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Hello! I’m Enzo and my favourite color is yellow.
I am a third-year Bachelor of Media (international) student at UNSW Sydney, majoring in Communication & Journalism. I create outputs at the intersection of international affairs, entrepreneurship, and the creative arts to uplift communities I'm part of.
In my free time, I enjoy performing jazz songs, honing my film photography skills, exploring museums, and strolling through artsy suburbs.
Let’s connect if you ever want to chat or find ways to collaborate!
A Third Culture Kid's Sense of Identity: Arwen Martin
“I love the country, I feel so at home here. My family and I consider the Philippines as our home. We’ve been here for almost 21 years now. The people are so great and kind and I couldn’t imagine growing up anywhere else. “
We often find ourselves in familiar places because it makes us feel at home. We feel safe and secure in an environment of familiarity. Growing up, we often choose our cliques or friend groups who share the same passions and interests. Moreso, we carry this same characteristic as we become older and start making major decisions in life. We naturally gravitate towards people who look like us, talk the way we do, and understand the things that we take pleasure in or displeasure from.
Arwen’s life, however, has been one big adventure filled with the unfamiliar and the unknown.
Arwen’s parents are from California, USA. They met in college and wanted to become missionaries, and so, after getting their college degrees, they searched for places where God could use them. Eventually, they felt the call to come to the Philippines as church-planters. They arrived in Manila just two months before giving birth to Arwen in a small clinic for the urban poor. The family eventually moved to a remote island in Caramoan, Caramines Sur where Arwen was raised along with her older sister and younger brother and has been immersed in the local culture ever since.
In 8th grade, Arwen’s parents decided to transfer her to an International Christian school in Antipolo. There, she forged great friendships, sharing the same experience with foreigners growing up in the Philippines. In school, Arwen was given the opportunity to be captain of a sports team and used it as a platform to minister in countries where the team would play.
Her unique upbringing has definitely shaped her perspective and worldview. If someone would ask where she was from, Arwen would say America just as a short answer because she obviously looks American but if someone was really interested, Arwen would go on and explain her unique experience of growing up in the Philippines and how by heart, she is more Filipino than American.
"Just one of the many benefits of growing up in a foreign country is not having to learn the language in the same way that adults do. But it’s not always easy to look different because people will always stare at you and they probably won’t stop staring. It’s not easy because people immediately think things about you… they don’t know where my heart is, and that I feel more Filipino than American a lot of times because I spent my whole life here."
Having lived on a secluded island, Arwen is no stranger to a life of poverty many Filipinos are too familiar with.
When COVID-19 struck the country, Arwen’s school shifted to online classes. This allowed Arwen to return to Caramoan and while in lockdown, Arwen sought the opportunity to start interning at a local hospital. There, Arwen spent 40 hours a week getting first-hand experience and serving the community she loves.
"The nurses and doctors mentored me and they taught me so much, they let me deliver babies, seizure wounds, and do circumcisions, vaccines, and so many things. It’s an incredible experience. Because of that internship, I really feel God calling me to go into medicine and become a doctor. I know that God can really use me in that way, and it’s such a huge need in these remote places."
At first, Arwen’s parents expressed concern about having their daughter spend a lot of time in the hospital especially when there is a deadly virus spreading around but because Caramoan is an isolated place, the island never experienced any COVID-19 cases and that put the parents at better ease.
Arwen is currently in California pursuing a degree in Biology in the hopes of going to medical school, and God-willing, return to the Philippines to practice medicine and continue her mission in helping the unreached communities.
I told Arwen that many Filipinos would take medicine for prestige and money and eventually go abroad for better opportunities. It is unusual to find Filipinos who would dream of becoming a doctor to serve far-flung areas and for a foreigner to even dream that is simply bizarre but undeniably heartwarming and, yes, truly laudable.
"I really think the Philippines is amazing and I do agree with you, many Filipinos don’t realize how amazing their own culture is and a lot of times, they want to be like other countries.
However, what they mostly know about America or Australia is what they see on social media and they see it in a glamorous light but there is also poverty in America and there is poverty everywhere. Filipinos need to look more at the community they have and see value in it. There’s no other country that I’ve seen be able to have relationships the way Filipinos can. We can be friends with anyone and it’s a blessing to live here because it’s positive and cheerful.
They can lose everything in typhoons and yet remain resilient, positive, and joyful. They have this joy that people in other countries just don’t have and that’s something I hope to live by."