The 6-minute film features pairs of pen pals sharing their experiences, the changes pen palling brought to their relationships and the beauty behind sending letters.

Reel Voices, a documentary filmmaking program under SDAFF, made the film possible for Baek. Throughout the summer of 2020, the 16-year-old high school junior worked hand-in-hand with Reel Voices, who provided mentors and all other resources needed to create her film.

“Even though production and filming did not go as it would have if we were not in a pandemic, I think this created an opportunity for me to have these experiences,” Baek stated.

To Baek, the hardest part about the creation of her film was narrowing down all of her ideas. Her choice was greatly influenced by wanting to create something unique to herself and her own experiences.

“Sending letters has always been something that I enjoy, and it does mean a lot to me,” Baek said. “I wanted to share that with the rest of the world.”

Currently, Baek is interning at Pacific Arts Movement, the organization in charge of SDAFF. As part of their marketing team, Baek hopes to get more knowledge and experience in public relations, which she is looking to pursue in the future.

“We do not really get to see Asian people in film and media,” Baek said. “Being able to do work that highlights these people especially, it really gives them a platform to showcase their art, culture and stories.”

If given the chance to make another film, Baek would like to showcase stories of Asian film in media or immigrant stories like her parents.

“I think it would be cool to share immigrant stories from people who immigrated at different ages from different countries and backgrounds to show the diversity and work people put into moving just to create a better life for themselves,” Baek shared.

With her passion and hardwork, Baek is looking to be a promising young individual. In the future, Baek just hopes to be known as someone who holds human relationships in high regard.

Baek has no plans for anything new at the moment, but is open to the idea of creating a blog in the future.

For now, Andrea Baek’s film “Snail Mail” is available to watch online at Pacific Arts Movement’s Youtube channel.

The post Andrea Baek on her first documentary and future in film appeared first on The Triton's Call.

On Saturday, Dec. 12, a local band, Smiles Davis, eased back to playing live with an evening performance at the Coffee Slut coffee shop in Agana. They performed cover songs ranging from Maxwell, Daniel Caesar and Childish Gambino. 

The four-piece ensemble includes Vince Mesa on guitar, Martin Honor doing the main vocals and the keys, RJ Aguon on the drums and Eric Tydingco on the bass. 

According to Mesa, the band has only done four gigs so far. This recent performance is the second time they’ve played live again since the lockdown. 

Smiles Davis first formed in February earlier this year. However, each of the band members have all created music separately before the formation of the band. 

“I’ve played with a lot of groups over the years and I’ve recorded with a lot of artists,” Mesa said. “But whenever you find a good drum and bass combo, you have to hold on to that.” 

Mesa remains hopeful for gigs and bookings in the future. 

“We do what it takes [to get back],” Mesa said. 

For those interested in booking the band, contact or visit the Smiles Davis Instagram page at @smilesdavis671.

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The triathlon was the first off-road XTRAIL challenge in five years.

James Sardea, owner of Urban Fitness and organizer of the event, works to keep Guam moving and active in spite of the pandemic. 

“People really miss it,” Sardea said, regarding the experience of participating in challenges like the triathlon. 

He emphasized how the experience was different compared to those that were not restricted by the pandemic. The allotted number of participants was kept low to maintain social distancing guidelines.

The event was split into two categories: 10 competitive personal goal participants and 10 recreational personal goal participants. 

Athletes dove head-first into the event, starting with a 1000-yard swim at the Lotte Triangle by Tumon Beach. 

They then made their way up to the Two Lovers Point Trail, circling two laps around the northern part of the track. 

After returning to the starting point at Lotte Hotel transition parking, participants ran from Gun Beach to Ypao Beach, finishing off by running the road back to the start.

First place finisher of the challenge and longtime triathlon competitor, Cameron O’Neal, enjoyed another experience of challenging himself and pushing the limits with familiar faces.

“There’s a lot of support too,” O’Neal said. “I’ve got friends that weren’t in the race, but still came out to support. That’s the goodness of a tight-knit community like this.”

The triathlon started at 6:30 a.m., but participants finished to their own accord.

Each one received a finishers medal, an SMG BOCO endurance hat, an Urban Fitness Sports towel, and a UGM race pack for completing the challenge.

The post A Natural Cycle: Local athletes join the XTRAIL Triathlon Challenge appeared first on The Triton's Call.

Southern Mountain Gear is a company founded by Daniel and Aaron Holmes, providing quality hiking and adventure gear for long time or beginner hikers. 

An event that began 14 months ago has prospered through the pandemic, despite the condition of the island and the social distancing rules mandated by the government.

“Really just a sense of community and get fit kinda exercising,” Aaron said. 

This event is geared towards the individuals who feel trapped at home and are looking for a sense of escape to focus their minds on other things.

“I think that sense of community is super helpful for people right now.” Aaron said. “We really wanted to do everything we could to still proceed with that.”

After the 5k, runners socialized and drank cold beverages near the Guam Museum, in front of their shop, while they followed social distancing protocols. To stay up to date with their latest announcements and events, you can visit their Instagram page @southernmountaingear or visit their website at https://www.southernmountaingear.com/.

The post Get Ready, Get Set, Go!: 5k Run Night appeared first on The Triton's Call.

Steel Athletics suspended group fitness activities in May because of the island lockdown. They have since started offering services to their members with safety precautions in mind.

Instagram Live workouts were a great way for the Steel Athletics coaches to motivate themselves and their members to continue their fitness journey despite the pandemic.

“I wanted to provide a workout where we can all still be together and be supportive. I know how it is to try to self-motivate when no one’s around, it’s hard,” Coach JJ said.

Steel Athletics opened its doors in January 2017. Their mission was to create a facility for like-minded people who put health and fitness as a priority.

Coach JJ and his wife, Francesca Ambrose, own and manage the facility in Tamuning.

“We’ve grown a community that is quite amazing. It happened so organically, without us even thinking about it,” Ambrose said.

For more information on Steel Athletics membership and class schedules, visit their website at steelathleticsguam.com or their Instagram at @steelathletics.

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The organization was established in 2019 through the University of Guam’s Marine Laboratory and is currently chaired by Laurie Raymundo, Ph.D., a professor of coral ecology. 

GRRIP members help rehabilitate corals by transporting corals that survived various bleaching periods into a nursery in order to propagate them; allowing the clippings to grow until they are ready for out-planting. 

According to Raymundo, the goal is to not only preserve coral species but monitor the recruitment of organisms that help create a stable reef system for fish and other marine life. 

Raymundo said agencies and organizations have recognized that reef restoration is one of the big focuses on Guam right now.

GRRIP partners with local agencies such as the Bureau of Statistics and Plans, Department of Agriculture, Guam Environmental Protection Agency and Underwater World to conduct coral surveys, nursery maintenance and out-planting projects throughout the island. 

Members of the partnering agencies that conduct these types of fieldwork all have biology and scuba diving backgrounds, as the work requires a great amount of skill level and can be intensive.

Trained divers from each partner agency assist during working days and at times use their own resources such as vehicles, boats and dive equipment. 

“This partnership has allowed us to upscale our operations beyond the capacity of the Marine Lab,” Raymundo said. 

But the conversation around coral restoration started back in 2013 when Guam faced major coral bleaching and disease outbreak events, which lasted all the way to 2017. During this five-year period, the island lost about 30 percent of its total coral population. 

According to Raymundo, one coral species, in particular, staghorn corals, saw significant damage. 

“In our first rapid assessment between 2013 and 2015 we lost about 50% of the staghorns,” Rayundo said. “We’re now looking at our data from 2013 to 2017 in detail, examining changes in the communities living in affected areas and losses in species.” 

Ashley Castro, GRRIP member, has been working in the coral nurseries for six months. 

“With Guam’s major bleaching events rebuilding the reef is vital to the health of our island and we can eventually recover the communities that we’ve lost,” Castro said. 

Castro’s focus is to add more diversity in the coral reef systems with the outplanting of staghorn corals. 

“The staghorn species, acropora microphthalmais, a rare coral that only grows in one area of Guam,” Castro said. “We hope we can incorporate it in other areas to further diversify the coral eco-system.”

Coral restoration is very experimental Raymundo said. 

“We never looked at it to this extent,” Raymundo said. “Those of us that have been monitoring corals for a while, kept getting told, ’it’s not possible.”

“Now that we’ve lost so much, the people that were saying it’s not possible are now saying, ‘this might be one of the only things that we can do,” Raymundo said. 

Claire Moreland-Ochoa has worked with GRRIP since September 2019, and has seen small improvements in the reef systems. 

“I have been able to observe the corals recruiting fish and invertebrates to make a once degraded reef site into a true reef community,” Moreland-Ochoa said. “My hope for the future is to outplant multiple species of coral to create a diverse reef eco-system.”

GRRIP was recently awarded grant funding that will allow for more out-planting within the next two years, covering four acres of reef area. 

Moreland-Ochoa, hopes to continue and expand coral restoration in Guam’s waters through surveying and outplanting. 

“This grant allows us to add more structure into the existing coral nurseries which expands our opportunities to grow more coral for restoration purposes,” said Moreland-Ochoa. 

“We’re going to keep trying and our efforts will be to some extent positive and successful,” Raymundo said. 

The post Coral rehabilitation, the last hope to save Guam’s reefs appeared first on The Triton's Call.

Before going back to sleep, she decides to check how her business is doing through her Shopify shop.

She scans through the inventory for their “Shy Babe” collection. In disbelief, she immediately puts her phone down then picks it up again.

In just three days since the launch of their new collection, everything was sold out. Filled with joy, she calls her best friend and business partner, Jasmine Balajadia, 22, to tell her about the news. The two begin to scream in excitement over the phone about their achievement.

Loyalty Lashes by Leona and Jasmine first launched on May 1.

“Our business was in the making for about a year and a half before our launch,” King said. “We finally decided to launch despite this pandemic, and things have been super good.”

Their business was created solely to provide the island of Guam with high quality, cruelty-free false lashes and lash accessories.

The pair first met in elementary school and have been best friends for about 13 years before they decided to be business partners.

Initially, King was going start the business alone, but it just didn’t feel right to her.

“About a month in, I was like, ‘Loyalty Lashes by Leona… I don’t know,’” King said. “When COVID wasn’t happening yet, and Jas and I were always spending time together, I thought, ‘What could go wrong with two best friends running a business?’”

They reveal that the hardest part about running a business is not having your best friend as a business partner, but it is managing their time because they both have other responsibilities.

Balajadia and King both work and attend school full-time. Balajadia is a high voltage electrician, while King is a financial accountant.

However, when they focus on their business, they feel at ease.

“Believe it or not, when it is time to work on the business, it really does take a load of our shoulders because we love what we do,” King said.

Although it has been a few months since the launch of their business, they are still new to the whole thing.

“For me, it is a learn-as-you-go,” Balajadia said.

Their top priority when running their business is to ensure that they provide good customer service.

Allyana Canete, 20, a customer, said she first discovered the business through Instagram.

When asked about what makes the business unique, Canete said it is their branding and customer service.

Soon, they hope to expand their product line.

Their main goal is to be able to expand their business globally.

“Besides growth, we want to go global,” Balajadia said. “We want to have our line in Ulta and Sephora.”

The post From best friends to business partners: How loyalty lashes by leona & jasmine came to be appeared first on The Triton's Call.

“I think there’s a lot of work we need to do here in Guam,” said Nolan Flores, PSSA president. “It’s a lot about informing the public of advocacy on certain issues.”

PSSA was created in 2010 by like-minded individuals who wanted to form an organization for the college major.

Although the association was created to serve political science interests, PSSA is very inclusive of others who are willing to join.

Joseph Madlangbayan, the association’s current vice president, believes that having a variety of people join PSSA helps keep the association’s goals.

The association’s missions and goals revolve around promoting politics, providing opportunities and enhancing experiences.

PSSA participates in numerous community projects on Guam.

One of these includes conducting legislative forums every election season. The PSSA brings in potential senators and have them talk about their platform and plans if they were elected.

The association was able to have their sixth legislative forum in fall 2020.

This was also PSSA’s first time to organize a congressional forum where the association’s officers were able to meet with senatorial candidates to discuss their campaigns.

Kayleen Concepcion, the current PSSA public relations officer, was moderator for one of these legislative forums.

“For my friends and family, even those who are in the states, they found this forum to be super helpful,” Concepcion said.

Apart from Concepcion’s participation in the forums, she also believes in the importance of promoting political engagement, especially for the young.

“It’s very easy to dismiss the importance of voting and local politics,” Concepcion said. “A lot of people believe if they’re not directly involved, it doesn’t affect them.”

Concepcion also believes PSSA will help reach out to others by informing younger age groups about current political issues.

“If you were to ask me in high school about issues going on in Guam, I wouldn’t know anything,” Madlangbayan said. “Going to college helped me better engage in these issues.”

In order to attract the interests of younger audiences, the association hosts recruitment drives at UOG throughout the semester.

PSSA sets up a table at the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Lecture Hall. The members distribute free tea and donuts, and engage in discussions about the association and politics with others.

However, due to the global pandemic, these recruitment drives have been canceled until further notice.

According to Flores, the association has future plans of conducting recruitment sessions in Zoom virtual classrooms to reach students during the pandemic.

As his first semester as PSSA president, Flores has had a tougher experience in leading and transitioning the association into online learning.

“I’ve had to adapt my leadership style,” Flores said. “As president, I’ve never had an in-person meeting, so it’s harder to make the connections with people.”

PSSA is now currently aiming to increase and maintain engagement during this pandemic. Their goal of promoting decolonization, self-determination, and indigenous rights continues as well.

Apart from politics, PSSA also offers other fun activities such as trivia nights, bar fundraisers, karaoke nights, etc.

They also participate in community and volunteer work such as annual donation drives and feeding-the-homeless events.

Follow PSSA’s Instagram and Facebook page to keep up to date with the association’s activities.

Students interested may contact the association directly at pssa@triton.uog.edu for further inquiries.

The post The Political Science Student Association and their mission to a better future appeared first on The Triton's Call.

“Let the love of learning rule humanity” may sound like the catchphrase of the next biggest superhero league. That is, if you are willing to see the extraordinary in ordinary people.

That phrase is the mission of the University of Guam’s first chapter of The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

UOG’s chapter of Phi Kappa Phi was established earlier in March of this year. UOG’s chapter is the third chapter personally established by UOG’s 11^th President, Dr. Thomas Krise.

The organization focuses on provided funds for its student members. A large part of the chapter’s work is geared towards fundraising for scholarships and research surrounding academic achievement.

The society faced the challenge of working around quarantine policies the moment it was established.

“We were born in the pandemic – and we didn’t really have any other options,” said Troy McVey, Ed.D., the chapter’s president and UOG’s vice provost for Academic Excellence, Graduate Studies & Online Learning.

The conditions pushed members to put a great amount of thought and planning into how the program would manage virtually. Although their zoom meetings are not frequent, members still take time out of their days to discuss and organize events.

The membership installation ceremony was the society’s first event which took place during Pandemic Condition of Readiness 3 and was adjusted to follow social distancing guidelines.

Although it strayed from the usual induction ceremony that participants were familiar with, the unique experience was a memorable moment for many.

The society then moved onto their next event that took place from September to October of the fall 2020 term.

During their Fall Service Literacy Project, 30 t0 40 members read local-based legends, poetry, and non-fiction stories, which were posted as videos on the Phi Kappa Phi Instagram and Facebook pages.

The videos were distributed to schools and left available as content for students to discuss and review. Guam’s KPRG public radio station also aired the stories.

By the 2021 spring semester, the program intends to sponsor academic conversations, such as the School of Business & Public Administration Dean Series and the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Colloquium series.

Phi Kappa Phi does plan activities that benefit certain programs, but it is not disciplinary-specific. Instead of restricting to certain majors, the society welcomes any student who meets the required academic standards.

Juniors, seniors, and graduates who have completed 18 credits are eligible to apply. Undergraduate juniors must be in the top 7.5 percent of their academic major, while seniors and graduate students must be in the top 10 percent.

A list from the Registrar’s Office is usually reviewed to send invitations out to eligible students attending UOG.

Although there are fees that come with applying, college deans, the president, and senior vice president of UOG covered most of the costs thanks to a challenge match funding, easing the financial worries of the first wave of applicants.

“Sometimes members steer away from joining an honor society because of the application fee, but the application fee is lifelong,” said Jestyne Sablan, the society’s current student vice president.

She noted that applying for membership can be daunting, but serving those in the community is all worthwhile.

“I think of always coming back to that,” said Christopher Garcia-Santos, PhD, assistant professor of English and the society’s president-elect. He expressed how there is a constant reminder to focus the organization on the issues that matter the most. “As an organization, we can promote learning across members and non-members and the greater community that the university serves.”

Allowing the love of learning to guide them in the decisions they make remains the greatest motivation for the society.

For more information on The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, you can visit their Facebook and Instagram pages. You can also contact them by sending an email to phikappaphi@triton.uog.edu.

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Customers drove by their stand at Sagan Kotturan Chamoru Cultural Center and picked up dragon fruits, lemmai chips, microgreens, egg-laying chicks, and more.

GSC purchases local farmers’ excess produce and uses Farm Fresh Produce to teach the community about produce that exists on the island.

Kristin Oberiano, secretary of GSC, is grateful for the community’s excitement in supporting farmers and helping the local agriculture economy grow.

“Being part of Farm Fresh Produce, we get to know farmers and we get to know where our food is coming from, and we want to share that with the rest of the island’s community,” said Oberiano.

Customers can pick up Farm Fresh Produce orders at Sagan Kotturan Chamoru Cultural Center every Thursday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

To place an order, visit their website at gusustainable.org. Follow their Instagram for more updates on their “Supporting Farmers, Sustaining Families” initiative at @gusustainable.

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