From the gritty boxing rings of Times Square to the hallowed Philosophy Hall at Columbia, my wild tale starts with a lunchroom showdown over chocolate milk. It winds its way through the bustling streets of Washington Heights, the quiet aisles of a neighborhood library, and the profound pages of Plato and Kant. Along the way, I'll share the lessons I've learned and the unforgettable characters who've shaped my journey.

A Chocolate Milk Incident Sparks a Boxing Career

Picture this: I'm nine years old, minding my own business, sipping on my chocolate milk at lunch when this bully decides he wants a taste. I wasn't having it. He didn't take kindly to that, and the next thing I knew, I was on the floor.

I'm waiting for my dad to pick me up that afternoon, and I'm seething. When he turns the corner, I run to him, look him dead in the eye, and say, "Dad, I want to learn how to fight."

My Father, My Rock

My pops, a retired firefighter from the Dominican Republic who moved to the Big Apple in 1980, was my rock. Every day, he'd pick me up from school and drop me off at the local library, where his security guard buddy would keep an eye on me until he finished his shift at the hospital where he worked as a porter.

Now, I'll be honest, being surrounded by books wasn't my idea of a good time. I was still grappling with English, coming from a Spanish-speaking home. But then, I stumbled upon Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses. Before I knew it, I was a bona fide bookworm, even snagging a "Readers are Leaders" award in fifth grade.

Plato in the Park

Fast forward to high school. My love for literature sparked a fascination with philosophy. I'd occasionally dabbled in Plato, whom I'd discovered while wandering the library aisles when I was ten. I was that oddball teenager in Washington Heights, notorious for school truancy and high crime rates, who'd sit on a park bench, engrossed in a dog-eared copy of Plato's Republic, while my buddies played handball.

The line that really stuck with me was, "I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing."

I've always known that my college work would revolve around philosophy. For my undergrad thesis at Columbia, I dove headfirst into Kant's ethics and its influence in Latin America, exploring the original writings of Simon Rodriguez, the Kantian who shaped education policy under Simon Bolivar. It was a thrill to uncover Kant's influence on the education policy of the time.

Perseverance is a Super Power

Now, circling back to my bully story—my dad took me to the Times Square Gym a few days after the incident.

I trained under the legendary Emile Griffith, kickstarting a pretty successful amateur boxing career. 

Plot twist: the bully and I became good friends. But the real takeaway from that experience was realizing that I could achieve anything I set my mind to. Stevenson and Plato sparked my love for reading and learning, but the catalyst was that lunchroom showdown.

The Pursuit of Knowing Nothing

Years later, at my undergrad graduation, my dad shared some wisdom I'll never forget: "It is only the knowledge we seek that has any influence upon us." I live by these words in my pursuit of knowledge because, like Plato said, "I know nothing."