Ever heard about the page Humans of New York? If you haven’t you should. Well, this week’s Campus Celebs are none other than the people who wanted to give la IUPI their own twist. Nahmyr and Gabriel, apart from being a power couple, wanted to give life to those stories that many of us want to tell, but never had a chance to. People need to be heard, to be aknowledged, and that’s exactly what these two are doing. But since you can’t interview yourself, I decided that these two also deserve to tell their stories. Meet Nahmyr and Gabriel.
Name: Gabriel Ramos
Age: 18
Classification: Sophomore
Major: English Education
Hometown: Carolina, PR
Name: Nahmyr Zayas
Age: 19
Classification: Sophomore
Major/minor: Political Science and Journalism
Hometown: Dorado, PR
1. HCUPR: What motivated you to do the page?
Gabriel: My freshman year was very boring; I missed the chance to experience campus activities because I didn’t want to be involved in them. During the weeks of September this year, I noticed that some people and groups in the UPR community such as “Los Paleteros PR” and “Confesiones UPRRP 2.0,” were taking the initiative of making their ingenious ideas for the university a reality. I met with Nahmyr and told her that I wanted to start our own project: an “unofficial spin-off” of Brandon Stanton’s “Humans of New York.” We’ve always been big fans of his work and thought it would be a great and positive influence if applied at the University. We could’ve done something different but the page has allowed us to be a source of entertainment for the campus and, more importantly, accomplish our goal of creating a medium in which individuals have a chance to share a story with the community.
Nahmyr: My first thought after he told me about this was that he is crazy; being an administrator of a Facebook page which consists of constantly providing material is, certainly, not an easy task. Since hundreds of “Humans of” inspired by “Humans of New York” had been created around the world, I eventually realized it would be great having our own campus “Humans of.” So I agreed to take it on with him.
2. HCUPR: How do you select the people?
Gabriel: It’s mostly random, but sometimes we schedule interviews with people who are recognized or recommended.
Nahmyr: Since about 90% of the people are chosen randomly, we usually focus on people who are sitting down or walking by their own and don’t appear busy, or seem like they’re in a hurry because we don’t want to bother them.
3. HCUPR: How long have you known each other?
Nahmyr: I’ve known Gabriel for about 13 years; we studied at the same school. We used to hate each other and always fought when we were in the 9th grade, but he’s always been like a brother to me. Before the end of senior year in high school, Gabriel confessed his crush for me and I thought he was just joking. Soon after that, everything became awkward between us because I started developing feelings for him too; so we decided to give it a try. We’ve been a couple ever since.
Gabriel: The friendzone was strong with this one.
4. HCUPR: How’s it like working in this project?
Gabriel: It’s very shocking that in such a low amount of time I have developed an attachment not just to the page, but to the people themselves; we exchange some sort of trust when I hear their stories. This project has helped me grow as a person and understand that strangers could be going through some deep issues which are unbeknownst to those around them. Interviews are a very intimate process and it amazes me how much trust we exchange and how much energy we share when people express their situations or experiences with us. Sometimes people talk to us like we’ve been friends for a very long time, despite meeting us just some minutes prior, which inspires me to be a better person.
Nahmyr: It’s an exhausting process for me. I’m the face behind the camera and the posts that appear on the page. In my case though, I sometimes feel in a rush when posting new stories because it’s not as easy as it seems. It takes time and effort to edit and publish what someone said without manipulating their words or trying to keep a sequence that makes sense without losing the reader’s attention. However, I do share some similar thoughts as Gabriel and I also love to contribute with questions when we do interviews.
5. HCUPR: Any future plans for the page?
Gabriel: For now, Nahmyr and I see this project as more of an experiment. Since we only started a few weeks ago, we’re observing the feedback and the suggestions we receive from our followers. Our plan is to improve in certain ways. We’re aware that the photo quality isn’t the best, and we’re also thinking of expanding our work to the campus surrounding areas of Rio Piedras. We just want to know where all this is going before making any drastic changes.
6. HCUPR: It’s funny feeling the side of the interviewed. How do you think the individual feels when you pick him/her?
Nahmyr: Surprisingly, up until now, most of the people that we have chosen randomly didn’t know about our project. So far, only about three people who have appeared on our page knew about us, but haven’t actually liked our page on Facebook. That makes it easier for them to open up to us because they don’t realize the large amount of people who are going to read their stories, later on. We’ve noticed that when people are familiar with our project they feel like they can’t mess up and won’t open up as much as we hoped so. On the other hand, some of the individuals knew about Brandon Stanton’s original project at New York City, so I think that they usually feel flattered and honored because they have been chosen locally for something similar. At the beginning of the interviews, when we ask people if they could have their picture taken, their first reaction is usually to try to fix their hair. As we develop our conversation, people usually stop and think for a minute because we have asked them something that they hadn’t thought of before, so we believe they also learn a little about themselves.
7. HCUPR: Is there anything you would like to say to the audience?
Gabriel: We’re really grateful for all the support that we have received. However, we don’t want to make this project about ourselves, and instead we want to make it about you guys. We would like to encourage our audience to get to know other people because they might learn something from them. Everyone has something going on in their lives. That’s why, if we ever get to choose you for this project we also encourage you to open up to us, because we’re certain our readers have something going on in their lives, too.
Nahmyr: We strive to create some sort of connection between the reader and the people featured on the page as if they were the ones talking to them. This brings the community closer; when you read a story, whether positive or negative, it triggers a reaction or emotion; it makes you think or feel something towards someone you don’t know personally. Our goal is neither to expose all the positive things or people our campus has to offer, nor is it to inspire or change anyone’s life. Instead, our goal is make you feel something, because that’s what makes you human.
8. HCUPR: Describe yourself in 3 words.
Gabriel: Pauta, Brillo, Flow.
Nahmyr: Sentimiento, Elegancia, Maldad.