What does it mean to be Filipino?
 
For much of my life, I didn't have a good answer to that question. Since it's Filipino American History Month, I'll try to answer it now.
 
As I've written in previous blog entries, I'm the son of Filipino immigrants, I was born in California and I grew up as what I think was a typical Filipino American kid of the 1970s and 1980s. My mom was – shocker! – a nurse and my dad was in the U.S. Navy. He joined the Navy when he still lived in the Philippines to earn a salary and help support his large family, which included my lolo (grandfather), lola (grandmother) and several aunts and uncles.

Growing up, first in Southern California, then in Nebraska and finally in the Bay Area, as the middle child (with an older sister and younger brother), I was interested in Star Wars, Dungeons & Dragons, sports and music. Unfortunately, my interest in pop culture didn't have many Filipino influences, other than the singers (Rico J. Puno) and songs (Dahil Sa Iyo) my parents would sometimes mention. 
 
As I got older, I discovered that being Filipino means more than just going to family functions and enjoying the cuisine, karaoke and basketball (Go Lakers!). Those things are part of the culture, though, and I enjoy all of them. Well, not dinuguan so much.
 
I was elated to get into UC Berkeley. But other than a friend from high school who also came to Cal and another friend I met in the dorms, I didn't know any Filipinos here. I don't know what Filipino clubs or student groups the University offered back then – I didn't do a great job looking for them – but I'm happy that the Filipino community definitely has a presence here now in the form of student, alum and staff organizations.
 
For me now, being Filipino means embracing my family's culture and the history of the Philippines more than I ever have. It also means helping to educate my wife and kids about my side of the family. I've done that somewhat through the years. When my oldest daughter was younger, I signed her up for a beginning Tagalog class (thanks, Karen Llagas!). Both my daughters took a Tagalog class last summer, so they definitely know more of the language than I do.
 
I've enjoyed delving into the culture of late, including as a member of the Filipinx Faculty & Staff Association. Promoting and celebrating the accomplishments of the Filipinx community on campus – particularly with my hard-working and talented colleagues in the FFSA – has been rewarding. I'm part of the group that creates the FFSA Member Spotlights that we post on Instagram to promote our organization and to celebrate Filipino American History Month. FAHM in October commemorates the first Filipinos to arrive in the continental United States at what is now Morro Bay, California, on Oct. 18, 1587.
 
I'm glad to work at a university that has an exhibit centering Philippine and Filipinx American histories, at the Bancroft Library. I was proud that such an exhibit even existed. Reading about the background of writer and poet Jessica Hagedorn was interesting, and even learning more about Spain's colonization of the Philippines was informative (if painful).
 
Being Filipino is different for each of us, of course, and I'm still figuring out exactly what it means for me.
 
An Assistant Director in Cal Athletic Communications, Dean Caparaz is also a member of HAUPIAA (Honoring Ancestry & Uniting Pacific Islanders & Asian Americans), an employee-engagement group in Cal Athletics.