Published 2017

I come from the belief that everything happens for a reason and that God leads you to certain places because it is your fate.
From a random fortune teller telling my mother she will fall in love with a shorter, darker man from Ponce and that she would become pregnant before marriage. 

From the denial of this and the reality that every single detail came true. 

From unorthodox, philosophical, and contradictory; positive, slightly hyper, and a dern good worker; a follow-througher, a carer, and more. 

From the thirst to believe in Christianity, but not fully being able to. 

From Natalia, a name that means Christmas, and a life where tarot cards have already predetermined it to be a conflicting battle over my spirituality until I am 35. 

From an astrological sign that says I am fine with being number two, but knowing I don’t necessarily agree. I thirst to be first, to be the best. 

From “What you don’t want, life gives you twice of” and “A negative attitude brings you negative results.” 

From the knowledge that some things are learned the hard way, so no matter how much I warn, you won’t necessarily listen. And that is ok, as long as you learn in the end. 

From articles and life advice to improve and get closer to true happiness. 

From the idea that if I could start over, nothing would change because I would have never learned the lessons I have spent my fifteen years of life learning.

From the many things I want to learn and do in life. From my love for others and my hope for their well being. 

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About DEEP

“We envision a Savannah where our young people and their families thrive as learners, community leaders, and artists; and we envision a community, a government, and institutions that hear, value, and respond to their voices with equity, justice, and care.” DEEP Center

I joined the DEEP Block by Block writing program as a sophomore in high school. It’s a community-based program for young writers that takes us around the city to interview locals and express the complex themes we absorb—about life, poverty, success, love, family, support, and more—through poetry. At the end of the program, our work was published in a full collection for the year. This piece is what I wrote for my bio in the book.
At fifteen, I had a very complicated view of life. I look back now and think about the many ways I’ve grown into myself—more understanding and confident than I was back then. I now know about my queerness, my neurodiversity, and my needs. Just like I’ve changed since then, I know I’ll change again. One day I’ll read my pieces and think, “You don’t even know the start of it.”