If you haven’t read my about me page, something that has heavily influenced my college career has been the Pilipinx American Student Association. Also known as PASA, this club has contributed to building and developing the person I am today. PASA is a Filipino associated culture club dedicated to promoting Pilipino unity throughout the campus, hoping to educate and raise awareness about Pilipino culture. As I am Filipina myself, I found this club to be very inviting and close to home. As it is a club with 200+ members, It can be difficult to manage, considering the club hosts Friendship Games, the largest student run Filipino event in the nation, and our very own Pilipinx Culture Night, a night showcasing Filipino dances and depicting a play that is relevant to Filipino Culture. As a third year, I decided on running for the board position of social chair, and I served on the Spring 2019 board. The social chair’s responsibility in the spring is to host frequent social events meant to strengthen the bonds of general members. Spring semester also consists of Spring Formal, a formal end of year banquet similar to prom. As social chair, it was my sole responsibility to plan several agendas, manage budgets for events, and ensure that general members build relationships. The position was very similar to being the event planner of the board. Spring formal was an especially large event that was my responsibility. I had the duties of maintaining a cost efficient budget, hiring a DJ, setting up a photo area, handling the food, choosing the hosts, and much more. When planning for this event, I learned so much. I learned that you have to plan ahead and advertise very early on to ensure people are able to attend. Since the event also was showcasing several videos, I had to rent out a projector and ensure that I had the right cords for all the inputs and outputs. Additionally, I had to make sure the caterer was all set, also having vegetarian options. There is a lot that goes into planning formal events, and as I held this position, it really jump started my experience as an event planner. I also learned that when you start out, it is inevitable to make mistakes. I made several mistakes that I have learned from. For example, I rented out the projector at the last minute and didn’t know how to work it, but thankfully a fellow board member knew what to do. I learned that I should prepare in advance so this doesn’t happen again. Another mistake I made was that I oversold tickets, and I had to add a table last minute. This taught me that I should be careful of how many tickets I plan on selling. This experience has taught me so much and I’m glad I got to plan events before heading into the real world.