Birds Migrating
As the picture above says, humans are not the only species that migrate in order to find a better life for themselves. Birds and other types of animals do it as well. This is a story of a young boy who flew out of his hometown to become a better version of himself and achieve personal and professional goals that his country couldn’t provide for him. This is my story.
I like to use this space just to dump any thoughts that I have in my head at the moment. Economics, politics, finance are just one of the many topics that I like to approach but in the meantime, I said to myself: why not start by exposing more personal topics? maybe someone can relate to one of them. That’s why I’m writing this today.
Born and raised in Venezuela, I grew up in a traditional sort of family. Catholic values were strong since I can remember and even though my parents divorced at a very young age, love was never something that I lacked. I had a normal childhood in a catholic school, surrounded by many people who taught me from a very young age how to be a better person and an honorable citizen. But it seems that no one was preparing me for what came next. I mean, to be fair how would anyone know the future? If that would be the case we wouldn’t make mistakes and a crystal ball would be one of our most precious objects.
Spent most of my childhood and my teenage years dividing myself between my mother and my father, spending the holidays with my mom one year and with my dad the next year. Either way, I felt like one of them was always sad if I was with the other. It was like living with a guilty feeling that I wasn’t supposed to feel. Either way, I managed to get through that without any sort of traumatic memories. As I said, love was always around me.
I managed to graduate high school (not with the best grades) but still, it was something to feel really proud and grateful for, most people don’t get to have the opportunity to do it since some of them live in very problematic environments. I think for most 18 years old it's scary to even think: what am I gonna do with my life now? am I supposed to go to college? and even if I do, what am I going to study? that was something that kept going inside my head even to this day. Eventually, I managed to overcome those feelings and went to college to become an engineer… for now.
I started Industrial Engineering in college even though my grades weren’t good and I was feeling very frustrated that all the time and effort that I was dedicated to change that, wasn’t paying off like I wanted to. That situation kept going for over two more years. But little did I know that destiny had something else prepared for me.
2014: the year when everything changed:
Like I said above, I was born in Venezuela, a country that is known for its beautiful landscapes and our most precious resources: oil and natural gas. A country that was struggling with very hard political, economic, and social issues that aggravated after famous former President Hugo Chavez died in 2013 and continue to this day. The year after that, Venezuela entered into a series of social riots and basic goods shortages that obligated young, capable people to flee the country throughout all these years. I was one of them.
I made the decision of leaving the country one night when I was hanging out with my all-time friends and that’s when I realized that it was better for me to leave. It is a very sad and hard feeling to know that the land that watched you grow and made you the person that you are today, doesn’t have any more to offer you and that you have to seek a better future somewhere else.
The day came. I still remember that feeling of emptiness going to the airport and leaving all your life behind as you kept going further and further. I also still remember that one last hug my mom gave to me and with tears in our eyes we said to each other “you have no idea how much I’m gonna miss you”. I let go of her hand and as I entered the international terminal, the doors closed but the feeling of sadness was still very present. The destination was Buenos Aires.
After a 7 hour flight, I arrived in Argentina. It was July so winter has just recently started. Of course, I didn’t have the appropriate clothing since Venezuela is a tropical country where is hot all year long. I stayed at a friend’s house that night but I had trouble sleeping because I couldn’t believe that just 7 hours before I said goodbye to the only life that I ever knew. I was only 20 years old.
I signed up for college in Buenos Aires (a catholic one, ironic, isn’t it?) and continued studying engineering. My first year was rough, I didn’t know the city, and I didn’t have any friends to turn to if I was feeling lonely. Luckily that changed quickly and managed to know a lot of great people that helped me settle in.
After the first year, I realized that I wasn’t happy with what I was pursuing and made me rethink my whole life again. I always wanted to study economics but as I young boy I was told that engineers make more money. But, at what cost? I was really unhappy mixed with the fact that I was feeling homesick. So one night I kept thinking: what if I go after what I really want and not care what everyone would think?. The next day I signed up to become an Economist. That was the best decision I made so far.
I met amazing people throughout the way that made me achieve my goal and I’m not saying that it was easy but now I can proudly say that I did it and all the hard work, the sacrifice, and leaving my home, finally paid off. I graduated and now I work in a big international company as a financial analyst.
I guess what I’m trying to say by writing these lines is that don’t give up. Work hard for what you want, persevere, and you will achieve your goals. Migrating was one of the hardest decisions that I had to make in my whole life, especially being a young person, but at the same time, It was the best one. Of course, I miss my family every day, I haven’t seen them in a very long time added to the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic has made it harder, but they are happy that I’m happy and achieved the goals that I set for myself.
As a final reflection, I would like to say to everyone who reads this is that it’s ok to make mistakes. Failure is part of success and I experienced it first hand. Be bold, don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone, meet people that push you to achieve your goals, and last but not least, work hard for what you want, no matter what people think. You are valuable, don’t forget that.