Hi, Foragers! May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (APIA) Heritage Month, a time to celebrate and recognize those of Asian descent—including East, Southeast and South Asia and the Pacific Islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.
We're pretty big advocates for diversity in the gaming industry, so we wanted to kick it off by spotlighting the awesome members of our team who identify as APIA to learn a bit more about how their culture influenced their careers and upbringing.
We'll let them take it from here 🤍
Meet Alyssa, 2D Concept Artist
Tell us a little bit about yourself
Hi! My name is Alyssa Calderon and I’m a 2D Concept Artist for Pie Trap. I love to play video games and to take care of my many plants. I also do hobby game dev on the side! My pronouns are she/they.
What is your ethnic background?
I’m Filipino and a 1st generation American. I often get asked if I can speak Tagalog which I routinely reply with “konti lang” which means “very little”.
Where did you grow up?
I was born in Manila, Philippines and was only a few months old before my family moved to San Diego, California. I have only known warm sunny climates so I’m pretty sensitive to cold weather. I finally got to visit the Philippines for the first time since I was a baby in early 2019 where I visited family in Manila and went island hopping in Palawan!
How has being APIA affected your childhood growing up in America?
I grew up in a pretty predominant Asian community for my primary years so I got to experience eating a lot of different delicious cuisine (I will eat everything, I am not picky).
Has your family supported your career in gaming? How were they in the beginning? How are they now?
Like many APIA, my parents didn’t support my decision to pursue a career in the art industry. I really don’t blame them as they sacrificed a lot for my future, and I am truly grateful. It had to take me breaking into the industry to convince them it is a viable career path. They are supportive of it now with the rise of video game presence in the media.
Is there anything about your Asian culture that you would like to share with some people that might not know?
Filipino folklore is extremely vast and interesting. There are many fascinating mythical creatures like the shape-shifting aswang and vampiric manananggal. I would love to make a video game or something about them, haha.
What does being APIA mean to you?
I believe it's something very special to connect with people from a similar background and upbringing as you even when you just met them. Even if they aren’t from the exact Asian culture, there is always something to start a conversation.
There are a lot of issues in the Asian/Pacisl communities that are considered a bit taboo to discuss, such as mental health, domestic violence, sexuality, abortion, and even politics. Have you ever been part of conversations or instances involving these or other issues? What steps can we take to help remove some of the stigma from these issues?
I think the best we can do is advocate and educate since it is definitely a conservative culture. For me, I never challenged my parents views as a child, but as an adult I try to inform them on my beliefs and why I think something is right. The best I could do is educate the people around me so they can inform the more rigid people in their lives.
Meet Priscilla, Creative Director
Tell us a little bit about yourself
I’m one of the owners of Pie Trap Studios and Creative Director of Forage Friends; born and raised in the Seattle area, which I still am a resident of. I’ve been in the games industry since the mid 2000s and I identify as bi-racial!
What is your ethnic background?
My mother is from the Philippines. She moved to Seattle in the 80s as a registered nurse. She met my father, your typical white-American man who was a med-tech at the hospital they were working at.
Has being APIA affected your upbringing?
I would say my home life was very based in Filipino culture, but my life outside of that, like at school, was very Americanized. At home I hung out with my full-Filipino cousins. I understood a lot of Tagalog and Ilocano back then, though barely any now as an adult. Most of my meals I recall at a young age were Filipino cuisine. Outside of the home, there were American cultural aspects I gravitated towards a lot easier than my cousins. Partially on my American side and learning different traditions and learning from my grandparents from my father’s side.
How has being APIA affected your childhood growing up in America?
I didn’t realize how much it affected me until adulthood. I remember things that I felt everyone probably went through, and now realizing those experiences were more exclusive to marginalized people.
Has your family supported your career in gaming?
In the beginning, the Filipino side were mortified, haha. I think they assume, as a female, you’re going to be a nurse. To announce I was going to art school instead of medical school was a grave offense. I had a lot of relatives put me off to the side and essentially tell me I was gonna be an embarrassment. My mom had a hard time dealing with the concept. My dad liked the idea and had to console her. The Filipino family had their hardships with poverty back home and felt I was willing to go into a life of homelessness by doing art. It wasn’t until I was getting great grades and landed a job after I graduated that my mom started proudly bragging about me and encouraging younger cousins of mine to “follow your dreams!”
Is there anything about your Asian culture that you would like to share with some people that might not know?
Support your local Filipino restaurants! They have great food and they were non-existent when I was growing up.
Do you think there is a difference between being Asian and being Asian-American?
Oh yes. Particularly if you are second or third generation. You have culture and traditions from both sides that somehow blend together. There are funny quirks that you can relate to as an Asian-American to another AA, that you can’t with just another Asian or just another American. Comedy has really highlighted this with shows like Fresh Off The Boat or Jo Koy’s stand ups.
There are a lot of issues in the Asian/Pacisl communities that are considered a bit taboo to discuss, such as mental health, domestic violence, sexuality, abortion, and even politics. Have you ever been part of conversations or instances involving these or other issues? What steps can we take to help remove some of the stigma from these issues?
I would say the women on my Filipino side of the family are a lot more modern and open to these topics then the men. The men are very very conservative with tradition. All my Filipino family were pretty conservative in tradition as they started to move to the U.S., but after living here for a few decades they call it being “Americanized.” Again, I don’t think women were welcomed in discussing these topics back in the day, but seems like my mom and my aunties don’t give a f*ck anymore and will say what they wanna say. They’ve been surprisingly more supportive over the years with ideas like therapy. Getting a divorce was crazy taboo being of a strict catholic culture. Now they’re totally fine with, “if he’s being an asshole, leave him.” I don’t think many of them would be happy with the idea of abortion, but they are all in the medical field and understand it’s not a black and white decision. They are also very welcoming to any of my family members who have come out as gay or trans.
How are you celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month? Let us know in the comments or message us on Twitter @foragefriends!