Heros/Villains

Who is He ?

He’s the person who is anything but a stranger, yet he’s been a mystery to me since birth. Family, the ones that are supposed to be there through thick and thin and know everything about you. There was a time when we were two peas in a pod yet in an instance we grew separate from each other leading to the mysterious stranger growing. In someplace within we always knew we had a piece of home and a safe haven connected with each other.

His name is Anthony Rojas, (pictured above) and he is my brother. He is twenty years old and just recently threw on his big boy pants and moved out. Embraced by his cozy grey couch, it is easy to see how comfortable he is in his own space with his long term girlfriend. His whole attitude and demeanor came off as relaxed and almost carefree. Shocked by his change in his outward attitude, after getting comfortable in catching up I asked him what had changed in him during the move from our house to the new unknown apartment. He pondered the question for a minute and then responded, “I am in an area that is my own and I am free from the judgement and questions”. The judgement is something that continued to be brought up throughout our conversation which he touches upon again later. He described his apartment as a blank canvas in his life that he could write and scrabble all over without anyone telling him to do different. He was living in a glass house that he couldn’t throw stones at. This new chapter in his life allows him to throw all the stones he wants without fear of anything breaking that he can’t control. In this instance, he finally let his wall down. I jumped into this new phone level of connection and investigated how he felt judgement throughout his time.

Re-wind to baby Anthony, at a young age it was discovered that he was extremely allergic to nuts, peanuts in specific. He was diagnosed with asthma and had other strong seasonal allergies, along with this he exposed that our father told him he was extremely constipated as a baby. An odd piece of information, yet he explained this to illustrate how at a young age he already started to feel different than everyone else. This feeling only increased as he got older. While in school, he was forced to wear a bracelet that displayed to everyone his allergy. He explained, “now I understand this allergy is not the end of the world yet at that time it’s exactly what it felt like”. This feeling was planted in him as a seed yet bloomed into an ever growing weed that he was finally able to chop down. He knew he wasn’t like everyone else which he thought was a bad thing up until his teen years.

While being a teen he held onto this feeling of being different, as well as having to battle the judgment he received. He reminded me of the strictness of our father but he went on further to explain how he was even tougher on him. He said “ I understand now that he wanted me to be the best I can be but at that time I took a lot of it as judgement”. This “judgement” helped shaped him into the person he is today and the person that continues to grow. He reconnected feeling different to feeling judged. He often felt like an outcast with his friends as he dropped his love for sports to pursue his love for building computers. In attempting to find himself, he lost the support of his so called friends which made him put his wants on the back burner. He expressed how conflicted he felt with his love for computers and the love for sports that he shared with his friends and our father. He ended up choosing both. I asked him if he was truly happy with that decision to which he responded, “it has not bit me in the butt but it also has not helped me because I do not do either of those now”. Finding there was still a tough spot on the topic of the judgment I asked “despite all of the judgement and feelings of being different from everyone else what was the moment that has impacted you the most and made you appreciate what you have?”.

That very question, was the question of all questions. He was shocked. As his mind was put into the works of answering the question, his emotions were on the edge of either being revealed or hidden behind the wall threatening to be broken down. He went on to explain the most pivotal part in his life was when someone extremely important to his life past away. Sitting in the comfortable grey couch seemed foreign as we both were thrown back to distinct memories. He explained that after that moment he questioned much of the world and why things happen. The brick wall personality hiding any sad emotion was slowly turning into someone that can be so easy to relate to. After, allowing time to grow from this tragic passing he found himself not wanting to take any one in his life for granted or any day for granted. For this reason, he found college to be a waste of time. He heatedly found a way to move on from expressing a touchy subject to something he holds an extreme amount of passion for. He expressed “college is just something that takes everyones money and teaches you how to work for someone else”. He dropped out of his first year of Bradley after enjoying his frat life and found his passion with trading and stocks. His eyes lit up as he talked about the thing he wants to do for the rest of his life. I saw it exactly in that instance, he truly is happy. He found something he is truly passionate about that allows him to teach others. He expressed him being out of school has received a lot of backlash and “judgement” but he happily said “I do not care anymore because for once I am finally putting myself first and doing something for me”. Despite putting his wants on the backburner in the past he has been able to grow and finally do things for the betterment of himself and his happiness.

Fast forward to today the brother I always had an image of transformed into a great role model right in front of my own eyes. With such little time already spent together during this conversation, the stranger between us slowly disappeared. While our conversation only lasted a duration of an hour the effect it would have on the growth of our relationship would last forever. Anthony Rojas is an entrepreneur and a mentor for others that want to follow in his path of trading. He is brave, smart, and extremely strong in the face of judgement and he flourishes in the concept of being different. He has grown away from being skittish of the judgement but now accepts it as motivation. He now embraces it and has the goal of proving people wrong. He expressed “I actually do not care if people judge me anymore because in the end I am happy with who I am and one day they will be looking at me in envy or they will come to me for advise. Will I give it to them? Probably not because karma is a b…. Wait can I swear in this”. I am proud to say he is my brother and I hope I can become at least half of the person he is today.

Rojas, Anthony. Personal Interview. 15 Sept. 2019