12 Oct Humans of IEEC, #3.

(Jose, 23, from California)

“I was born in California, but moved to Mexico City when I was 1 years old. When I was about 15 I moved back to California, Coachella.

-“Coachella as in where the festival is?”

“Yep, exactly! But when the festival is not on, it’s a pretty boring place, there’s not much to do. That’s why I moved to SF, because there is so much to do here. After living in SF for a year, I decided I wanted to experience studying abroad. So I studied abroad for a year in Italy. ”

-“Wow a year in Italy, that sounds amazing. Do you feel that that experience changed you?”

“Yes, for sure. It changed me a lot. Before I moved to Italy, I was a square. Now, I am a circle.  Before moving to Italy I was a square because I lived in this personal bubble. I was busy with my own problems and family related problems. But when I moved to Italy, I became more open minded. I traveled around, I met a lot of people from different cultures. I learned to listen more to other people instead of always trying to talk for yourself.  Also, Italy made me more of a calm dude. You see Italians don’t do anything, they’re lazy as f. It’s not like people in the US, here everyone is always busy. I got used to the laid back Italian vibe and brought it back to SF. I’m now more of a calm-down-dude, thanks to my year abroad.”