Alexis BagonName: Alexis Bagon (aka Little Alexis, aka Gulay)
Where are you now? Bay Area, CA What are you up to? Working as an immigration attorney at Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach, hanging out with my lola, going hiking and backpacking, enjoying gulay & frutas from the farmers market (the pic attached is from me at the market on my birthday this year) What years were you in Barkada? 2013-2017 Barkada Eboard? 2014-2015 External PR; 2015-2016 VP; 2016-2017 President Barkada Fam? DC!! Favorite Barkada memory? For my last Bahay Kubo, our E-board put together a really great storyline for the skits. Our plot twist was that our two main characters were twins who had been separated (one living in the US, the other in the Philippines), and we wrote a reveal scene similar to the one in the Parent Trap. When the reveal happened in the live show, the audience was roaring with excitement. It was so cool to have been part of creating that moment. Message for current Barkada members: Follow the people and experiences that make you feel more like yourself, both within and beyond Barkada 💛
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Ryan punzalanName: Ryan Punzalan
Where are you now? Shrewsbury, MA What are you up to? Moved back to Massachusetts because of my fiancée's (shoutout Nicole Rodis, another BKD alum) residency at UMass - Worcester. And, working remotely, full-time as a Business Analyst in the Ad Sales Technology division of NBCUniversal. What years were you in Barkada? 2009 - 2014 Barkada Eboard? Yes, Internal PR, then Performance Coordinator Barkada Fam? Lineage Favorite Barkada memory? My first Bahay Kubo in 2010! Being able to dance and celebrate with my Barkada friends and family was such a thrill, which helped kick my love for Barkada. Message for current Barkada members: Don't be afraid to do everything! My favorite thing about Barkada (and by association, Northeastern) was that there's a TON to do, events attend, and activities to dabble in. Although I wish I've gotten more sleep in college, being at GMs, dance practices, external mixers, and everything in between was something that I loved doing. Also, run for e-board! Even though I didn't get Internal PR the first time I ran, I knew that I wanted to run for that position and be more "out there." BKD holds a special memory in my heart and if it wasn't for everything that BKD did and offered, I definitely wouldn't have been the person I am today (as cliché as that sounds.) Ray, vito, & francis - AllegianceBIGGIE: Ray Valenzuela
smalls 1: Francis Alvarez smalls 2: Vito Montesa Fam: Allegiance Name: Ray Valenzuela Major (+Minor): Applied Physics (Mathematics + Data Science) Fam: Allegiance (cheech line ) Describe your relationship with your BIGGIE/smalls: Francis and Vito genuinely feel like brothers to me. I’ve always wanted a brother, since I grew up with two older sisters, so my relationship with them is something I truly cherish. When we’re all together it’s awesome how we all understand the same humor, hold the same values, etc. We can hangout forever without it feeling like a drag, and we even text in our gc nearly every day which is crazy considering how unresponsive I am on my phone . As for my individual relationships with both, our friendship is some of the strongest bonds I have made to this point in my life. With either of them I can talk about everything, ranging from our visions of the future, individual struggles that we’ve been facing, to just dumb banter. blah blah blah the list goes on. I've got so much love for both of these guys and there's really no limit to what I feel like could trust these two with. It’s difficult to find friendship like this in general, so I feel extremely lucky to have two friends of this caliber, and am thankful that the BIGGIEsmalls program brought us together. What's something you've learned from your BIGGIE/smalls?: I've learned a lot from growing with these guys over the past 4 years. I was the one trying to integrate them into the Filipino community back in the day and now we got a BKD president and D1 cochair, those mfers. Ig that was mostly just to brag about my smalls but here's some stuff I've learned from each: Francis knows what he values and invests all his time into those things. It’s something greater than just his work ethic, it’s about how he prioritizes things and doesnt leave room for random stuff that will end up wasting his time. Somehow, I’ve watched this kid work co-op and his ten one simultaneously, while handling his relationship, friendships and family, and somehow this guy still has enough time to indulge in his interests like reading way too much manga or being a cringe gamer at the end of the day. Maybe he sacrifices doing laundry and showering to find all that time (jk). With his new calendar this guy is actually unstoppable. This is definitely one quality of his that I admire and would love to improve at in my own life. Vito is very goal oriented and isn't scared to take steps to create the future he wants. Me and him are similar visionary types, but he has the confidence to take actions towards those futures, while I feel I lack that sometimes. For example, he saw barkada needed a president in an important time where integrating those who started online and those who had been around was a massive challenge, and he stepped up as a leader to build the community we have today. On a personal level he's always trying to better himself and do things that will help him reach his career goals, personal goals, etc. Seeing him strive to be his best encourages me to take action for what I want as well. What's your favorite memory with your BIGGIE/smalls?: A large fraction of my favorite college memories is with these two. When we first met, they'd come over every Thursday after barkada gms and we'd just play smash and hangout all night in my crusty 319 Huntington dorm. I remember I'd have them over until 3 or 4 am even though I was on co-op because I always felt like the memories we were making were way more valuable than the extra hours of sleep (and I was right). When we got sent home because of Covid our gc was the majority of my entertainment and outlet. We'd talk everyday about the most random stuff and I feel like that time would've been a lot more lonely if didn't have their friendship. After we got back that fall vito wasn't in boston but francis would come over all the time. I remember we were choreoing for barkada but all we'd do is play videogames or just talk instead, leading to him having to come over more and more lol. The day we finished the choreo i made him spam eggs and rice and it was the day of our workshop . Vito visited and he slept over my apartment, and we stayed up all night making dumb jokes and singing Olivia by one direction . When Vito moved back, I feel like we'd hangout and do random shit a lot too. We got really into buying mystery packs from Newbury Comics and it's still something we do every time we see them. There was also the one night the three of us bought boba twice instead of eating at gyu kaku because someone didn't make a reservation and that's a good story. Or the time we hid in Matt's trunk while picking Vito up from the airport that was fun. Anyways this is getting long, but basically every time I hang out with these guys it feels like I'm making memories that I'll tell my kids someday and that's the best feeing ever. Name: Francis Alvarez Major (+Minor): finance and economics Fam: Allegiance Describe your relationship with your BIGGIE/smalls: Ray and Vito are my best friends and I haven’t met another group of guys like them that I’m excited to talk to every day What's something you've learned from your BIGGIE/smalls?: I learned that Ray will be bald by the age of 30 What's your favorite memory with your BIGGIE/smalls?: Our first performance together as a trio was Kamayan 2021 and it was cool because it had been so long since we were able to be together and perform for everyone. I’ll never forget the day and the after party was also very fun (shoutout 74 Symph)! Name: Vito Montesa Major (+Minor): Mechanical Engineering (Marketing Analytics) Fam: Allegiance Describe your relationship with your BIGGIE/smalls: Ray and Francis are my best friends, I love these guys so much it’s kinda cringe. They’re always the first people I go to for anything whether it’s advice or just for fun or if I want to play Fortnite . These guys are so much like brothers to me – When we’re together, it’s the both the dumbest and the best thing ever because we act so stupid but there’s no other people I’d rather act stupid with. crazy cause Ray recruited me to Barkada back when I was a freshman and now we’re roommates. And Francis was my best friend in our freshman class back in the day and we’re still super close and have done so much together What's something you've learned from your BIGGIE/smalls?: From Francis, I learned to be more spontaneous and do more things that you normally wouldn’t because another chance might not come From Ray, I learned how to be more thoughtful about your goals and who you want to be From both of them, I learned to not kill the cringe in you, but kill the part the cringes What's your favorite memory with your BIGGIE/smalls?: My favorite memory with Francis and Ray is when we went to go get boba at Shin Mio near Fenway and the boba was so good that we got 2 more rounds. We’re crazy! |
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