I grew up with Sabrina, watching her on Disney channel, "Girl meets World." Her's was a mischief I understood. I remember hearing some of her singles with her sister on Disney radio. Before then, I was not aware that they had a YouTube channel together and that beyond acting, Sabrina was a true musician first! Her debut album "Eyes Wide Open" is one of the first albums I remember sitting through (besides "Anti"). At that point, I was just beginning to realize the beauty in a complete body of work, not just singles. Although, her lead single on that album "eyes wide open" was kept on repeat for years! I can't forget "can't blame a girl for trying." I am realizing now that, it was her sound that primed me for artists like Lizzy McApline. To see her make such dynamic waves in the industry of her dreams is so full filling to watch unfold. I remember telling a friend once that I am so proud of her, and she looked at me strangely that I would have such deep sentiment for someone I have never met. What my friend didn't know is that before "emails I can't send," there was "Singular Act I and II," "EVOLution" (one of my all time favorites) and of course "eyes wide open." Sabrina is a seasoned musician, and it shows. I'll never forget, I saw an interview of her's where she vulnerably shared a conversation she had with mother about her career. Saying that she didn't understand why she had invested so much of her time in it without it yielding anything significant in return. And she said that her mother reminded her about the story of the tortoise and the hare. As a young actor myself, having seen that interview then gave me solace. Now seeing her topping charts and having her songs hummed by Adele at her own residency! How could I not be proud! Sabrina has given me hope.

When I was a small girl, I had been curious about the 'TV people' my grandmother could not get enough of. Often when the TV was off, I would go up to where the air vents were and try to look in to see what they were doing when we were not watching them. It of course, would come as a surprise to me, then, that there was only an entanglement of wires. Finally, when the frustration of not knowing got the better of me--- I decided to come right out and ask. "Mummy, what do those people do when we are not watching them?" You can always tell when someone is trying not to laugh. She then replied, "Those are real people filmed and shown on TV. They're called actors." I can imagine my eyes lightening up a bit, as it were, to the discovery of gold. Suddenly, with a resolution that was far beyond my years I said, "That's what I'll be. I'm going to be an actor." I would like to think that was the only conversation about occupations my grandmother and I had, but that would be a lie. I wanted to do so much then, I was excited and intrigued about everything . As I grew older, that definitive announcement I had made as a five or six year old never did quite leave me. Years wore on and I only fell further in love with stories, after moving away from my country, consuming stories from the other side of the world were the only thing that kept me connected to my life; as it had been. Those quiet, attentive evenings with my grandmother as we watched a Filipino soap opera. Or when we sat in our home on the weekends and watched every Disney movie ever released (at that time.) I want to create work that people can bond over, work that tethers people to their memories. That no matter where in the world they may be, they would switch on a show or film that I have or will be a part of; and feel at home, on the inside. I want to partake in work that is going to outlive me, work like "Pride and Prejudice" starring Kiera Knightly that just screams GIRLHOOD! Or "Black Panther" starring Chadwick Boseman and Lupita Nyong'o that held the force to join the entire Diaspora (which before it, was unheard of.) Better yet, "The Last King of Scotland" starring Forest Whittaker and James McAvoy, the film that taught me about my country's History in a most pristine technicolor, something I was certain I would miss out on. That is the kind of work I want to be a part of.