Philip Sarreal (Monosomic ’76) is a freelance IT network consultant based in Portland, Oregon. He finished his BS Agriculture degree in 1978 and was the Grand Varron of the Aggie Chapter in 1977-78.
Philip
Philip had the following conversation with Roberto “Bert” Alaban Jr. He recruited Bert to join the UP Varrons and he served as Bert’s freshman block monitor and agronomy instructor at UP Los Baños.
Can you tell us about your UPLB life (as student and professional) during the last millennium?
I was an energetic, idealistic kid in a lot of ways, typical I suppose of a UP student. I was very aware of the privileges of being in the campus, and therefore made the best of it. Academic life at UPLB was probably the most fertile the country had to offer in the 70’s. However life outside the classroom, especially with the Varrons, made an indelible mark on my growth as a person, as it provided the social base upon which I developed more character (since we all came from diverse backgrounds), leadership abilities with all the attendant responsibilities, and acute social and political awareness. Teaching at my department after graduation was very rewarding, but a lot more work than I wanted since I was giving priority to teaching, versus spending more time to research and writing proposals where some financial returns could be more rewarding in the long term.
Why did you take flight to the US, a country much maligned in your time and now, by UP students?
Primarily I wanted to have some kind of provision for my parents, who were just simple, hardworking farmers. As I cited teaching at UPLB had been very gratifying, but looking back at my parents’ situations then I gathered early on I won’t be able to provide them with any comfortable life with their advancing age. My Mother had earlier gone to the US to join our Ilocano relatives, and my Father left a few months after I did to join his own relatives. They are both gone now, but my greatest satisfaction was being able to take them with me at times as I traveled all over California to look at my field trials when I was a research plant breeder, and showing them California’s farm lands – the sheer vastness in size, the state-of-the-art farming, the bountiful harvests and professional agribusiness companies, even those family-owned. I also sent them letters and postcards from all over the world later in my career; my Mom had kept those letters for a while in an album and proudly showed them to everyone.
Philip with family
“Much maligned” is indeed accurate to an extent, but now that I had lived here in the US awhile (longer than I had in the PI) I can delineate between the US ruling politicians and the American people (remember the tyranny of democracy? 49.9% of Americans voted against Bush, and the remaining 50.1 % prevailed). The people and the government are two different entities – in an ideal world, government should be of, for and by the people, but this is reality. Almost half of the populace here are against Bush and his policies, and the dissent is there every generation, every term, no matter where you are in this political world. Even as a student I was acutely aware of dissent for dissent’s sake, and tried not to fall in that trap. While I admired greatly those who were steadfast in their political beliefs, a lot of them had the luxury of having an economic advantage over me since I came from a very humble background; I had to consider my family first.
Even as a kid my childhood was peppered by visits from US relatives on both my parents’ side, and was deeply intrigued by their life and perceived opportunities. Eventually I did indeed learn the US is a very pluralistic society, a real melting pot of the world where just about every culture is represented. You are rewarded for hard work and perseverance, free to express yourself, and get an honest day’s work and pay, no matter what color of skin you have or whatever other political or religious beliefs you have. What most people see from the outside is what is represented by Hollywood images especially in movies, which has little to do with the real American values of equality in opportunities, multiculturalism and tolerance for differences. I had developed to be my own person in this setting – merging my old culture with the new one – synergistically becoming a unique self. In a lot of ways I am better off than your average Joe Blow since I don’t take anything for granted and could easily appreciate every little thing I have, counting all my blessings along the way.
Last Updated on April 11, 2021 by Tudla_Admin
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