FILIPINA. AMERICAN. CREATIVE.

What happens when you go back to the place where you first started feeling disconnected from who you were?

In this episode of FILIPINA. AMERICAN. CREATIVE., I return to Mesa, Arizona, and the neighborhood where I grew up – from my elementary school and childhood home to the park where my Ima, my grandmother, used to take me.

Growing up, I remember feeling like everything Filipino existed separately from the life I wanted as an American kid. I wanted to fit in. I wanted to look like the other kids. And in a community where almost no one looked like me, I learned to adapt.

At home, my parents were building the life they had imagined when they left the Philippines in pursuit of the American Dream. There were Filipino gatherings filled with lechon, pancit, and adobo, but those experiences felt separate from my everyday world.

Somehow, I never learned how to bring those two parts of myself together.

So I'm going back.

As I retrace my childhood, I share my family's journey from the Philippines to America, memories of growing up in Mesa, and some of the experiences that shaped the complicated relationship I would eventually have with my Filipino identity.

Looking back now, I can see that this place didn't just shape the person I became. It also helps explain why I feel such a strong pull today to reconnect with the heritage I once felt so far away from.

In this episode:
• Going back to the Mesa neighborhood where I grew up
• Growing up Filipino-American in a predominantly white community
• Wanting to fit in and look like the other kids
• Visiting my childhood home, school, and the park I shared with my Ima• My parents' journey from the Philippines to America• Filipino gatherings, family, food, and community• Why my Filipino and American worlds felt separate• Feeling disconnected from my Philippine roots• Finding confidence and identity through singing• Why I'm returning to my Filipino heritage now

For more stories, conversations, and discoveries, visit FilipinaAmericanCreative.com.

Salamat sa pagsama sa akin! Thank you for joining me.

Keywords: Filipino American, Filipina American, Filipino American identity, Filipino identity, growing up Filipino American, Filipino American experience, Filipino heritage, Philippine heritage, Filipino culture, Filipino diaspora, first generation Filipino American, children of Filipino immigrants, Filipino family history, immigrant parents, assimilation, cultural identity, belonging, reconnecting with your heritage, rediscovering your roots, Mesa Arizona, Filipino Americans in Arizona, Filipina American Creative, Tesz Millan

What does it mean to be Filipina American when you grew up feeling disconnected from your Filipino heritage?

In this first episode of FILIPINA. AMERICAN. CREATIVE., I share why I finally decided to begin the journey I had been thinking about since I was a little girl.

My parents left the Philippines in search of the American Dream. I grew up in Mesa, Arizona, proud to be American but also aware that I looked different from most of the people around me. My parents worked hard to assimilate, I never learned to speak Tagalog, and although my Philippine heritage was always there, there was so much about it I simply didn't know.

And underneath all of that was a question I was almost afraid to ask:

Am I Filipina enough?

This episode is where the journey begins – an honest look at identity, assimilation, belonging, growing up Filipino American, and my decision to finally go deeper into the history and culture I inherited.

I don't have all the answers. That's the point. I'm starting with curiosity, asking questions, making discoveries, and inviting you to come along.

Because the more we understand where we come from, the more grounded we can be in who we are today.

In this episode:

• Why I started FILIPINA. AMERICAN. CREATIVE.

• Growing up Filipina-American in Mesa, Arizona

• My parents' pursuit of the American Dream

• Assimilation and feeling disconnected from my heritage

• Why I never learned Tagalog

• The fear of not being “Filipina enough”

• Rediscovering Filipino history, culture, and identity

• Why I want this journey to be a conversation

For more stories, conversations, and discoveries, visit FilipinaAmericanCreative.com.

Salamat sa pagsama sa akin! Thank you for joining me.