do it all that stuff. We already know what it
feels like to how to kind of like be successful as an American Asian.
>> Okay.
>> And who already know the language fluently and who that already is very digitally literate to the point where you
know there can be successful. But the older generation of Asians don't have that. And that's what's keeping them from
being successful in life and that's what's keeping them in their place because they just don't know how to do it.
>> So you are asking students to go out into the community to help out the elders? Is that what you're saying? Or are
you talking about student on student mentoring. I don't understand.
>> Both. It can have both.
>> Both?
>> But honestly, yeah. That's the biggest thing.
>> Okay.
>> Think about it. A Filipino like me who is very fluent in Tagalog but is also very technologically literate and whose
graduated with a business degree? And let's say well I kind of do actually-- let's say I have a affinity for teaching people.
I have an affinity for-- I have a fondness for teaching them how to do things. Letting them know that this is actually
available for you. And I can speak in their tongue so that way they can understand more about it. Put me in a room of
Filipinos who don't understand those who don't really understand the communicative English and who are very
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technologically illiterate and who don't-- who doesn't understand-- well not understand but like who needs some
guidance and that's why they're stuck like that.
>> And are these Filipino? What would it look like? Are they 40s, 50s, 60s or are they->> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> They are like parents, if you will.
>> Okay.
>> We could already do that but we just don't->> Okay.
>> Yeah.
>> What about->> And it's really hard. You know why it's really hard? Because parents the older generation have the mentality of they
know better than the younger generation.
>> Yes. Yeah.
>> And that's the hard part. And they have to get over that but unless they-- if they get over that->> Okay.
>> You realize how-- you realize how much the younger generation actually want to help out the older generation?
>> Okay. We do. We just get shot down by the older generation because they feel like they know more than us. When in
reality, we can help each other out. They just don't let us.
>> Thank you. I'm going to-- that's so great. I'm going to end with that quote just because that's a beautiful quote that
you just said that the younger generation does want to help out the older. But-- and they both need help.
>> We need each othe's help.
>> Yeah.
>> We need their help in understanding our own culture we need their help in understanding society.
>> That is-- that's quite beautiful what you just said. Thank you. Okay. So is there anything-- that's it. Is there-- okay. So
thank you so much. I'm going to turn this off. Let me turn this off.
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