LEO

Photography Student
from Durham, NC

Sanford Mall, ASU

January 25, 2023

Who do you admire the most?

My dad. He is not a perfect person, but he is a good man. I admire that, even though I may not agree with everything he says. I cannot deny that he does the best that he can.

If you had to write a note to yourself, a year from now, what would you say?

I love you.

What keeps you up at night?

Regrets.

What is something that has been challenging you or your mindset recently?

I think a lot about religion. I am catholic by birth, but not necessarily raised Catholic. I was baptized and went to church as a child, but I hated it. Eventually we stopped going. The past year, I have just been thinking about it a lot more. It is an interesting concept, the biblical story, but I have a lot of problems with it in the context of reality. Apart from the stories and concepts of being a good person. I really enjoy those concepts, but in reality the only reason I practice or have this faith in my life is because of colonization and conquistadors bringing it over to Central America. I think about that and I think it is pretty fucked up, like why would I follow this stupid religion when I am sure people before me didn’t want to. Would they be angry at me for doing it? It is even weirder because of my parents, especially my mother, she is catholic. My father is a little more laissez faire with it, he believes there is a god. It weirds me out that they are more okay with it and I am not.

What is your dream job?

I would love to just get paid to get in a car, drive places, and take fun pictures of people I meet and places I go. It sounds a little unrealistic, but you said it is a dream job. It doesn’t have to be realistic. I would love to document what I see, not necessarily for some greater artistic purpose, more just because I really enjoy doing it. I think everyone could benefit from relaxing and taking a look at the more still, beautiful moments.

What are you the most thankful for in life right now?

It was a very split second decision to apply here. I applied and moved in two weeks later. Within a period of a month, I went from community college to more alone than I would like to be, to living here. It was a big transition, but I am very grateful that I did it. I was really scared for a little while. I had friends and people I had met over a period of time not going to a four year college. I value those people a lot and everytime I go home I talk to them and I see them, so I didn’t want to leave that behind. At the same time, I have to go, I have to get a move on. I have to figure out what I want to do. I am grateful I applied, I have met amazing people here.

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