To You, by Brian Minalga

Brian Minalga

Any pronouns.

Hey SFR! It’s me, Valentina. Jk…it’s obviously me, Brian. There I am at the Lovers & Friends festival in Las Vegas earlier this year. And here are some more pics!

I grew up raising rabbits in Wisconsin. I took this pic from my childhood bedroom this past January. It was -30F that day.

I’m a big Final Fantasy fan. I’ve played every game in the series…that was made before Y2K. I’ll get around to the newer games eventually! Or not. This is the penultimate boss battle from Final Fantasy V. It’s my 8th favorite game in the series (lol). You can ask me what my favorite is…but it’s controversial.

IT’S THE BOBOCAT!!!

Corydalis cornutus, aka the Eastern Dobsonfly. The University of Minnesota entomology museum has one of these with my name on its tag. I studied literature there, but I minored in entomology and collected this special creature, whose presence in the area indicated a healthy Mississippi River.

I served in the United States Peace Corps from 2008-2010 in the Republic of Niger. I worked in the education sector and spoke in French and Zarma. Next time you see me, say, “Fofo!” It means “hello” and “thank you.”

I also served in the Peace Corps in Namibia from 2010-2012. This is where I started running. I trained in these mountains in my village, and I ran the Lucky Star Marathon further south in the world’s most ancient desert, the Namib. The people there called me Unotjari, which means “one who has grace.” I do my best to live up to that name.

I moved to Seattle in 2013 (after Peace Corps). That’s the year I joined Frontrunners, so I guess I’ve been part of SFR for 9 years! Real tea: I met a guy on Grindr, and he brought me to my first Wednesday with Frontrunners. That guy went on to become a conservative senator in South Carolina. Just kidding; I have no idea what happened to that guy. But I stuck around! The photo is from Mount Ellinor, one of Michael Bishop’s (fellow Frontrunner) favorite hikes. We had at least a dozen Frontrunners with us that day. We should do this again.

I started working at Fred Hutch in 2016 doing clinical research in infectious diseases. My education and training background is in social work, which many folks don’t realize is an evidence-based practice informed by social science. My primary area of research is HIV, but in 2020, we pretty much stopped what we were doing and put all our effort into COVID-19 research. It was a meaningful (and stressful AF) experience to be part of the COVID-19 response…but it honestly feels great to be back to my original mission in HIV research.

I started pole dancing in 2019 and didn’t want to stop when the dance studios all closed. So I put a pole in my apartment. Now I teach pole at a dance studio on Capitol Hill. Moves like “The Allegra” are the reason I always stretch after our runs. TBH I’m a little horrified that most of y’all don’t seem to stretch after running lol…feel free to follow along with my stretching routine! My Instagram has pretty much become a pole dance account, so check me out @dosnalgas if you’re into that sort of thing.

What’s next for Brian Minalga? I’ve gone through some hardships recently, but the clouds are beginning to open up. And with them, my heart is opening too. Opening to what, you ask? To possibility. To experience. To magic. To indulgence. To a better relationship with planet earth and the life she sustains. To you :-)