Knowing Where I Come From: What AAPI Month Means to Me

Embracing my Filipina roots and sharing it with others

Northern Arizona University

4 min readMay 25, 2023

By: Gwyneth Abella, Class of 2023

What culture(s) and/or ethnic group(s) do you identify with?

I identify as full Filipina and Asian-American.

What does being an Asian-American Pacific Islander mean to you?

Being an Asian-American means embracing my culture and taking pride in where I come from. I was born in the Philippines and my family and I migrated to the US when I was only 3 years old.

We moved to a small little island in Hawai’i and the picture below is actually when we first arrived! and we have lived there ever since.

Being able to move to the US is a privilege and something I will never take for granted. And when we do get to take a vacation to the Philippines, it will always be a reminder of how lucky I am to be born in such a magical place.

How do you celebrate AAPI month?

I celebrate AAPI month by learning to cook a new Filipino recipe. I love to cook Filipino dishes at home, it definitely makes up for when I start to feel homesick.

Hawai’i is a melting pot of all different cultures and filipinos definitely makes up a huge chunk of the population.

Learning to cook something new from my culture will always be humbling because in a perfect world, cooking a new dish would come out just like my mom’s on the first try, but I love doing it and the results that come with it.

Can you share a favorite tradition from your culture(s)?

My favorite tradition from my culture has got to be boodle fights. We do this at big celebrations or cookouts but it originated from a Philippine military tradition.

It’s comprised of a central mound of food — typically consisting of white rice, a variety of viands (meat or seafood) fruits and vegetables piled on banana to share.

Diners are usually meant to be gathered around the table and eating while standing without the use of cutlery.

We don’t do this all the time but when we do — it goes down! My family recently did a boodle fight this past New Years!

What’s your favorite cultural dish?

EVERYTHING is my favorite cultural dish. But on a serious note, since I have a lot of favorites, I enjoy cooking Pancit, Pinakbet and Lechon Kawali.

But my favorite thing to cook is Pinakbet because its easy and has lots of my favorite veggies in it.

How can people be better allies to the AAPI communities?

People can be better allies to the AAPI communities by simply learning about the history of Anti-AAPI racism.
Examine and eliminate any biases and misconceptions you may have, including the Model Minority Myth.
Lastly, show compassion and sympathy to your loved ones, friends, neighbors, and coworkers.

What’s one misconception about being AAPI you’d like to clear up?

I would like to clear up the model minority myth. I feel like there is a stereotype that Asian students are high achievers academically.

I was a pretty decent student growing up. I didn’t get straight A’s on my report card and science was my weakest subject in school growing up — but that didn’t make me a disappointment because I still showed up to school everyday and did the best that I could.

I wish more Asian students could realize that but the model minority can take a toll on someone’s self-esteem.

Hear more from Gwyneth and fellow senior Janelle on our latest episode of LumberChats.