By Brando Casino

This past week, CSUSM’s Filipino-American organization, Kamalyan Alliance, participated in an adrenaline-charged, high-spirited, S.P.U.F-tastic event called Friendship Games.

Friendship Games originated in 1985 to help unify different schools that had a Filipino-American organization. Over time, Friendship Games developed impressively in size, including different UC and CSU campuses north and south of California, and even campuses from Arizona and Nevada. Friendship Games is celebrated at the end of October, which is the Filipino-American History Month and through this, we, as one, celebrate the Filipino culture. As the years go on, Friendship Games has reached out their hands to other ethnicities. It not only uses this event to help unify the Filipino community, but to reach out to other ethnicities, open up their minds and come in one with one another. That is the whole purpose of Friendship Games, which was celebrated this year on Oct. 26.

Once all of the schools participating arrived at CSU Fullerton, where Friendship Games was held, all of the schools immediately begin to show their S.P.U.F, meaning SPIRIT, PRIDE, UNITY and FRIENDSHIP, towards the other schools by chanting spiritedly, loudly, proudly, creating the feeling of togetherness with one another.

In Friendship Games, over 40 Filipino-American student organizations participate in a friendly picnic-like competition, and these are not your average types of games. Games include Alpine Green, The Nasty, Conveyer Belt, Ground Hog and Tidal Wave. Each year a school is crowned the first, second and third place of Friendship Games.

Kamalayan Alliance, this year, dressed up uniformly as the Green Ranger. In one of our chants, we say together as one, “we may be small, but size doesn’t matter! WE MAY BE SMALL BUT SIZE DOESN’T MATTER!” over and over again until the other schools can hear our hearts roar. The reason why we say this is because Kamalayan Alliance, compared to the other schools, in size is small, but when it comes to the heart, pride and love that we have for one another, the other schools could not compete.

Although our school did not come home with a trophy, the members of Kamalayan Alliance created a bond that is so strong, not even superman himself can break it. Kamalayan Alliance, a growing Filipino-American organization, will continue to take part in this exhilarating, eye-opening event we call Friendship Games, represent our school, Cal State San Marcos, and show the Cougars will always be number one!