Khristian Méndez

Guatemala

What classes have you taken at COA?
Human Ecology Core Course
Seminar in Guatemalan Culture History
Organic Chemistry I
Introduction to Sustainability
Intercultural Education
Graphic Design I
Tutorial: the Road to Rio
COA’s Foodprint
Drawing Mineral and Botanical Matter in the Forest of Maine
Independent Study: Food Security and the Committee on World Food Security
Food, Power & Justice
Writing Seminar 2

What has been your favorite class at COA? Why?
Hard to say! All of them had parts that I really enjoyed. If I really had to choose one though, I would say that the Seminar in Guatemalan Culture and Hisotry with Todd-Little Siebold has been my favorite one, because it really pushed me to reconsider notions of my own country, and how I approach working with communities.

What was your favorite project at COA? Why?
My favorite project? Hmmm... Catherine Clinger had been asking us to draw different kinds of botanical matter in her class by looking at it, but one day she had 15 paper bags, and we were supposed to draw from what we could *feel* inside the bag. That stretched my brain quite a bit, and reinforced the thought that drawing is a different kind of rhetoric, but a rhetoric in itself.

What is your dream occupation?
One where I can use my creative skills to either share information so that it can have a positive impact on people’s lives, or to address extremely complex problems like food security.

Do you work on or off campus? If yes, where?
My workstudy is split in half. I work for Admissions and I am Teacher Assistant for Dru Colbert.

What do you see yourself doing after COA?
Either staying in the US for a year to get some practical experience, or going home and starting to work there. I may pursue a Master’s right away, but it still depends.

What country or state would you like to visit?
Oh, God... such a hard question! Honestly, I think I’ve realized I want to see more of Latin America, so somewhere in that region. But really, any country in the world would probably be an enriching experience. In terms of states of the US, California sounds appealing.

Where would you love to live?
In Guatemala for a few years, and then maybe move back to India, where I went to high school.

What is happiness to you?
Happiness is a choice! As long as your basic needs for food, water, shelter, acceptance, and love are met, everything else is just complementary. I really think that for most people, specially the ones with enough means to, for example, access the internet happiness is a choice, but we don’t realize it.

 

Have you had an internship? If not, what are your plans, if any, for your internship?
I’ve been doing some internship hunting lately, I would like to intern with ActionAid or Oxfam in their regional offices in Latin America. Guatemala would be ideal.

What are your ideas for your senior project? If you have already done one, what did you do?
Se-ni-or pro-ject! Actually, seeing a lot of the seniors present their work a few weeks ago just sent my brain spinning off. I felt like when I was looking at those design magazines for inspiration. I think it’s too early for me to state or plan anything, but I think design will be involved in, one way or the other.

What is one of your favorite childhood memories?
The apple cake my aunt Aury makes for my birthday every year.

What is your favorite food to eat? What is your favorite thing to cook?
Indian food: there’s this dish called Paneer Makhanwala. <3 soooo gooooood! To cook? I would have to say pineapple pie.

What do you like to do when you’re not doing school work?
I sleep! Or I cook.

What are your favorite colors?
I don’t think I have one anymore, I just know I don’t like some of them sometimes.

What are your favorite animals?
Giraffes, for some reason I love their skin patterns.

What came first, the chicken or the egg?
They are both vector shapes that were made by the same mouse.

Why did you choose to come to COA?
I knew I wanted to learn graphic design skills, but I also wanted to learn about the world beyond my screen.

What do you like to study?
I want to know how we think as we are looking at something, and how to tap into that process. I also want to learn why is it that we produce food to feed animals when not every human has food to eat. Both are large and complicated processes that interlink with others and with themselves in parts. So, in short, I like to study things and areas that plug into those two processes.

Where do you like to study?
Elliot study space!

Who are your favorite writers and poets?
Salman Rushdie wrote my favorite book, Midnight’s Children. Valeria Piassa-Polizzi wrote the other one, Depois Daquela Viagem.

What do you value most in your friends?
That we are able to have good communication, and that we can eat together from time to time, and that we don’t have to see each other every day to know that we love each other.

What do people say is your most marked characteristic?
Perhaps energetic (borderline overenthusiastic), but it depends how close we are to week 10.

What talent do you wish you had?
I’d like to learn how to sing.

What is your least favorite spice?
Basil.