My name is Kevin Alejandro Castillo Montanye, and I am from Manzanillo, Mexico. However, that description varies with every move I make. Let me explain: I am a dual citizen of Mexico and the United States, and I have lived in ten different places throughout those two countries.
The last of those ten places was Montezuma, New Mexico, where I attended United World College – USA for two years. After having struggled with my dual nationality for years (people in Mexico making fun of me for being a “gringo”, or people in the US referring to me as the “foreigner), the two years I spent at UWC were the best of my life, because I finally felt at home in a place where people not only had two nationalities – some even had three or more!
UWC provided me with the richest experiences in my life. Whether it was being introduced to Croatian music from my Bosnian friend, or bonding over foreign films with my Indonesian friend, or even just listening to the many discussions that people around me had, my mind and heart were full of experiences that would come to change the way I thought about the world.
After I graduated in 2011, I embarked on a gap year in order to accommodate my new ways of thinking into my life. I returned to Manzanillo and straightened out everything that was in my head, and at the same time got back the tan that I had lost after four years in the United States. Now, with these experiences behind me, I am ready to begin my newest adventure at Lewis & Clark College.
I was initially attracted to Lewis & Clark because I love the Pacific Northwest. After I looked into the school and discovered that it had a heavy international emphasis as well as an idyllic campus, I was sold. I applied to several other schools but I had my heart set on Lewis & Clark from the beginning.
I am not sure of what I will major in, but I think it will definitely be Rhetoric and Media Studies, or French. You see, I love writing and I love languages, so those two areas are the ones that I have been pining to study. In fact, in my free time I write for a Spanish-language music publication where I combine my passion for music and my love for writing.
While in Portland, I would love to explore the city and the Pacific Northwest Area extensively, and I will definitely be taking advantage of the amazing overseas programs offered at Lewis & Clark. My plan here is to broaden my horizons, learn as much as I can, share my culture and have fun, of course. And maybe, just maybe, you might hear me in the future introducing myself as Kevin Alejandro Castillo Montanye from Portland, Oregon.