By Jonathan Castillo, Melissa Ramirez-Serrano and Brooklin Saenz |
With his soft spoken, flowing voice he clarified three motivations of his; put God first, family, and his wish to be the best, but not to consider himself better than others. He is a man of respect and he puts a lot of dedication to his career.
Julian Viafara is a professional Colombian goalkeeper who recently moved to the United States. He took the time to talk to Ms. Alanis’ spanish classes on October 5, 2016.
Viafara has had to make sacrifices for his family and time.
“If you have a partner they have to be understanding and you have to make a lot of sacrifices,” said Mr. Viafara.
Viafara explained that if his soccer career hadn’t have gone through, he would’ve chosen two other professions. “I have two other paths, either to become a chef or to work in the marketing industry,” he said.
Viafara travels to many countries for different soccer tournaments.
“The best part is eating the different kinds of foods and learning the cultures,” explained Viafara. “There would be times I would sleep in the airport.”
Viafara told students about the social problems in the countries he’s visited, including the gap between the rich and the poor.
“If you have money you get to eat, but if you don’t have money you don’t get to eat,” said Viafara. This is really important to him because one voice isn’t enough to make a change.
The students were inspired on how much dedication Julian puts into playing soccer.
“I like the fact that he said you have to work hard for what you want,” senior Vilma Suazo Marquez said.
“It was such an achievement to meet such an inspiring role model.” Ignacio Sanchez Valdovinos said.
The kids were so moved by his motivational presentation, and hope to see him once again in the future.
