Alex Rodriguez shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Alex, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What is a normal day like for you right now?
For me, a normal day entails waking up at around 6:45AM to start my day as a senior at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory. Typically, I am actually studying more than sitting inside a classroom listening to a teacher lecture – this is because Strake is a college preparatory school. A huge part of my day is living out the concept of “teaching yourself,” because your teachers are only “present in the background,” in a sense. School starts at 8 and ends at 3, followed by either personal or marketing driven content creation I partake in. I typically get home around 4, study more from 4:30 to 6, then go on a run. I eat dinner, shower, write some poetry, content create, and end my day by reciting my poetry. By the time I end my day, it’s close to 11pm.
This is what a day in the life of content creator and poet @heart.of.a.human looks like right now at almost 18 years old!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hello! My name is Alejandro Rodriguez, but you can just call me Alex. I am proud to be behind the TikTok, Instagram, and Threads account by the username of @heart.of.a.human. Simply put, I am a poet. But more than a poet who preforms spoken word poetry around the City of Houston who posts these same poems on social media, I am a fallen human being. A lot of my poetry deals with the subjects of identity, crisis, and loneliness. I am not perfect. I make that very clear to my viewers on both social media and in the various venues that grant me a space to use my voice. I believe that my reputation around the city of Houston has built me the exact level legitimacy I need to be received and understood to be a young and evolving poet. Houston has very eccentric artistic expositions, and I believe that my poetry belongs in a city where the community is not afraid to collaborate and lift each other to heights never before reached. Additionally, in the future, I would like to publish at least one poetry book I am working on, “Proving You Are Worthy Of It All”. I simply hadn’t had time yet because of senior year craziness, though I plan to devote a lot of my time in college to compiling my poetry.
If you would like to learn more about what I do and where I intend to BE in the future, follow my instagram account @heart.of.ahuman
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
One moment that has recently shaped how I see the world and how I have discerned the manner in which I would like to use my gift of writing in the future is through watching the progression of “The Summer I Turned Pretty”. This show is on Amazon Prime and is based off Jenny Han’s trilogy. Simply put, I want to emulate what she has done with this show and this book series and BRING both my poems and my desire to write creative and realistic fiction to life. I am so excited for the next chapter of my life, as I can genuinely relate to Belly in that sense as well … if you don’t know what I’m referring to, then you need to get on Amazon and buy the trilogy and watch the show!
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
One of the moments that hit me the most in terms of self-esteem and almost caused me to give up my dream was when I did not make it into The University of Iowa’s young writers workshop, BUT I made it into the Kenyon young writers workshop instead. I was super bummed that I did not get into the University of Iowa’s writing program, given that they are one of THE BEST schools for writing in the country (along with Kenyon, but since I did not know as much about Kenyon since it is a small private liberal arts college in Gambier, OH, I was not aware of what I was in for …). I ended up attending Kenyon for their writing workshop and was instantly in touch with my “writers mind” – this is the place for me. Looking back, I can’t believe that such a normal aspect of life almost made me take a rash decision and quit writing poetry altogether. Now, I have a community of friends I met at Kenyon who I know will aid me on my journey to becoming the best writer I can possibly be.
If you have any specific questions about programs or resources available for writers, do not hesitate to follow me on isnta @heart.of.a.human and then shoot me an email!
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?
The public version of me IS the real me, but it has some “limits” to it … I have undergone a lot of real but deep struggles – struggles that I fear people will interpret the wrong way. There are lots of struggles that I am yet to display to my social media following, but eventually will. There is a difference between LYING and CONCEALING part of the truth. I like to believe that I do the latter. To learn more about the real me, you will just have to wait and follow the progression of the revelation of my heart through my poetry and passions … to do this, you must follow me @heart.of.a.human on all the socials I mentioned on the previous questions!
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What will you regret not doing?
I will regret not stepping out of my comfort zone more. Like I feel a bit guilty for not allowing myself to BE comfortable in certain atmospheres that surround me, but at the same time, I know that there are some factors that are just out of my control. Geographically, there are certain political ideologies that make me uncomfortable. Religion wise, the same circumstances are real. The communities that I are surrounded by in some aspects are NOT very welcoming to who I actually am. So to hone all these concepts back into my main point, I COULD be more open and step out of my comfort zone, but I genuinely fear some of the repercussions that this could have for me. In short, I WISH that both my life circumstances and mental stamina would allow me to have stepped out of my comfort zone while I was still a child.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://alexjrod0929.wixsite.com/alrodpiq-poetry
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heart.of.a.human/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@heart.of.a.human
Image Credits
N/A
I took all these photos!
