I can't even begin to share how incredible an honor it is to have received this award with my collaborator and dear friend Brittney Stoneburg. Thank you so much to the Pojeta Award Committee and the Paleontological Society Council for selecting us for this award. I especially want to send a shout out to the really cool folks who nominated us; you are the best! To be brutally honest, I have always questioned whether I belong in this field. There are so few Filipinos or southeast Asians in general in paleontology, and that lack of representation has always been glaringly obvious and also gnawing in the back of my mind. Adding on mental health struggles, financial barriers, and the many other things that exclude BIPOC from paleontology in America, there are so many times I could have not been around to receive this award. But it is thanks to my incredible mentors, fellow scientists, and amazing friends and family (plus my own unwillingness to quit) that I am here to say maraming salamat (Tagalog: thank you)! It's truly an honor to be counted among the few Pojeta Award winners, and I hope those like me that follow can see themselves as someone who can be counted one day as well!
