“Joining the FSU Katipunan my freshman year 1992 was the most impactful decision I made my freshman year. My entire college experience and growth were significantly influenced by Katipunan.”
— Luther Mangoba
Despite being the student body president during my senior year of high school, I felt small and inconsequential at the start of my freshman year. Katipunan helped ease the shock of being a very small fish in a big ocean. Simply participating as a cast member in the 1993 PCN production gave me an opportunity to meet many new people and helped make UCR feel less vast and distant.
I joined Katipunan all four years and performed in all 4 PCN productions. Most of my college friendships were with Katipunan members. Those friendships made college fun and rewarding. Katipunan was a positive influence in my college career and I considered Katipunan my extended family. My favorite outstanding memory of my Katipunan family, is waking up one morning alone after a group of us pulled an all nighter. After washing my face, I realized my fingernails and toenails were painted with black nail polish!
I served as the Sports Coordinator my Junior year and a member of the executive cabinet my senior year. Serving in the leadership roles with Katipunan provided an opportunity to further develop my interpersonal and communication skills and also fostered a higher confidence in myself, which I did not possess in high school. These skills and self confidence served me well in my graduate studies and subsequent career as a physician. I would offer as a pearl of wisdom to consider that a college education has far more important goals than academic mastery. These higher goals include: 1) knowing who you are; 2) learning how to relate and communicate with others as adults; 3) learning to think independently and critically. If you master these three, you are well equipped to accomplish whatever goals you may pursue.
