“Estoy trabajando en un proyecto para lanzar un app en la industria de la telemedicina. Solo me falta aplicar a este premio para poder lanzar el primer prototipo y lanzarlo en Sillicon Valley,” said Reina, the first time I met her. I just stared blankly at her dumfounded, because I had to admit I was pretty amazed. And just like that, my summer internship at "Laboratoria" began.
"Laboratoria" is a social enterprise that teaches girls how to be front-end developers in Lima. I think spent about every single free time-slot I had between the beach, traveling and debate there. When I first talked to the director of the program, my initial intentions were to help these girls, because I knew they came from difficult situations and were trying to create a new life for themselves through this program. I went in expecting to talk to them in a honey-melting voice, and reassure them that it was all going to be fine. Looking back at these last 2 months, I laugh to myself, not understanding how wrong I was from that initial feeling, and that was thanks to the girls. Because just like Reina, I started meeting more girls, who like her, had a very clear plan ahead of them, that involved being entrepreneurs or creating their own startup. But all I could think while she, and the other girls talked to me about their plans was: What about all their obstacles? Why aren’t they telling me about that? That first afternoon turned quickly into weeks of walking into the room and making new friends. Every day, after leaving "Laboratoria’s" offices, I would have a sudden burst of admiration and motivation when I recalled the girls’ stories. But it wasn’t the plans that impressed me, because I do have that same kind of “dream big” thinking. It was something else, and I couldn’t figure out what. But on my very last day, as I was riding "Laboratoria’s" elevator for the last time, it hit me: it was their attitude towards limitations. “Our only limitations are the ones we set up in our mind.” You see, limitations exist anywhere you look, it's almost like a plague. Things as simple as: “I am not a good painter” to “I’m not made for Math and only for English” are limitations that once you’ve pre-established them, are really hard to unwind. Self-imposed limitations also happen to come by hand with excuses. You start blaming your lack of success to things you can’t control, just to convince yourself that it wasn’t your fault that you can’t do something. Does “She has more time to train”, or “He has a better tennis racquet” sound familiar? It should, because it’s the typical lame excuse we tell ourselves when we see that someone is better than us, or when we feel we can’t achieve something and we don’t want to bring it up on ourselves. But sadly, all self-imposed limitations and excuses does for us, is close a cage around our mind, prohibiting us to look beyond and raise our bar of excellence. Another friend at “Laboratoria”, Liz, is the best example of a girl who doesn’t believe in limitations. She woke up everyday at 5:30 am to come all the way from San Juan de Lurigancho, and after Laboratoria she left for university, where she was an undergraduate in industrial engineering. Think about all the limitations Liz could possibly have, so many excuses she can possibly come up with to only aspire to be a housemaid or a clerk a the supermarket. But no, embraces the conditions she lives in, understands the obstacles, and still tries to make the best out of her time both at Laboratoria and her university at night. It’s that kind of drive, that motivation, that doesn’t only should inspire me, but everyone to start looking beyond their own excuses and start doing something about it . Now and then, I find myself missing the afternoons at "Laboratoria". Those days in which as soon a I would sit down next to Reina and Liz, we would start coding our next website. And looking back, it taught me much more than just learning the basics of HTML and CSS. It taught me to never, never close yourself to limitations or paradigms. To never put excuses for things you can’t do. The thing here is not to feel pity for these girls, and believe, that if they can overcome their excuses, then you can as well. It’s about recognizing that the blame for your limitations is only you. Because once you’ve done that, the only direction available will be forward.
2 Comments
Dharma
3/8/2016 06:25:22 am
Valeria, I think this blog post had a very strong message. I love the way you hooked the readers in the line "But on my very last day, as I was riding Laboratoria’s elevator for the last time, it hit me:" This really helped pull me in and wonder what you learned. In order to make this better though, I think you could have started out with a more hooking line. Or by talking about a specific event or conversation you had at Laboratoria.
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Bon
3/17/2016 07:52:26 am
This is a truly heartfelt post; it has voice and a distinct energy to it. It must be the impassioned argument you make for it. There's something to be said about creating paradigms in our minds that limit us. There a loads of studies that show how the brain is soft-wired and it's all about putting in the good habits in place to make it happen. It's starting to sound very cliched but it's really about having a growth mindset at the end of the day.
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