My relationship with my Filipino-American identity is very intimate and important to me. Holding the value of Bayanihan at the forefront of my personal belief system, I have been able to see the marriage between global health principles and the value of community advocacy, as well as the opportunity to form new connections when it comes to healthcare equity initiatives for people of color. I wanted to pursue a systemic approach to healthcare, rather than the traditional route of clinical care like many Filipinos. Pursuing global health studies allows me to underscore the importance of community and culture that is represented by Bayanihan, and pursue my passion to create better experiences for marginalized individuals in healthcare. Bayanihan pushes me to channel the tenacity I have watched so many of my family members exemplify. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, long-standing health equity issues became more transparent, as these now have become exacerbated amongst vulnerable populations. Nearly a third of US nurses who died of coronavirus are Filipino, including some of my own titas and titos, despite making up only 4% of the nursing population nationwide. Cultural incompetencies and language barriers are not just academic concepts to me – they are reflective of the disadvantages that have tangible consequences for communities like my own. Culture plays a significant role in how individuals see the world, and it is an influential medium that reveals many nuances about an individual, especially in healthcare. While my career pursuits in healthcare stray away from traditional clinical roles that many Filipinos gravitate towards, I believe I am able to bring new perspectives and passion to public health work because of the hardships endured by my Filipino ancestors. As a student, I connect these personal experiences with failures of the healthcare system to those I read about in my coursework, which motivates me to create a world better than the one that failed my ancestors. I hope to create a community for those who have often been underserved in healthcare by continuing to channel the value of Bayanihan throughout my work.