Hi! I'm Amy Peria. I graduated in May 2017. I speak Tagalog, Pangasinan, and some Ilocano. The Philippine Language and Literature program helped me tremendously to be comfortable with who I am. Growing up, I was not proud to be Filipino. I tried to forget my languages and never spoke them in public because my peers made fun and mocked those who did. Instead of taking Ilocano class in high school to become fluent, I studied another foreign language. I was interested in other cultures than my own. But I decided to take the placement exam just for the credits (I got 16 extra credits that helped me graduate early) on my second year in college. I remember saying, “I'm not sure if I know enough” to convince myself I knew little Tagalog (I was fluent). I was placed in FIL401! Since then, I have loved every class in the program. I read works of Jose Rizal, listened to music, watched Filipino films, ate Filipino food, and had a chance to share my Pangasinan background. With the help of Tita Pia, I took the right (and most interesting) classes to graduate with a second degree and I graduated with two undergraduate degrees in three years.

Now, I am a Paralegal for a private firm and speak Tagalog to our Filipino clients to make them feel comfortable and assist them in a way they understand. In the future, I hope to attend law school and practice Immigration law.

Check out my travel blog: gutlesstravel. I've visited the Philippines the entire December 2018 and I'd love to share the Philippines with you. By the way, it made travelling easy because I knew how to speak Tagalog!

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