This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Albizu chapter.
Name: Keishla Delis Calvo FigueroaAge: 25Relationship status: SeparatedFavorite color: VioletFavorite food: My mom’s healthy organic vegan foodFavorite quote: “It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.” ~Albert Einstein
HCAlbizu: What did you find in the psychology field that made you say: “This is what I want”?Keishla: “The human mind is as equally as fascinating as the universe and I was to comprehend it. Of corse, we are barely starting to scratch the surface. I love the human brain, the mind. It’s astonishing”.HCAlbizu: I know you do promotions, modeling, and travel a lot… How do you balance your time efficiently? Do you have a strict and established schedule or do you go with the flow and what the day gives to you?Keishla: “Good question. I have had so much trouble with time management to the point it has been almost mission impossible. I have to be on set on time, I have to be on school on time. I have to have my mind on the set and not in school and I have to have my mind in school and not on set, but it always happen all the way around because I have so much on my plate. That’s why I want to graduate so bad, because I will be fully be able to dedicate myself to what really fulfills me as a human being. Cultivating my creative spirit and watching it flourish through art and human interaction”.HCAlbizu: How`s a day in Keishla’s life?Keishla: “Wow, these are tough questions. Okay, here we go. It’s very hectic. It’s full of extreme ups and downs. Sometimes, the downs are so severe that I just lock myself in the room because I just can’t function. I think I overload. I think I want to do it all and end up doing nothing at all. We all have potential, we are all unique jewels, but sometimes when we are able to really see who we are and we are willing to put up a stance, a lot of people don’t like that and that’s tough. Also, in the modeling world, I am sometimes too tall or too fat or too skinny or just not pretty enough. I have learned to deal with that. Its been almost 15 years. I love being on TV. I love fashion. That’s part of my every day. My parents are my universe. Without my mother, I would be lost and without my stepfather, I wouldn’t have had a beyond great father figure. Other than that, I enjoy meeting new people, facing new challenges, trying new things, getting lost and finding myself again, walking on the edge and knowing how to keep myself balance. In summary, all of my days are full of unexpected twists and turns that help me grow up and get stronger and, let’s say, a bit wiser”.HCAlbizu: What is your favorite color? How does that color makes you feel?Keishla: “My favorite color is violet. I also like the tones of the color violet, like lilac and purple. I find them very soothing. They remind me of innocence”.
HCAlbizu: Have you ever considered studying drama or becoming an actress? Have you done any public presentation representing a character?Keishla: “Oh yes. I have been in drama since high school. I was in the West Side Story playing the Role of Ice, he is a man; I have been goimg yearly to acting workshops, castings, auditions, training, getting coached, observing people it has been absolutely helpful and eye-opening. When I finish my degree in Albizu University, I will pursue further education in the entertainment industry in Universidad del Sagrado Corazon and with the help of God, believing in myself and the support of the people that love me and that I love, I can further my acting education in New Your City, Miami or Los Angeles. I have also been in a Wal-Mart commercial as a cashier. I have been in many theatre plays, in short student clips in New York Film Academy and most recently, I was in the Adam Sandler movie The Do-Over. Small parts, but slowly I am getting to where I want to be”.HCAlbizu: I also noticed that you are very spiritual… Do you have any spiritual practices? How has it become a benefit to your life?Keishla: “Thank you, you are very observant. I am very spiritual. It is that in the past I used to be so confused by religions and it actually twisted my beliefs in what is righteous. To do right just feels that way, right? A caress is not the same as a punch. The heart feels that and the mind remembers that, even if it forgives, so I turned to spirituality. Spirituality respects living things. Spirituality caresses with its teachings instead of condemning our human behavior. We are so interconnected. Even if people look at me like I am crazy, we are all one. The universe, all the stars, what gives us light and energy. Many religions consider adoring the sun and the moon pagan. I adore them becase they give us distinct benefits and life. They make life possible. The clean earth is able to grow crops to feed us; the clean water won’t kill us slowly with deadly quemicals. It is a thing about respecting the Earth and starting to learn how to respect ourselves again. In a way, between war, politics, disagreements, losses, and dissapointments, we lost respect for each other, but that doesn’t mean that we have to stay there. The healing stones you sometimes see me carrying, I bought the amethyst in Turquesa in Old San Juan, I carry on my solar plexus located at the moth of the stomach and I meditate with it. Along with that, I carry a crystal heart pendant my mom won for me at Sam’s Club, and just recently, I decided to add dad with a pendant he gave me when I was just a little girl. Meditations, yoga, nature, healing stones have approached me to beautiful, unique, healing people. I have started to heal without being judged. I thing we all deserve that and that’s why I prefer to cultivate my spirit”.HCAlbizu: What does it mean to be a “good student” and a “good woman” for Keishla?Keishla: “For me, a good student was Plato. Leave school for at least a year, come back a new person and be able to analyze text in a much deeper way. A good woman for me means to be autonomous and do not depend from any man and when the time of motherhood comes, I really hope I will have the wisdom to do my very best job as a mother”.HCAlbizu: Is there any relationship advice you can share with all the women and men that are reading us now?Keishla: “My advice is to take things very slowly.”