Miguel
Portrait with Sara Stathas
Description: A teenager is holding a Rubik’s cube in his right hand. Rainbow rays radiate from the cube with the algorithms embedded in them.
Portrait with Nick Collura
“I’m 15 years old and from a Latino family. My Grandma really inspires me. She's always on top of me trying to tell me to do my stuff. She’s one of those grandmas that teaches you right from wrong. I remember when I was little I spilled like a whole two liter of soda and I just sat there in it. I just picked it up and spilled it because it was funny to me. My grandma was laughing too, but then she got mad after it started spreading all over the floor. My grandma makes us do our chores. She teaches us how to cook so that later on in our life, we won't have to be stuck and we will already know how to do those things.
When I think about community I think of my family, school and neighborhood. I'm always around them and they're there when you need help, or when you're feeling down. If I could do something to change the world right now, I would end this virus. It affects so many people. A lot of people have lost their jobs. A lot of people have passed away.
I want to impact others by being a nice, friendly guy. Sometimes people just see you as a bad person so you got to let them know that you’re nice, friendly and you mean no harm to them. I want people to see me with my cube in my hand. The cube has an infinite world of algorithms.
I am really good at the cube, and I want to beat a world record. I like puzzles and it can become a career - like, to be an engineer. If you mix up the cube and end up solving it, it's like a good challenge and a good relief. You feel like you've accomplished something difficult, almost impossible to solve.That's how I felt when I solved my first cube. I was like, wow, I actually solved this. I feel like everyone should have that experience.”
Milwaukee, 2020