Growing up, when people asked who I was I could never give a simple answer.

I wanted to share this internal dilemma I grew up with in honor of Men’s Mental Health Month.

At school, I was the Hispanic kid, looking different, eating different food and valuing different things.

To make things worse in that moment, I moved around growing up.

New schools meant new crowds, new music, new environment entirely.

However, that didn’t stop me.

I started learning to adapt. I thought of myself as a Swiss army knife.

Taking out the set of traits I needed in the moment.

Fast forward to the present

My adaptability follows me, even professionally, I’m a manager who likes helping people grow but at the same time I like working alone.

I enjoy working with Python, data, debugging and the technical side of things but also enjoy working to maintain client experience and support.

I write blogs and post on LinkedIn because I enjoy putting my thoughts out into the world. However, sometimes I keep things to myself.

In my free time I do DIY home projects, mechanic work, and basically whatever I put my mind to. But, sometimes I like to just relax on the couch.

Food wise you can catch me eating chicken tikka biryani at Bawarchi’s one day, Korean BBQ at Yoon or homemade chiles rellenos another day.

I still don’t fit into just one box but that’s not a bad thing.

The pressure to pick one thing, one genre, one crowd, one career lane, is something we put on ourselves.

For men especially, that pressure runs deep.

We’re told early what kind of man to be. What to care about. What not to show.

When you don’t fit the puzzle, the easy interpretation is that something is wrong with you.

I spent years trying to understand why I was different, why I was so difficult to categorize into one set of traits.

Now I think the concoction of traits I carry is the whole point.

If you’ve ever felt like you don’t fit one box, remember — that’s exactly what makes you unique.

That is a good thing!

Thanks for reading my blog and if you relate let me know. Im curious to hear how.