By Maddie Gee | Reporter
The mission statement of Baylor’s Filipino Student Association (FSA) is “to share our culture, community and philanthropy with other people.” They participate in campus events like Mosaic Mixer and spread their culture through the love and joy they aim to radiate.
Dallas junior Jade Brown has been involved in Baylor’s Filipino Student Association since her freshman year.
“Late Night my freshman year when I walked into the SUB about three young ladies ran up to me and started asking me questions about how I was doing. They really were kind, caring and made me feel at home and welcome here at Baylor.” Brown said. “I didn’t really have a group here yet so that is why I joined FSA, and I’ve stuck with them ever since.”
Houston senior Carlo Pangilinan had a similar experience.
“I first heard about FSA at Mosaic Mixer my freshman year,” Pangilinan said. “It was much like Jade’s experience where there were these two guys (alumni now), who were very welcoming and I feel like — this is a little dramatic — I felt like I immediately knew that these were the guys that I was gonna do college with. It was a very welcoming atmosphere that FSA had that really drew me in. Such an emphasis on family as I later found out throughout my freshman year. The atmosphere of family is what made me stay.”
According to Pangilinan, the theme of family is apparent as soon as you walk in the door. Smiling faces surround members as today’s hip-hop hits play in the background. He said there is a much deeper and more personal focus in the organization than meets the eye.
“We have something called the Ate-Kuya program … the direct translation is ‘big sister, big brother.’ Whenever you become a member of FSA, you get put into one of our four families,” Pangilinan said. “Whenever I was a freshman that was the inaugural year of the program. It is kind of like a mentor-mentee thing. FSA as a whole is a family, but you have your family on like a smaller scale. It is just a cool program that really incorporates the family aspect of FSA.”
Along with their messages of family and love, FSA is also known for their dance performances, mostly seen at events like “Mosaic Mixer.” Dallas junior Chelsea Battad is the dance choreographer for FSA.
“Every year, we are always prepping for showcases. We have at least four practices every week to learn the dances, clean them, perfect them and make the formations for them so they look ready for our performances,” Battad said. “We always like to participate in Mosaic Mixer because that is how we can give our first impression to people and really showcase who we are as a team.”
Baylor FSA is on the way to making big moves on campus while spreading awareness about their morals and dance skills.
“The three pillars of FSA are family, team and fun. In everything that we do, we want to make sure that we are acting as a family, promoting teamwork, and that we are going to have fun,” Brown said. “No matter who you are, what your classification is, we just embrace you, love you and want to promote the Filipino culture.”
