A year and a half ago, a group called Los Salseros de la Iupi was born. And in it, there were the most particular human beings you could’ve ever imagined. People from different majors, faculties and classifications all gathered together to appreciate one thing: Salsa. But little did they know that a bond was on its way to formation. Christian, along with many others, captivated my heart. They show you the little things are what really matters. Fun fact about this kid, is that he’s not really a kid, so don’t let his looks fool ya! As a person striving for greatness, we can see a little bit of ourselves in him, because he looks for the way to go farther. Literally, since you know, he had dissapeared in Aibonito, and scared us to death. Somehow he persevered in the end, and was able to tell us his story. Meet this week’s Campus Profile.
Name: Christian Alexis López Rosado
Age: 29
Major: Bachelor Degree: Audiovisual Communication / Studying 2nd degree to graduate as a CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists)
Classification: Graduated in 2010, and now newly freshman.
Hometown: Toa Baja
Nickname: Ballena
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HCUPR: Tell us about yourself.
Christian: As you can tell from my study interests, I’m a very diverse person that likes to learn from everything. I’m always looking up for new journeys, to discover new things and get involve in as many activities as I can. Culture, art, nature, and even small things like having a conversation with a foreign person. I like to be outside my comfort zone; my life motto is: “Explore and learn from everything and everyone around you.”
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HCUPR: What are your long term and short term goals?
Christian: Short terms: To get accepted in Ciencias Médicas and graduate with a high GPA. The amount of students that are accepted to the master degree on Nurse Anesthetists it’s pretty small. I have to become one of the top candidates to ensure a spot.
Long terms: I would love to practice my new profession on different communities around the world. I’ll probably be doing that for around 2-3 years after I graduate and then I’ll establish myself on a hospital or provide my service to different clinics. But I want to travel first and explore new cultures.
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HCUPR: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Christian: In 10 years I see myself with a family and working locally on the country where I finally decide to live my life. I’m not sure yet where, but Italy it’s one of my top in the list. That list it’s really long, and I’m still adding up.
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HCUPR: What made you decide to come back to study and why?
Christian: My mom passed away from breast cancer this past summer. One of the things that she always wanted was for me to have a career where I can put to work all my talents. She was frustrated, knowing that with my degree and with all the potential that she always saw in me, I never found a permanent job in my career. The communication camp it’s something I like doing; but I’m 100% sure, and she knew that too, that I was wasting my talent in something that wasn’t driving me to give it all. So I researched a lot, and found that Ciencias Médicas, not so long ago, started the program for CRNA. I fall in love with the things I could do by being in a hospital. On how I could still be doing something that I love (travelling) and work on helping people at the same time. I got some really good ideas on how to match both specialties, and it’s part of my long term goals.
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HCUPR: Something not many people know about you.
Christian: That I’m 29 years old and not 21…hahaha. I think what not many people know about me is that I possess mental strength and self-confidence. When I got lost, a lot of people thought I was afraid or really worried, but not really. I was worried that people I know, especially my family, could get hurt trying to find me. I knew I was going to be alright, it was only a matter of patience and never giving up.
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HCUPR: Explain to us the anecdote of your disappearance.
Christian: Every time I think about it, a smile starts growing on my face and my sister wants to kill me because she knows I loved the experience, while all my friends and family were worried to death. It was me and two other friends that went on the road trip to Charco Azúl between Aibonito and Barranquitas. We arrived approximately at 10:30am and it was a 25-foot drop from the cliff into water. We had two options: jump from the cliff or find first the road that will lead us back to the top. So, I decided to scout the area first to make sure it was safe, telling the others to wait for me at the top of the cliff. It was a difficult and dangerous road so I left behind my backpack with all my stuffs back at the top (with all my food and jackets…yeah…big mistake) so it was easier to learn . I made my way to the bottom and I started to track the road that we should take after we jump. I crossed a couple of waterfalls, sometimes inside small look-alike caves; others were easier, until I had to swim over one of the rivers. That’s when all started to go against me. I slipped over a rock and I dropped my phone into the river. That was around 11:30am, so I knew I had to hurry because now I’m without any source of communication. I kept walking, climbing rivers from top to bottom, something using the hanging roots of the trees to cross one way to another. It was so surreal, and everything looked so perfect, that I lost the notion of time and direction. It probably passed like two hours after I realized that I had no clue where I was. I took like 3-4 different roads until I finally found the correct one, but it was already getting dark. My last meal was at 8am so my strengths started to fade away, so it was time to find shelter. It was really dark, but fortunately it was a clear night and I could take shelter under a big rock close to the river. It was the only place where I could protect myself from the cold. They told me that that the temperature dropped to 55F, so between having wet clothes and no heating source, I could have had hypothermia symptoms. I protected my body enough to endure most of the night, so I waited for the morning light and kept going. On daylight, I began to walk right away and a couple of hours later, I found the road back to the top where I found the rescue team.
It was 24 hours of non-stop walking, climbing and no food. It was a really hard experience, but it was a great and unique. It was a long time lost in the nature that helped me think about a lot of things and enjoy more the simple things. I wouldn’t change anything about it.
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HCUPR: What are precautions should people have when they are doing road trips?
Christian: Never split from the group. I wanted to protect my friends, making sure that the road was safe first. But that only put them on a higher risk when they went looking for me. It sounds obvious, but sometimes we get over confident. I’m in a pretty good shape and that’s one of the reasons why I came back fine. But, where I was it’s a really dangerous area, and if that day was raining, it would’ve been a very different story.
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HCUPR: What are your strengths and weaknesses? Why?
Christian: My major strengths are my patience and my focus. Very few people have seen me lose my temper, and when I did, it was for a very short time. Even around a disaster, or when sometimes things get difficult, I never lose my semblance.
My biggest weaknesses are pets and animals in general. I think that’s the only way someone can kidnap me hahaha. Probably, number one it’s overthinking. It’s my virtue and my curse because it’s really hard for me to forget something, but at the time it drains my energy, even with stuff that don’t matter anymore. I’ve made progress but I still need to work on that.
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HCUPR: Apart from being lost, is there another event that changed you? Why?
Christian: Unexpectedly losing my mom so soon it’s one of them, and at the exact same time I had another. I was dating this girl, that I really loved, and she confessed me the day after my mom passed away that she never broke with her boyfriend. It was hard, not only because I never had that experience before but because it was on one of the hardest times of my life. It made me be more selective on who should I date and who should I give my energy.
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HCUPR: Describe yourself in 3 words.
Christian: Loyal, constant, limitless.