I'm an optimist, I like to create new things, and follow my curiosity.
In 2016, I moved to the U.S. from Venezuela without any knowledge of English. But I told myself, I would learn English in one day. Why? I still have no idea. I think it has something to do with the American spirit. It's called the World Series, not the American Final Championship Baseball Series.
Within six months, I had learned enough English to enroll in advanced placement (AP) and honors courses at my high school, and that was the beginning of my realization that you can always, always do more than you think.
During my high school years, I created a digital marketing company, spent time at particle accelerators (Fermilab), interned at tech startups, authored Generation Optimism, delivered two TEDx Talks (1), 2), and relentlessly pursued my aspirations.
In college, I had fun by learning, doing, and creating the following:
In my free time, I run marathons, read books, play soccer, and play both the guitar and piano.
My mission in life is to follow my curiosity without hesitation. I will achieve this by creating companies, writing essays and books, inventing products, making movies, and doing things society can't and won't do while having the time of my life with distribution.
My journey started in a beautiful and tropical country in South America called Venezuela. Venezuela was this magical place where I was born and raised for 14 years of my life until I moved to the United States.
However, Venezuela started deteriorating in every aspect you can imagine after 1998 when a populist regime came to power. His ideologies not only ruined the country economically and politically but also socially.
Delinquency was on the rise every year and in the area where we lived, every week there was some new kidnapping where criminals would ask for a huge ransom. My family and I were no exception.
I was 3 years old. It was a normal Saturday. My dad and I were driving to work - he often took me with him on the weekends. Suddenly, our car was ambushed. Several men were shooting…the bullets were breaking our car windows, hitting our tires and doors, literally everywhere. I didn’t know what was happening…I just hugged him as hard as I could until things went quiet and he laid limp beside me. Unfortunately, a gunshot had impacted my dad.
That horrible day happened in 2005, and as you can imagine growing up without a dad was pretty hard, everyone thought I was going to be traumatized for the rest of my life and that I wasn’t going to be a “normal kid.”
Well, they were right, I’m definitely not normal. I’m just a crazy kid. Just kid with an insane sense of urgency, ambition, and ready to take on the world.
After my father was murdered, Venezuela started to deteriorate, even more, every year, every month, and every day. We started to receive many threats from the government and the criminals who killed my dad. And since there’s practically no law. The days of my mom, younger sister, and I were numbered if we stayed there. After being sentenced for more than 30 years, the criminals wanted revenge, and I was their target. I was the person who if they killed would be the most painful to my family. My days were numbered.
After my dad’s assassination, I gained perspective on the world and on life. It gave me a sense of purpose. If I had survived and been given another chance, I knew that my life was going to be meaningful and special. This realization is what drives me the most every day; I want to use this chance to the best I can. I want to be there as a beacon of hope for anyone who is unfairly persecuted, can embrace nonviolence, turn the other cheek and improve their lives.
On this day, my life drastically changed. It was a miracle; having survived that event uninjured and it had a deep meaning for me.
If I was so fortunate to have received this opportunity to live, my life would have a great purpose, a purpose that I’m still trying to figure out.
Read about my experiences in high school.
Read my essays on college college.
See I'm up to now.