David Enrique Rojas Sierra on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We recently had the chance to connect with David Enrique Rojas Sierra and have shared our conversation below.

Good morning David Enrique, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What is a normal day like for you right now?
My day usually consists of academic work related to coordinating studies at the school where I work, and in the afternoons, I provide academic support to children with guided homework, which is an additional service offered by our institution to primary school students.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is David Enrique Rojas Sierra, and I am a member of the Board of Directors of a school in Caracas, Venezuela, called Colegio San Antonio de la Florida. I have been assigned the role of Academic Coordinator. Our school is one of the best academic institutions in Caracas, and we make a great effort to educate children and young people to become knowledgeable citizens with strong values. We have been dedicated to education for 70 consecutive years. I also spend my free time writing, particularly poetry and fantasy novels.

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
Oh, when I was a child, I believed many things about myself. I felt omnipotent and invulnerable, capable of doing anything, absolutely anything I set my mind to. Logically, when we are children, we don’t grasp the realities associated with a goal or objective; we simply believe we can do it. Life is much simpler in that sense. Of course, it’s not that I don’t believe that about myself today, but now, after so many experiences, I understand that to achieve a goal, a dream, an objective, it takes much more than just desire. You have to get organized, set goals, establish time frames, evaluate all the options, and from there, work hard to achieve that dream.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering teaches many things. Personally, it taught me to see beyond myself, to understand that nothing is painful enough to make you give up, that life always goes on, and that it is your decision to let adversity, failure, and defeat get the better of you, or to learn the necessary lessons from them to become better and do better. It also taught me that not everyone is capable of understanding and supporting you and that in defeat many abandon you; those who remain are the ones who matter. Finally, it taught me that you can always go further, but you have to get up and have the courage to continue steadfastly on the path.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Is the public version of you the real you?
Not entirely. In fact, I believe that very few people can say that their public persona is their true self. We live in a world where authenticity is dangerous, because often the people to whom we open our minds and hearts fail to understand us and feel that their own position is threatened by us, because their convictions are not strong. I think, about myself, that many things I show in public are a real part of me and reveal who I really am, but society forces us to wear masks in certain situations and around certain people. Therefore, although I try to remain authentic and aware of who I am, I have come to the conclusion that there are things that it is not wise to show, not only because people do not fully understand them, but because it would make us vulnerable. I reserve my authentic self only for those who can understand me; for others, I try to keep certain things to myself.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
That I left the world better than I found it, that I did everything I could to help everyone who asked me for help, and that, above all else, I always tried to be the best person I could be, that when I loved, I did so unreservedly, and that I tried to be good. I hope this will be the case and that one day people will be able to say that I was a good person, with lights and shadows, who tried to overcome my fears and who lived with integrity, despite my flaws.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/david_enrique_rojas_sierra/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/David.E.Earendil