My Greatest Pride

University degrees still carry considerable social and personal weight. We are driven to make them part of our identity and to use them as our presentation letter to others. But what happens when that profession no longer aligns with our interests? Are we truly free to consider alternatives outside of what we studied to pursue a new passion?

These and other questions arose from my personal experience when, after nearly 10 years of professional career, I realized that the engineering I studied and practiced did not fully passion me. This became evident the day I was fired for the first time.

I have captured this crisis in a ceramic replica of my university degree, which I broke at the Academic Directorate of my university, the place where this institution's degrees are delivered and where it is common for graduates to take photos to show it off to society.

Although I have decided to explore new professional paths outside of my academic training, I present this reconstructed replica with pride, like a framed degree in a living room or an office, to recognize where I come from and remember the experiences that allowed me to reach this decision.

To document this performance action, the piece is accompanied by a video performance that shows the production process and includes a personal reflection on the crisis experienced.

This work was created within the second edition of the Caja de Herramientas program (2024 - 2025) developed by Proyecto Plexo. I entered this laboratory months after losing my job, which allowed me to explore my personal search, transform my experiences, and result in this work.