Last week, we had the enormous privilege of having, none other than, Yvette Noel-Schure visit our program. With days of anticipation, we were told she would come to visit us and spend a few days with us, and that we would face the challenge of developing a project in just a few days, under her guidance, which was kept secret until the day of her arrival because, we were told, it was a surprise.
I have so much to say about how Yvette's presence has impacted my life and career. Although brief, perhaps, these days made me realize many things about this program I decided to study a year ago, this step I decided to take to leave everything behind, my life in #Mexico, to venture to a new country, #Spain, that I love, and that is my new home, and specifically the city of #Valencia, which has given me so many beautiful things...
From Yvette, I learned two things that I will carry in my mind and heart and that, undoubtedly, will serve me throughout my career: #BeKind.
I lost count of how many times Yvette repeated this phrase to us, but truly, she showed us with her example that being a good person, beyond your talents, knowledge, and skills, is what opens a thousand and one doors; and, what is even more important (and can be a challenge, sometimes), being a good person, BEING KIND, is what will KEEP them open.
During the days Yvette accompanied us, she challenged us to develop a media outlet that was innovative and that was a space for a social group that interested us. Not only a space to showcase new artists and talents, but also a space that addressed a social cause of our interest and to which we could genuinely, from the heart, contribute something and motivate people to help as well.
Under this premise, my team and I decided to create "La Sobremesa," a project by Hispanics for Hispanics that brings together the two things that most rejoice us as human beings since ancient times: #music and #food. And what it seeks is to open this space so that all people in the world can understand and know much more about the diversity and richness that exists in the world under this generic umbrella term of "Latino" or "Hispanic."
Because, I don't know if you knew, but Spanish is the fourth most spoken language in the world, after English, Chinese, and Hindi. Spanish-speaking people who inhabit our world
today are scattered all over the Earth and come from such different, diverse backgrounds... and sometimes, society limits us to calling us "Latinos" and saying that our food is tacos and our music is reggaeton or rancheras. But when you dig deep enough, you realize that there is SO much to know about our cultures. So "La Sobremesa" is precisely for that... for people to know more about our food and our music. And above all, about our artists! Who they are... where they come from... what their stories are. And even more... we want to expose the cases of all those who have needed to emigrate, to leave their countries of origin, and know the story behind migration.
I cannot express enough how much fun it was to develop this project and, above all, how we came up with the idea; because, of course, the idea arose while a group of Spanish speakers were gathered around a table, eating, sharing, and enjoying a pleasant moment, wondering what kind of project we could do; until we realized that the project was right in front of our noses: #LASOBREMESA.
Thank you, Yvette, for your dedication, compassion, commitment, and affection towards us. Thank you for showing us who you are, for sharing your story with us, for opening your heart, and for guiding us and giving us wings. Thank you for motivating us not to doubt ourselves and to remember that there is space in this world for all ideas and all people. And thank you, Emilien, for creating these spaces and experiences for us. Truly, the most impactful thing for me about this project was to know what Berklee Valencia has done with us over the course of the last 7 months... it has gone by so fast that I hadn't even realized the progress we have made as professionals, until this moment when we were tested. And those three words with which they ended their speech: "You Are Ready," really touched my heart. They truly resonated within me and gave me the strength I need for this final push of the program and, above all, for what lies ahead: stepping into the real world. Leaving the famous "Berklee Bubble" that, surely, many like me, began to fear and doubt ourselves but thanks to you, now we have no doubt that we are ready to give it our all.
Teresa, Julián, Luis Guevara, Stefania, Imanol, I loved working with you and I thank life for crossing you in my path. I am sure that what we did with this project will transcend in our careers and I hope it is not the last project we work on together.
I apologize for the long post, but I wanted to deposit all my insights and reflections on this experience here. If you made it this far, thank you for reading. And again, thank you, Yvette, for everything.