I have been always been smiling whenever I can since i was a young one.

I used to love that red chair when I was younger, It was the first thing I really claimed as my own

Hello everyone, my name is Jeff, as you all may probably know now from class. A fun fact about myself is actually that my first name is Jeff Daniel, on the registration for Rutgers they did not allow me to put a space in between both names so my name on registration comes up as Jeffdaniel which is pretty funny. I was always too lazy to go through the process of clarifying so I just stuck with it, I usually just correct professors when they ask or they catch on to what happened.

This is my beautiful family, my mom and dad on the right and my two brothers, Jeric and Jordan

That is me upside down in the air

When introducing myself I like to focus on three points -- my name, where I'm from and my race. Those are the three things I am very proud of because I am a firm believer in always remembering your roots. My name comes from my dad's best friend who passed away before I was born, I have always heard stories about him which is inspiring to me to have something to live up to. The next point which is where I am from, speaks to my upbringing. I am the first generation of my family born here in the U.S. and from that I adopted the American culture. Living in a place such as New Jersey, gave me a unique childhood due to the diversity I experienced and the principles of equality. I am very grateful to have lived in a community which has accepted not only who I am but others like me. Lastly, my filipino heritage is very strong to me. My parents wanted to come here so they could provide their children with the best opportunity to succeed. Their hard work and culture motivates me to make them proud. My filipino heritage runs deep even though I am miles away from the Philippines. I still eat the same food, practice the same culture and even understand the language. One regret I have is that I cannot speak it fluently. Regardless I am very proud to be Filipino.


The pictures attached to this post show my family and my childhood, as well as some recent pictures from vacation which highlight my desire for adventure and fun.

Taken from Palawan, Philippines in one of the hidden lagoons

Maneuvering my kayak through the other big boats 

Driving a 4 wheel all terrain kart through Punta Cana

Representing my filipino pride while on vacation in Punta Cana