Members of IFC volunteer to interact with foreign students from China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.

Local students take them on campus tours, cultural activities, and have student-to-student conversations.

There are at least a minimum of three tours each week and three different functions in one day with 20 to 250 students. During the summer, IFC accommodates at least 17 different universities from Japan and Korea and the students stay a total of two to six weeks depending on the program they are in.

IFC also partners up with the English Adventure Program (EAP) by helping foreign students with their English reading, writing, and speaking skills.

The International Friendship Club’s mission is to “strive to establish close friendships with students locally and internationally and to promote the internationalization of Guam’s culture and hospitality.”

Some may compare it to the “Japanese exchange” held at local high schools because both create long-lasting friendships and unforgettable memories.

IFC is known as a diverse club because it is not limited to ESL (English Second Language) or foreign language majors. IFC members major in subjects like economics, business, accounting, administration, biology, marketing, mathematics, psychology, East Asian Studies, and Japanese Studies.

IFC is not only an enriching experience for foreign students, but for the local students as well. Local members are also given the chance to attend international universities in Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. This gives them the opportunity to get more into depth about diverse cultures around the world. These members are part of UOG’s “Good to Great” campaign and are known as Ambassadors of our beautiful island.

The former president of IFC is Erickson Aquino who majors in East Asian Studies and Philosophy. He minors in Biology and Japanese Studies and has been a member since Sept 2012.

“It is a great opportunity to expand our social network and friendships from across the globe. It is definitely a great experience internationalizing the University of Guam and being Ambassadors of our island.”

Angelenne Serafico is the former vice president and majors in mathematics and has been an active member since June 2012.

She explained that the workload in the club can be overwhelming at first but it is definitely rewarding.

“You’ll be able to create lasting friendships, not with just foreign students but also with our local students in the club. Being able to interact with foreign students has made me realize that although we are from different places in the world and speak different languages, we are all human with the capability to have feelings, wants, needs and fears. Not only has this club inspired me to change as a person for the better, but also this club gave me the opportunity to inspire others. This club is great for you to grow as a person and to broaden your perspective about others and the world.”

If you have an interest in joining the International Friendship Club, you need to meet some requirements. One must be a high school, UOG, or GCC student and complete all membership forms. To participate in the scholarship trips, one must have at least a GPA of 2.5 or better and have accumulated a certain amount of hours or points.

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This tournament included a no-gi division with 30 competitors vying for gold.

The team that came out on top was Purebred Jiu-jitsu, taking first in the adult and kids division.

Purebred is the oldest jiu-jitsu gym on island and this is their 16^th consecutive Copa De Marianas win taking home the adult and kids team championship trophies.  This marks the longest winning streak in jiu-jitsu on Guam.

Figo’ Jiu-jitsu took 2^nd place in the adult and kids division for the third time. Figo’ is a gym that has been open for three years. They have become one of the largest academies on island with nearly 100 students.

While the coaches of Purebred, Figo’, Vida, and Carlson Gracie are competitive on the mat, they are all humble leaders. Stephen Roberto coaches Purebred, Luis and Elijah Reyes lead Figo’, Gabe Baker is the head of Carlson Gracie, and Josh Santos teaches at Vida.

“We are there from 8 a.m. coaching the kids and till 4pm coaching the last adult colored belt goes up,” Elijah Reyes of Figo’ said.

Children start training jiu-jitsu as early as the age of five.

“It amazes me how much these kids understand the sport and put their skills to the test by competing” said Jasmin Guerrero, a Figo’ competitor. “It takes a lot of guts.”

The referees take the kids division very carefully.

There are many moves that kids are not allowed to do, such as shoulder locks.

Also, when a child locks in a position, the referees won’t allow them to fully submit their opponent so they can avoid injuries, even minor ones.

Six kids from Purebred, five from Figo’, two from Carlson Gracie, and one from Vida got gold in the kids and teen division.

The female division is open to competitors who hold the same color belt at any weight class.

The Figo’ women swept the white belt division with Emilie Ocampo taking Gold, Neomi Wolford taking silver, and Sea’hara Cruz taking bronze. Jerica Cruz, also from Figo, took home gold in the blue belt division. There were only two competitors for the purple belt division and both were from Purebred.

In the adult white belt division, Vida won the most gold medals.

Spike 22 and Vida were tied with both three medals each in the blue belt division. Purebred took two out of four gold medals in the purple belt division and all the gold medals in the brown.

There were 28 gold medals, and in total, Purebred won nine, Vida won six, Figo’ won five, Spike 22 won four and Carlson Gracie won two.

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You might hear students call him by his nickname “P.Ray”–short for professor Ray.  Some might notice that it spells out “pray.”  So he often says, “pray for me as I pray for you.”

He usually introduces himself with a question on the first day of class: “Where do you think I am from?”  Anderson mentions some of the countries students have mentioned in the past have included Brazil, Middle East, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Jamaica.  He said it takes students a while to get the correct answer, but once they hear him say “Jamaica,” his accent allows them to figure out where he is from.

Anderson grew up in Saint Andrew, which is a suburb of Kingston.

“Guam is not as hot as Jamaica, it is usually a couple degrees warmer,” Anderson said.  “[Jamaica] is humid, but not as humid as Guam.”

Anderson arrived to Guam on Aug. 16  with his wife.

“So far my experience in Guam is very nice,” Anderson said.

He currently teaches three classes: Introduction to Mass Communication, Broadcast Production, and Advertising in Mass Media.

Next semester, he will be teaching three sections of the Introduction to Mass Communication class and one section of the Documentary Process class.

He plans to introduce new communication classes.

Anderson said he would like to develop an “Intro to Film Studies” class.  In such a class, students would watch films, talk about them and explore different ways of critiquing them.

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