Oral History Interview with Jenika Alyssa Maala

Oral History Interview with Jenika Alyssa Maala

Oral history interview with Jenika Alyssa Maala, interviewed by Hanah Miller

5/29/2019

The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies and the UC Davis Asian American Studies department holds intellectual control of these recordings. Usage is restricted for educational, non-commercial purposes only. For other uses, please contact archivist Jason Sarmiento at ajsarmiento@ucdavis.edu

Audio Recording and Transcript

ucdw_wa014_s001_0031

Hanah Miller

Jenika Alyssa Maala

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ml7EgjJ5Y9A0MLPETE4hEEG6whC2al9V/view?usp=sharing, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vZJtMzPSboijApvLo4ofLfmCXNqodc_f/view?usp=sharing

May 29, 2019)
(Start audio file)
Hannah Miller: Okay, so it’s Wednesday May 29th, 2019. 8:56pm, and I am with Jenika Alyssa
Maala. And I am doing this recording for my ASA 150 final project.
Hannah Miller: So Jenika, where and when were you born?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: So I was born February 10th, 1999 in Batangas City, Philippines.
Hannah Miller: Where were your parents born?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: So my parents were born in the Batangas region as well. My dad was born
in Bulacan and my mother was born in Laurel.
Hannah Miller: What jobs did your parents do?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: So in the Philippines, my dad is a doctor, an internal medicine doctor and
my mother was a nurse who worked abroad. She worked in Saudi Arabia for a few years and she
moved to America to work for quite a while until she brought us over, the whole family over.
And now my mother is a nurse here in America. My dad also came here and became a nurse for
about 10 years but now he moved back to the Philippines and continues his job as a doctor.
Hannah Miller: Do you know anything about your grandparents?
Jemika Alyssa Maala: My maternal grandparents, I don’t know much of but I know that my
paternal grandparents were both high school teachers. I think my grandpa was either a math or
history teacher.
Hannah Miller: How many siblings do you have?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: I have three other siblings. Two sisters and one brother, I am the youngest
one. The oldest is currently turning 31, the second older is turning 30, and my brother who is the
third oldest is turning 25 this year.
Hannah Miller: Did you come from a big family?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: From my mother side, she has a big family. She had 9, 10 siblings. I think
two kinda past away at birth, but from my mom side is a big family. My dad side, he had 4
siblings and they have around like 2-3 kids each.
Hannah Miller: What was your academic experience in the Philippines?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: So in the Philippines I went up to 1st grade.
Hannah Miller: What was it like?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Comparing it to like…
Hannah Miller: America
Jenika Alyssa Maala: America? Oh gosh. I remember moving here to America and thinking ‘Oh
my gosh. I literally learned all of this like in kindergarten.’ And I was in 2nd grade!
Hannah Miller: *laughs*
Jenika Alyssa Maala: I don’t know. I just remembered learning a lot of things in the Philippines.
Like I learned like multiplication when I was in kindergarten. And you don’t learn that until like
what...2nd or 3rd grade.
Hannah Miller: Yeah
Jenika Alyssa Maala: And we did a bunch of science projects in…
Hannah Miller: In kindergarten?!
Jenika Alyssa Maala: In like 1st grade
Hannah Miller: In 1st grade?? Wow.
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Yeah! It was just...I don’t know. It seemed like at that time like when I was
going through elementary like I was like ‘Wow, I think the Philippines education is more
advanced.’ *laughs*
Hannah Miller: So why did you decide to move out of the Philippines?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Well it wasn’t my choice. It was my parents’ choice. My mother who
moved here first, I guess really liked the environment and you know how safe it is. And both my
parents learned about you know, the education here and you know in the Philippines, they’ll
always praise someone who got a degree in America. And so that’s why they decided to move
the whole family to America to get, you know, better education, you know, better job
opportunities and yeah. And so my siblings all came along too.
Hannah Miller: So you said that your mom brought you guys over. So did that mean your mom
came here first and then...?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Mhmm.
Hannah Miller: Oh
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Yeah. So she was working here as a nurse. And I would visit her. I would
visit. She worked in LA area so I’d visit her. Before I moved here in America, like I visited
America. Like a few times. So it wasn’t like moving here was like completely my first
impression of America. She was the first one here. I think she was like, she lived here a year or
two? Yeah a year or two before we came.
Hannah Miller: What year did she move to the United States?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: I-I think around 2004 around that time. 2004...2005.
Hannah Miller: When did you and the rest of your family move to the United States?
Jeniak Alyssa Maala: I actually remember the exact date. Cus my dad and I were the first ones,
you know from the Philippines, except for my mom, my mom was already here. My dad and I
came here first. It was March 31st, 2006. I was seven years old. It was so crazy... oh my gosh!
*in awe*
Hannah Miller: *laughs* That was not too long ago.
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Yeah! And then my siblings came like a month after. Yeah, cus I
remember like we moved literally right when I finished school. Cus yeah that’s one thing too
like with the differences in schools. In the Philippines we use to end in March. Yeah and so
that’s why we moved here in March and I think my siblings had to stay a little longer because
their school ended later than mine.
Hannah Miller: Did you guys start in August?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: We started in June...yeah.
Hannah Miller: Woooow okay.
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Yeah, yeah. In the Philippines I remember we ended in March and we
started in June. Yeah so that’s why when I moved here before I started 2nd grade I had like
what...a four month vacation? Yeah I had a four month vacation before I started school here.
Hannah Miller: Interesting. Did you move anywhere else before settling in the United States?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Nope. I was just in the Philippines, in Batangas City.
Hannah Miller: Okay. Where did you move to when you came to the United States?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: So we lived in my mother’s apartment for I think just like a month until my
parents I guess got their house paperwork done and we moved to Bakersfield. And I think I
remember when we came, the house wasn’t done yet so we had to live in like a hotel for like a
month.
Hannah Miller: Oh wow
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Yeah it was...it’s Homewood Suites. If you know where that is, it’s like in
Ming next to the Marketplace. Yeah we were there for a month and then we would like
continuously like check on the house that was still being built.
Hannah Miller: What were your thoughts about America before you moved here?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: So as I said, we visited my mom here before I moved here. I don’t know, I
was like really young. But all I remember was going to Disneyland a lot. *laughs* Going to
Disneyland, and I was just, the weather is the biggest thing. I’d be like ‘Oh my gosh, it’s so
cold.’ *laughs* It’s so cold like coming from like Philippine weather...oh gosh. That and also
like the cleanliness, and the roads were so big here and I don’t know, also just like the diversity
of people, you really don’t see that in the Philippines. It was a lot to take in but I was young so I
just grew and developed.
Hannah Miller: So would you change like your perspective changed?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Oh yeah definitely. I felt like when I moved to America it’s when I
realized like ‘Oh there’s more to the world than like Filipinos’ I guess *laughs* Like it felt like
the world was bigger than I knew. Like I think my world was revolved around the Philippines.
And like the culture in the Philippines was like similar else. Yeah, I learned a lot. Like moving in
America, that there was like different types of people, like languages and culture.
Hannah Miller: I see. What was different about living in America as opposed to living in the
Philippines?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Oh so I had to really grow to be independent. Cus in the Philippines, when
your parents make like a decent amount of money, they can hire like nannies, and like cleaners,
like helpers, like maids. And so my parents had that. They gave me a nanny, I had a tutor. And
so I always just had someone to like wake me up in the morning, help me to get dressed, cook
me food, like help me with homework. And so moving here to America, I remember like
thinking ‘Oh my gosh, I have to do everything myself.’ *laughs*
Hannah Miller: *laughs*
Jenika Alyssa Maala: And like I think I asked my parents one time, ‘How come I don’t have a
nanny?’ and they were just like, ‘No, it doesn’t work like that here.’ Yeah, that was one big thing
and then the other things...oh...like the living environment. Cus in the Philippines you get really
close to the people in your neighborhood, the people just like your neighbors. You get really
close to them. Like I played a lot with the kids in my neighborhood. But here when I moved to
America, everyone is just like isolated to themselves. No one really goes out, no one really like
talks to their neighbors. And so, I don’t know. That’s one big thing. Like in my childhood, I had
to like play inside by myself as oppose to the Philippines I would go out every night playing with
other kids. That’s one thing. I don’t know, there’s just so many differences that I could say.
Hannah Miller: You can keep going!
Jenika Alyssa Maala: I can keep going?! Oh! Food. Like you go to a grocery store not just like
some food stand by the street or you don’t go to like the Palengke or like the wet market, that’s
what they call it. What else...oh...the tv is different, tv channels *laughs*
Hannah Miller: Oh interesting
Jenika Alyssa Maala: There’s more channels here. So I watched tv a lot as a kid. Yeah that’s one
thing too, like in the Philippines, or at that time when I was there, they didn’t really focus on
technology that much. That’s why I would be out like playing with other kids. So it’s like, I
don’t know, I would be out more. In America, since I was inside my house a lot, I would watch
tv a lot, like all day. That’s one thing. That’s the biggest difference I’d say, like growing up.
Hannah Miller: So it’s kind of like you actually had like that childhood
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Yeah it was just like a big shift
Hannah Miller: How did it make you feel?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: It made me feel lonely. At that time, my siblings and I weren’t really that
close. They were still in like their teenage years so they were out doing their things. I didn’t
really have a friend, and of course in a new country, your parents don’t really know what’s
normal here. And so they were very overprotective of me and I couldn’t go to like my
classmate’s house to play. I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t go out to like watch a movie with friends.
That was the biggest thing. I couldn’t go out to watch a movie with friends until like high school
I think. Yeah, so they were very overprotective of me. They didn’t really know how the other
kids were like. And so they always just kept me inside. And so that’s why I felt really lonely like
I didn’t have someone to play with and so yeah. That was the biggest thing. I felt lonely. But it’s
okay. *laughs*
Hannah Miller: It’s okay! You’re not alone now *laughs*
Hannah Miller: Okay, so did you stay with family or were you alone when you came to the
United States?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: So in La, my dad’s side lived close by. So we visited them a lot while we
were living in LA. Even like when we lived in Bakersfield, we would go back to LA to visit
them. But yeah, we would go there a lot. But we didn’t like live with them or anything but We
visited them a lot. Cus they were like one of the few people we know who was there in America.
It was in Montebello, so to be exact..in LA.
Hannah Miller: What jobs did you perform when you were in America?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: I mean here, I just do a bunch of part time jobs. Like in the food service
industry. So like I’m working for the school, Peet’s barista. I also got a job in Bakersfield as like
helping out in like an acai shop. It’s really hard to find a job here in America I really noticed,
comparing it to the Philippines. In the Philippines, even though there’s like a lot of people, you’d
think it’d be competitive, but there’s always something you can do to earn money there. But here
it’s just like it was more difficult to find a job. It’s also kind of hard, or at least from my
perspective, it’s hard to like trust babysitters, those jobs that are like under the table. In the
Philippines there’s a lot of like under the table jobs and it was normal there. But here like it’s not
that normal so it’s kinda like scary, you don’t trust it.
Hannah Miller: Did your parents have jobs here in America before like their stable jobs now?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: No, it’s always been the same. Like my mom was a nurse so she came here
as nurse. My dad, cus he you know, came from being a doctor to a nurse, I think he got like his
nursing certificate in the Philippines and got it like approved. So they’ve always been like nurses
here in America. Nothing more than that.
Hannah Miller: Did you notice anything different between 1st generation immigrants and the
Filipino American community?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Oh yeah. There’s such a huge difference. I really noticed that when I came
here to Davis. Cus before I got into college I thought that Filipino Americans would act like 1st
generation immigrants and that like, I guess you can say ‘fob’ like ‘fob sense’ cus in where I
lived, basically all of the Filipinos that I know, they were really in touched with their culture or
they’re really in touch with the Philippines I’d say. Like everyone watched the tv shows from the
Philippines, like they would be up to date with the celebrity gossip, or like everything that’s
going on in the Philippines. Yeah they would always like speak tagalog or they would listen to
Filipino music that was sang in tagalog. And like the humor too. That’s the biggest thing.
Filipino humor is interesting and so not a lot of Filipino Americans can understand that humor.
Yeah so that’s what I noticed when I came here. Like I met more people who were born in
America as opposed to like people who moved here. Though like their parents who taught them
like the food, the cuisine, simple phrases, like the respect in culture, but there’s still like a huge
difference between 1st generation immigrants and Filipino Americans. I guess the biggest thing
too is that Filipino Americans have that greater chance of being conservative, just cus they came
from the Philippines, where it’s like super conservative. So I feel like Filipino Americans are, I’d
say are a lot more open minded, and they’re definitely, Filipino Americans are definitely more in
touch with American culture, like music wise, media, tv shows. And so yeah, with humor too.
The inside jokes between immigrants and the Filipino Americans, I don’t think they would ever
get it. Like I noticed that. And I don’t know, I don’t know how to describe it. But there’s a really
clear distinction between those two groups. But yeah, moving here to Davis, coming here and
joining the Fil-Am community, I saw like 1st generation immigrants and Filipino Americans and
you can really tell the difference between those two. And I don’t know, I think 1st generation
immigrants are kind of more appreciative of what they have. Cus in the Philippines, there’s
really a huge difference in living situations and here, what you have here is hard to get in the
Philippines. So I think 1st generation immigrants are definitely more appreciative of what they
have here cus Filipino Americans kind of just grew up into it. Like the immigrants, you know,
came from like living, or like for me, my family came from a province where electricity would
go out a lot because of really strong rainstorms. And so when it happens here, you’re like ‘oh my
gosh’ the world is ending for some people, like literally we’re like ‘oh my gosh!’ But like for me,
when that would happen, I’d be like ‘oh, this is normal.’ It’d be so normal.
Hannah Miller: Did you ever feel like you felt different or like you felt like you didn’t belong
here because you were from the Philippines?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: I feel like...yeah. I felt those moments. I mean the biggest thing is you
know, my parents. I’d be different from like the kids in school. I’m pretty sure like I think my
parents told me too that growing up ‘oh your accent is getting better’. So I think when I moved
here, my accent distinguished me between all the students in my class. Also with, I think with
toys or with everything that’s going on that’s popular, I guess I was like a little later in finding
out, so that’s when I felt a little left out. Oh and with like lunch. I don’t know. I always saw kids
come to school with like packed lunches and I would think to myself, ‘How come I don’t have a
packed lunch..how come my parents don’t do that?’ So that’s one big thing too. It’s just like oh,
my parents would never do that. So that’s also like when I felt I was different.
Hannah Miller: Did you ever feel like moving to the United States made you feel like you’ve lost
your cultural routes?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: The biggest thing would be language. I’d definitely, like throughout the
years, I’m losing fluency just because I’m more exposed to people who speak english and I’m
more inclined to speak english. And it’s to that point where I speak english to my siblings now, I
speak english to my parents now. Which is weird because growing up, my parents would instill
that idea that when you’re at home always speak tagalog. And so we try to keep that up but we
eventually, all my siblings just got to the point where it felt like it was easier to communicate
with each other and to my parents in english. And so as time went I realized like ‘Oh shoot, I’m
losing fluency in tagalog.’ Like I’d go back home and I just realized how much I don’t know.
Like I can still communicate but my grammar is all wrong and it’s just not as fluent as it used to
be. So that’s one big thing how I changed.
Hannah Miller: Would you say that your siblings kind of got it better than you?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Like in what sense?
Hannah Miller: Like their living experience here cus they were older and you were younger
Jenika Alyssa Maala: I don’t know. I feel like from what I’ve heard from them I wouldn’t...it’s
hard to compare. Just cus like we came here at like a different age. And so my sisters came here
and they went straight in college. So they experienced here till high school and when they
explained to me *outside disruption*. Okay so when they explained to me what they experienced
in high school, which it seemed really fun. And when I grew up and eventually got through high
school, I realized like ‘Oh, my high school experience wasn’t as fun as that.’ So I don’t know.
It’s hard to compare if their experience was better than mine on moving here. Although like, you
know I could say that I’d definitely grew up in America compared to them cus who like really
spent most of their lives in the Philippines. I guess for me, I think I learned to be a lot more
open-minded just cus like the diversity here is just way more than how it is in the Philippines.
Hannah Miller: So just to clarify, your siblings moved here when they were in high school?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: After high school they moved here. They graduated high school and they
moved here, and they went to college. My brother graduated 5th grade in the Philippines and
started 6th grade here. And so I think my brother is in the same boat as me. Like he also like
definitely grew up and grew accustomed to American culture.
Hannah Miller: Would you call yourself an Asian American?
Jeniak Alyssa Maala: That’s so hard. You know on paper I am. It’s so hard. I never like ever
addressed myself as an Asian American or Filipino American. It’s really wild like I never really
thought about it. I always just say ‘No, I’m Filipino.’ And I think it’s because I was born there.
Though I grew up here, I owe a lot of my personal growth from being here but even though I’m a
citizen here, I still consider myself Filipino.
Hannah Miller: Why do you think that there’s such like...not today...but there’s like...it’s a
serious topic for people to be asked ‘Are you Asian American, are you Filipino American, are
you Filipino, are you South East Asian American?’ Stuff like that, so why do you there’s such
that difference in culture I guess?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Oh like the title. I can see it. Just cus for me personally I’d definitely
would prefer to be called a Filipino above all the things that you said. Just cus some of them are
too general. Like they kind of like generalized a bunch of ethnicities that are completely different
from each other. Like Asian American, like although we came from the same continent, we all
experienced different culture.
Hannah Miller: Yeah, different struggles.
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Different struggles. Even within the minority, there’s differences between
us. And some Asian Americans have it better than others. And the thing with like South East
Asians too, that title, I feel like, I don’t know, from my perspective, it seems like some people
have like a negative connotation in South East Asian compared to like East Asian. And I feel like
the biggest thing between in those two are skin color. And you can definitely tell that you know
South East Asians are darker and Asian mentality, they’re always gonna praise the lighter skin.
And so I think Asians like me don’t really appreciate being known as a South East Asian. Just
from my experience, just because being viewed as a South East Asian is just an Asian who’s
dark skin. That’s the reason why ‘oh, that person is dark because they’re South East Asian.’ And
so that’s why people are kind of like picky with what they’re known for. And the same thing
with like Filipino and Filipino Americans, there’s a huge difference between a Filipino and a
Filipino American. Just like the way they grew up and just like really learning where you are
born kind of really shapes how you are as a person. So like growing in the Philippines, even if
it’s just seven years of my life, it’s still like really impacted how I am today. Like I don’t think
that I would be who I am if I wasn’t born in the Philippines. And so that’s like the biggest thing
on why there’s a huge difference between Filipino and Filipino American, and South East Asian
or East Asian or just being called an Asian or Asian American.
Hannah Miller: What about Pacific Islander?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Oh that with like Filipinos? Before, I don’t know. It was probably just me
being oblivious or not knowing anything but I thought we considered ourselves as Pacific
Islander. I mean we’re an island in the Pacific Ocean right? So like wouldn’t you think? But no,
apparently it’s to classify those people who are like deeper into the ocean. I don’t know, I felt
that really weird. It’s just someone, like someone told me straight up that ‘You’re part of Asia.
You’re asian.’ Or ‘You’re Filipino, there’s a clear difference.’ Is there really? I felt like the
biggest thing because of like colonization it’s just that we...I think them colonizing us and just
changing our culture separated us from the other Pacific Islanders. And so that’s why we kind of
like, I guess like we lost that title just cus we’ve changed so much. But like you kind of like look
back in the past, there’s a lot of big similarities between like Pacific Islanders, Samoan culture
with ours. There’s a really like big similarities between us compared to like, us and like China.
Hannah Miller: That’s good. Okay well, let me see if I have other questions. How do you feel
about the model minority? About Asians being the model minority.
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Like being the more successful minority
Hannah Miller: Especially since you’re an immigrant, so like how did you feel about that when
you first moved here?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: So when I first moved here, I never really saw that. I never saw it. Like
growing up I always just thought that ‘oh, we’re all a minority. We’re all in one level. We’re all
the same.’ But you know then I realized that not all minorities are on the same level. And I think
it’s true. I don’t know what it is but I think it’s got to do with culture and racism. I think that’s a
big thing. Yeah, I think one big thing would be culture. How I feel like the majority, I feel like
the reason why we became a model minority is because the majority had interest in our culture,
like they started praising our culture. Kind of used it, like our aesthetics, our music, they kind of
like grew to praise it. So that kind of like opened the door for us to step up in that ladder. As
compare to like African Americans, you don’t really see that kind of like aesthetics in media
compared to like Japanese aesthetics, right? Like you always see it, that cherry blossom, the
really intricate designs, as compare to like, you know like native African culture. And so I think
that’s what started that model minority. It’s...I don’t know if I...if it effects me on a personal
level, but I definitely do see it in media, where they praise you know Asians making it big, as
compared to other minorities.
Hannah Miller: I see. Do you feel like the minority groups should help each other out?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Mhmm. I do think so. Just because we all face that oppression. So we
understand that struggle of oppression. And so we can’t leave the people behind who understand
what you’ve gone through. And it’s really hard to leave people behind who you know is going
through those struggles. So I definitely think it’s good to help other minorities succeed too.
Hannah Miller: And like you know the struggles for African Americans are different than like
Filipinos. So like would you say that if the Filipinos help the African American groups, would
they still be considered the model minority or would they be looked as the whites...not to
like…discriminate.
Jenika Alyssa Maala: *laughs* It’s okay!
Hannah Miller: So like how do you feel about that?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Mmm. So it’s just like, I understand what you’re saying, it’s like, if
basically the Filipino Americans are helping the African Americans then that means there is a
model minority going on. That there is like, you know, that they’re on different steps of the
ladder and you’re helping the other one go up. Um...what was the question again? *laughs*
Hannah Miller: So like would you feel that it would be a good decision to help other minorities
instead of like staying within your culture and like help your own culture?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: So you’re talking about like the experiences in America. Of course, you
know. Equality right? You’re fighting for equality for yourself, you should also fight for equality
for others.
Hannah Miller: Did you ever experience the typical Asian stereotypes when you moved here?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Typical stereotypes...oh yeah of course! There’s no way of like avoiding
that. As an Asian, you’re always gonna get joked around by like eating dogs or cats, being joked
about being yellow. It’s yeah, it’s always under that. And like as a Filipino, there’s always that
stereotype that ‘Oh, Filipinos are talented, all Filipinos are dark skinned. All Filipinos are hairy’
or something like that. Whatever they hear somewhere else is what they first perceive us as. So
yeah I’ve definitely experienced those stereotypes.
Hannah Miller: How did that make you feel, cus like knowing that you moved here when you
were seven and then now you’re twenty, so did you feel like it changed overtime?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Yeah, definitely. I grew to accept it. It would was like, at first I would be
like ‘Hey that’s kind of rude’ or like ‘Hey, I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ It’s like
where did all of these dumb assumptions come from. Why is it being used against me. Why is
that description tied to me. Like I didn’t do anything, it’s just because of my identity. But I grew
up and it was like non-stop. Like I just grew to accept it. And thankfully now, I don’t experience
it as much cus I’m in college and I feel like by that time a lot of people have realized it’s not
right to hold those stereotypes against people.
Hannah Miller: They’re more woke.
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Woke.
Hannah Miller: Woke. *laughs* Let’s see, just to close it off, what would you say to a new
Filipino immigrant, like what advice would you give them?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Immigrant?
Hannah Miller: Mhmm. Like immigrants coming to America now.
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Like how old?
Hannah Miller: It doesn’t matter how old. But based on our society right now, like how life is
right now, like the changes that are going on right now. What kind of advice would you give
them?
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Definitely the people here and their mindsets, and their mentality, and their
way of thinking, their perception of the world and life is completely different from people back
home. And you learn a lot. I think you learn a lot more from the people here than from the people
back home. Yeah the diversity is like the biggest thing that helps you grow, or like learning more
about it.
Hannah Miller: Mmm okay. Well thank you. Thank you Jenika.
Jenika Alyssa Maala: Thank you, thank you.
(End audio file)