Flavia and I met for a late brunch at Summerfields. After we both had a couple of rounds of food, we decided to start the interview.
ANJALI SAXENA: Wow Flavia, I’m pretty impressed with your food intake.
FLAVIA DESOUZA: I just really enjoy the act of eating. To me, food is all that matters in life.
[At this point she reached over to start nibbling on my leftover eggs.]
AS: So what are you involved in this semester?
FD: I decided to do crew again this semester, and I am co – leading a bible study group for freshmen. I’m also the HR for the Nics and work in a research lab. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but to do it all properly, it takes a lot of time.
AS: It seems like a lot to me.
FD: I’m a very restless person, and I’m afraid of getting bored. Sometimes I don’t think I’m doing much at all, but then mid-semester I always say to myself ‘Flavia, you really messed up this time. Next semester you’ll do less.’ But I have a hard time saying no to things. It’s a real weakness of mine.
AS: So out of everything, what activity do you value the most?
FD: WesCF (Wesleyan Christian Fellowship). I have been involved in it since my freshman year. It’s hard and overwhelming at times, but it helps me to recognize my place in the world. It provides an environment where I can fellowship with other people interested in that area. I know they will understand and support me in that area of my life.
AS: Have you always been active in the Christian community?
FD: Yes, I try to be. Over break, I attended a conference in Chicago called Urbana with a few other Wesleyan students. About 20,000 people attended. It was a great and radical experience. We talked about the difference between ‘churchianity’ and Christianity, about how people have misinterpreted the gospel. Christians aren’t really being what Jesus Christ wanted and really caring for and loving people. It’s also not about doing this and that and this, like the laws of Moses, but when Jesus Christ came and died for us, He provided another way to God. He really loves us. I had a revelation while I was there—I need to celebrate my identity as the daughter of Jesus Christ – the King that loves me, the most high God, the creator of our world. It’s really a beautiful thing.
AS: What did you think of Wesleyan when you first came here from Jamaica?
FD: Well, it wasn’t my first time to America, but it was my first time interacting with Americans. I was so shocked! Everything was different, on a lot of different levels. I came here expecting to see, like, Boston Public or NY Undercover. You don’t realize that’s what you expect, but you do. Americans aren’t half as laid-back as back home, and they’re not as honest or blunt as Jamaican culture. You can’t pinpoint it…it’s a number of things that come together.
AS: You told me earlier you went to the Dominican Republic this summer. What did you do there?
FD: I worked at a Special Ed school for two weeks teaching speech therapy…Oh! I have a funny story I can tell! One day, this kid boxed me right in the face! He was about nine. Then he started shouting at me like I was doing something wrong! I couldn’t really do anything though because he didn’t know what he was doing.
AS: Did you do anything else this summer?
FD: Well, apart from laying on the beach at home in Jamaica, I volunteered for six weeks in the burn ward of a children’s hospital. I also took Nigerian and Jamaican folk dancing classes. After that, it was back at Wesleyan for HR training.
AS: What was it like to work in a burn ward? You must’ve seen some pretty difficult things.
FD: It was very difficult. These kids had serious burns from fire, from acid being thrown on them, from oil…their parents couldn’t even come see them because they were so burned. And the kids were in such pain. If a fly landed on them, they would scream and scream. But I enjoyed working with the children because when we would play with them or teach them, they would forget they were burned.
AS: Is that why you want to be doctor?
FD: Partly, yes. I really feel for people. But I also want to work in impoverished communities, because I find society very unjust. It’s unfair that a person is illiterate because of circumstance, because of what they were born into not because of their intelligence.
AS: So are you going to watch the Super Bowl tonight?
FD: I think so. I hear it’s something to watch and that even if you don’t like football then you watch the halftime something—oh! Look at that girl’s muscles! [She points to a girl walking to the buffet.] I always notice people’s muscles. I really want muscles!
AS: How does it feel to be a Wesceleb?
FD: It’s going to be weird reading this! I’m just going to tell everyone that I didn’t really say that. But in high school, I really wanted to be in the yearbook, in, you know, the random pictures. I would do anything, even stand in trashcans, to get in those pictures! So really, being in the Argus, it’s like a dream.
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