After interviewing Nes, I thought it would be fun to interview another one of my friends who has been very active in the Asian American community at Northeastern. I decided to interview my close friend, Matt, a fourth year at Northeastern who has been on NU Barkada eboard for two years. He’s currently on District One eboard (with me!). I took this opportunity to try to figure out what I didn’t already know about him. So I found him in curry, we listened to some Christmas music, and our interview started..
So Matt, where are you from? Jersey.
Have you lived there your whole life? As long as I can remember– I moved once before I was 4.
Was there a big Filipino community where you grew up?
Not really other than my family friends. The people I was around were the only diverse pockets in the school. I didn’t realize how skewed the demographic was until I stepped back and looked at the larger picture. That’s when I started to think critically about how I fit in the rest of the world.
How has Filipino culture influenced your life at home?
My parents weaved Filipino culture into my everyday life. I never went to a Filipino school or took lessons.
Can you give me an example of how Filipino culture was incorporated in your daily life?
I watched a lot of teleseryes. I would ask questions about life in the Philippines. Everytime I asked my parents about a school project, they suggested that I think about the Philippines. They made me critical about my culture.
What does culture mean to you and how does it shape your life?
Culture is the culmination of mine and my family’s experience, which shaped me into who I am today.
So did you know that you wanted to join NU Barkada before you came to Northeastern?
Actually, the only reason I joined was because I knew someone there who’s friends with my childhood best friend. Connor Jew! I didn’t have a huge desire to join Barkada at first.
No way! What made you stay?
The people. One top of that, there’s no other club on campus that I vibed with. After recognizing that there’s so much about Filipino culture that I didn’t know, I wanted to be a part of this. My parents raised me to be proud of the fact that I was Filipino.
How have you changed since freshman year?
There’s a lot of ways that I‘ve changed actually. I’ve gotten a lot more confident. So I’m a mix between an introvert and extrovert. Coming to college, it was equal. Now I’m very much an extrovert. More often than not, I’m confident meeting new people, helping out, doing talks.
Also, I’m definitely more mature. Overall, I grew up.
I’ll switch topics now. What’s your go-to meal to cook?
When you want to ball out, sisig. I have to make that for so. many. people. Other than sisig, I told Adrian I would make him sinigang.
What do you do for self-care?
Watch anime, and play basketball, and play a lot of video games.
Okay, now do you have any general advice for me?
For you? Knowing our personal history together. . . Life is too short to be held back by what you are afraid of and what you think might happen. So make mistakes, learn from them, pick yourself back up, and most importantly, do what makes you happy.
Tell me about a time you were really embarrassed?
I don’t remember the last time in a recent memory that I was truly embarrassed, which I guess speaks about my personality.
What are your insecurities?
Hmmm my energy output. I get insecure that my energy is too much sometimes. I like it when people get to know me one-on-one before being in a group setting because I act differently.
Wow thanks for letting me interview you Matt! Anything you would like to say to the blog?
What’s up? To anyone reading this, I appreciate you, and I am always down to talk to you and everyone reading. If anyone wants to slide into my dms, I’m taken, but I’m down for more friends.
