POV Today and Beyond

The child was born on July 11th 1993, at 7 and a half pounds he was average in weight and only his big head stood out. The boy was born in Miami, Florida but moved back at 2 years old to his parents native country until the age of 7. Within this time he identified and only knew his one home in Nicaragua. His days consisted of mostly spending time in nature and creating obstacles and games with his older sister. If he were to look back at the tiny atmosphere he had with his family, friends and concept of life, he’d probably use the golden cliche “Ignorance is a bliss”. No matter what, he’d never forget the feeling of wonder and satisfaction his “abuela” would provide after making some magic happen in the kitchen on a typical Nicaragua evening.

As life would have it; this big head would move back to Florida at the tender age of 7. On his first day of school, he went in full of anxiety as he couldn’t speak a word english. Day after day, the language barrier effects increased and the impact rippled to the point he just went to school to spend time with himself. From the moment he set foot to the moment he’d step out, it was nothing but personal imagination time…with the occasional desk nap. Although, he did have a few classmates that could converse broken Spanish, it wasn’t significant enough to alter his “education experience”.

Fast forwarding through the Miami-Dade Educational system and our big head has almost wrapped up high school. He’d picked up the language and took a knack towards sleeping and creativity, well mostly sleeping . Gus had gravitated towards writing and conversing wittingly. He liked to make people laugh and enjoyed a witty punchline very much so. The problem here lies in his internal absence and lack of future oriented direction. Years would go by and he would sit in many different desks, lacking that spark that would demand action or ambition. He hadn’t forgot that feeling of being alien or misunderstood. Our young big head eventually earns his diploma, but the light paper scroll carried no weight on his mind.Finally, when he got home in numbness and blandness, he sat on his chair and began pondering. His reality was influenced by his actions more than ever. There was absolutely no reason he couldn’t move forward from his latest chapter of life.  He had begun to notice that he managed to accomplish and it was very possible to do more so. His hands grew shaky with excitement. His skin spiked with goosebumps. His heart began to beat faster and faster…  As his eyes began to glow with determination that his will began to illicit, he knew he was a different person. A person in control.

Soon after completing high school, he went on to college and then a University. Our boy was learning things and trying hard, all of a sudden. He began to radiate a sense of positivity and this was the way he would go about things. After Gus completed his bachelors in Florida International University, he needed to take that momentum and found the a new challenge that would prove to be the most rewarding. A challenge involving his very basic unit of self-identity; to be creative.

 

 

Gustavo Bendana
gusbendana@gmail.com