By; Carlos Abainza, College Student Council
Last ๐๐๐น๐ ๐ด, ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฐ, the College of Arts and Sciences hosted an institutional exchange visit between the ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ and ๐ฆ๐ธ๐๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฒ, held at the ๐จ๐ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ from ๐ญ๐ฌ:๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐ – ๐ฐ:๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐ .
The event, entitled “๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฉ๐ค๐ง๐๐๐จ, ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ช๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐๐จ”, welcomed the inaugural Skyline College ‘Study Abroad’ cohort to the Philippines, composed of 9 students and 1 community researcher, through a series of immersive presentations, discussions, and activities centered around the rediscovery of cultural roots and the Filipino identity. ๐๐ฟ. ๐ก๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป ๐ข๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฒ, Acting President of Skyline College, led the group in search of personal growth and cultural immersion for the Filipino-American students from San Bruno, California.
The ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ began the cultural experience with a medley of Filipino Folk Dances from across the various regions of the country, showcasing the local colors and diversity from the lowlands to the Cordilleras.
Then, Skyline College’s ๐๐ฟ. ๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐น๐ผ (Language Arts Division Professor) and ๐๐ฟ. ๐ฅ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฏ๐๐ฎ๐น (Ethnic Studies Professor) lectured on the “๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ป๐๐โ๐๐ ๐ธ๐๐ข๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐”, the “๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ต๐ฉ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด”, and the “๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฌ๐บ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ’๐ด ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐บ ๐๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ”. They highlighted the stories of the Filipino diaspora as well as the shared experiences of their students, hailing from various higher education institutions in the California area, particularly the ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ฎ – ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐, the ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ผ, and ๐ฆ๐ธy๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฒ.
This was followed by a lunch break, with food and services provided by the ๐จ๐ ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ง๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐บ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐, focused on serving traditional cuisine for a true sense of a Filipino “salo-salo”.
At the resumption of the institutional exchange, the Skyline delegates were escorted to ๐จ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด, ๐ฅ๐ผ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ด for the ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ช๐ฎ๐น๐ธ๐ portion of the event, where the visiting students and professors were able to sit in on ๐๐๐๐. ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐พ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ผ’s class on ๐๐ 110๐ – ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต & ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ด.
Afterwards, a simulated Dap-ay session was conducted back at the UC Theater, involving the Skyline cohort and the selected UC student representatives in an open question-and-answer discussion on the topic “๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐๐ช๐ข๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข: ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ต๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ. Moderated” by ๐ ๐. ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ป๐ด, UC-CAS Social Sciences Department instructor, the activity sought to cultivate an environment full of a willingness to share and partake in the celebration of heritage, the breaking of barriers, and the rediscovery of the Filipino culture through a diasporan lens.
Finally, the event concluded in a workshop facilitated by the ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ (๐๐๐ฃ). Under the guidance of ๐ ๐ฟ. ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฎ๐ ๐. ๐ก๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐น๐ฎ, the Director of the CCP, the Skyline cohort was encouraged to play the traditional Cordilleran gongs and to partake in the community dance as the culmination of cultural immersion.
