Meet Juliana :)

A few days ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Juliana, a woman who works closely with students at my school & who I had always admired from afar. Juliana has a striking presence; she emanates warmth, strength, and confidence. She passes everyone with a smile and never fails to say "Hi! How are you?" whenever she sees you. I didn't know her too well before this interview, and now I am so glad that she took the time out of her day to meet with me. Pay close attention to Juliana's insights, for they are wise, affirming, and offer a different perspective than what we usually encounter in the society and culture that we live in today.

Just to start off with, can you tell me a little bit about yourself? Where you’re from, what do you do here at Scripps?

I was born in Brazil, then moved to the US when I was young for my dad to get his PhD in Iowa. I was there for four years and then went to San Diego for my dad’s post doc, and I grew up in Encinitas for most of my life. Then in the middle of high school we went to Brazil that summer, and for my last two years of high school I moved to Virginia with my dad and went to Virginia Tech for college. I really wanted to move back to California and growing up I watched my mom have women friends all her life who were like aunts and took care of us and were good to her, and I saw Scripps students interacting in that same way and I wanted to be part of that, so here I have an RA staff, I’m hall director and SCORE (Scripps Communities of Resources and Empowerment) coordinator where I work with RA’s and students in under represented groups, and plan programs for students and serve on call so I’m there for the crises’ and meltdowns but mainly I connect with students.

Would you say that’s your favorite part?

Yeah, when I had my campus tour, the student said, “I hope to see you in the fall!” And that was so nice, I kept thinking about that. It’s beautiful, and its fun to live in a community with students where I’m not that much older and to say things I wish people had said to me when I was in college.

What are things you wish people had said to you when you were in college?

I wish people had said more than manage your time well. Being Brazilian influences this a lot, our culture in America doesn’t support people living healthy and balanced lives. I’ve always been a pretty happy person, so when I’d see people drinking for their problems I didn’t identify with them. I wish people had said that it’s good to live a healthy, happy, positive life. Here there’s a high demand for us to be perfect in every way but there aren’t enough people who say you’re good enough! Instead of “Party it up!” I wish they had said to lie in the grass and go to the pool. That doesn’t make you lazy and an under achiever, rather this is the only time in your life that you’ll have this sense of community as far as this country goes.

Would you want to move back to Brazil?

Definitely. There’s an emphasis on being happy that permeates the culture in Brazil. Here there is such an expectation of sickness. Every time I got to the doctor she wants to find something wrong with me because it’s part of our culture that kids have to grow up here with a list of allergies attached to them. We also place this emphasis on what people do, but we’re already alive we don’t have to do anything but live. However while I’d like to go back one day when I have a family, for now being American has definitely been a part of my life, so I do also recognize all the goods things.

What are other ways to remain healthy, happy and balanced?

Affirming the possibility that we are created to be magnificent. We’re not supposed to be sick! I don’t get colds because I eat so much green food, unprocessed food and food from the ground. Also, finding the right kinds of friends. Here I have to make a commitment to be active, so I walk my dog, I’ve been getting into Bikram yoga, and I go to the Pilates classes at the gym. My roots are in real food, my family was a farming family, so now I only buy organic and I shop at farmers markets, and I work at farms locally, I trade produce locally, and there are a lot of fruit trees in the village. I also juice a lot, which makes eating vegetables easier!

How do you have the discipline to introduce these things into your life and stick to them?

I never drank alcohol in high school or college. I saw so much of the bad stuff in drinking and realized that there can’t be anything good enough to make that worth it, so while everyone is spending their money on that I had all this extra money for organic produce and massages! My priorities in my life have always been to be happy, I love art and color and travel, so the discipline comes from the fact that I don’t go out to eat that much because it’s not healthy, I don’t spend my money on alcohol, so I’m able to shift and do the other stuff. Also, find friends that have common interests. There’s a community and you have to find them.

Can you tell me a little but more about what art means to you?

I’ve always been a creative person. I think that’s why I’ve been able to enjoy being a raw vegan because food is a creative process. And in Brazil there are colors there that you wouldn’t even know existed. When I was young I was so shy I would express myself through color, my mom would let me paint walls in the house and everyone would say it looked like a different country. The world is pretty so I take so many pictures, I love art so I like to absorb it wherever I can see it.

Where did you travel when you took that year off after college?

I went to Mexico, Brazil, and Vietnam for a month and a half. My best friend and his family invited me to go for Christmas. I had never been to a country that had been through a war like that, and though we saw a lot of remnants of the war it was one of the happier countries I’d ever been to. It made me really aware of life. I found myself appreciating and photographing everything. I was just so happy to be alive.

So do you save up all your money for traveling, food, enjoying life?

I don’t like rich countries, I like poor countries because I like where people’s priorities are. When people don’t have money they find other ways to be happy.

How did you find confidence in yourself?

It took a long time, but it was just spending time with myself. When I moved to Virginia I didn’t know anyone, not even really my dad, so I spent a lot of time by myself. We are all really unique but we don’t spend enough time to get to know ourselves, and then we get to college there’s always people around you.

What do you think makes someone a beautiful person?

I’m a big believer in people’s energies. We’ve gotten so far away from this concept that beauty takes work, and it does because it takes work with yourself, but we are consumed with quick fixes whether that’s the lap band, makeup, Invisalign, all these things that are detrimental to our health and the environment. I look for an ability to just be happy with what you have and own it and like it. It’s a personal commitment to be in a good place with your self. I also believe in sunshine—if you’re out in the sun for 20 minutes, you just look better and healthier.

What is your beauty routine? Do you use only natural products?

Yes, all of that crap goes into your body when it’s on your skin. However I definitely went through a phase where I had it all, I didn’t growing up so when I could I collected it obsessively. But I saw the faults in that and now I am simple and just use Dr. Bronner’s soap for everything, and cacao butter or coconut oil for my skin and hair. It’s just so much waste and plastic bottles and crap and chemicals and they test on animals, and its nice to have a bathroom without stuff. And I don’t use deodorant anymore—I don’t smell, because if you’re not putting animal products and chemicals from processed foods into your body it won’t produce toxins and excrete smells. It’s good to get to know your body and know what you really smell like without perfume and deodorant. It’s hard to love yourself if you’re too busy masking it. You get to a place where you’re tired of fighting yourself.

What are some of your favorite things, such as book to read, color, place...

I love the book The God of Small Things, I love that book and read that book so many times, I don’t know her but I feel that she appreciates the things in life that I appreciate, she never lost her childlike spirit and I feel like I never lost mine. The other thing is that I’ve always had an aversion to saying my favorites because then people don’t let you grow if you change your mind. But I usually like bright colors, and dark purple is my favorite right now. I love beaches, I have an aversion to cold places and cry when it’s cold, so anywhere outside where the sun is shining.

Do you wear sunscreen?

No, never. If I’m outside for a long time I’ll wear a hat or cover up but I don’t believe in rubbing chemicals into my skin.

Thank you so much Juliana! :)