A circus life

Mimicking the whole of America, our campus is a microcosm of the proverbial melting pot. Every day we are surrounded by various forms of diversity, yet rarely do we have time to notice and fully appreciate these differences. We at UVU Review have decided to interview and get to know some fascinating students with unique backgrounds.

In fact, we will be featuring new students weekly.

This week’s interview features sophomore Markus Aedo, who is majoring in Digital Media and specializing in 3-D animation. Aedo, who speaks three languages, was born in New Hampshire, but grew up all over the world. His childhood was spent traveling with his family and mime father in the circus.

(MH) What is your family like?
(MA) “My family is bizarre to say the least. My father is a mime. He’s Peruvian and studied in France with the world-renowned French mime named Marcel Marceau. My mother is Norwegian and studied in France her first years of college. They met in Paris, and such is the city of love: they fell in love, married and had me. I was born in the Big Apple Circus in 1990, with French being the common language at home.“I traveled with various groups of circus productions and performers all around the world, such as Knie in Europe, Royal Caribbean in Indonesia, Singapore and Bali, as well as Ringling Brothers in the United States ¬– basically, every continent save Africa.”

(MH) What was the coolest or most unique part of your childhood?
(MA) “It’s really hard to say, but I’d have to go with the abundant opportunities to travel. I had a really fortunate childhood to just visit places. My ‘home’ [was] circus tents and airports. The numerous people I’ve met … all somehow managed to shape and mold me into what I’ve become now; however, I’d say that it comes with a price by really setting the bar high on what’s adventurous and what’s boring.”

(MH) What made you choose to come to UVU?
(MA) “To be quite honest, I came to Utah because of my personal struggles with my family. Once I got here, I took a couple classes in 3-D in high school and [decided] that this is what I wanted to do. I [have] always loved movies, and I couldn’t see myself doing anything else.”

(MH) Who is your favorite UVU professor?
(MA) “It’s hard to single out one, but my English professor Karin Anderson really helped me grow and develop my writing and thoughts. More importantly, she became my friend.” (Markus also names Dr. Anderson’s English 1010 class as his favorite UVU class because “it helped me understand myself better and work past my struggles.”)

(MH) What are some of the biggest cultural differences from where you grew up to where you are now?

(MA): “Everything! Being with performers and people from other countries, they usually are better traveled than most people in the U.S., simply because it’s easier. Languages have always been a big [difference] with me. Languages are the blood and veins of culture. Once you have your heartbeat going and understand the culture, you develop a pulse with that particular culture. With that, your world grows exponentially.”

(MH) What do you do when you’re not a student? Do you have a job or any unusual or interesting hobbies?
(MA) “Being a Norwegian citizen allowed me to just get back from working (this summer) in Geneva, Switzerland for 7 months, helping build my cousin’s home and bartending. It was one of the best experiences of my life. It helped me pay for all that I might need here for a while. My main hobby is rock climbing; it’s a wonderful sport and I couldn’t be luckier to be here in Utah where some of the best climbing is at.”

(MH) Why do you get up in the morning, or what motivates you to do the things you do?
(MA) “I get up because there’s so much to live for. Perhaps I don’t think about it day to day, but it’d be such a waste if I just never got back up. I personally love hearing stories about others. Going out and just talking can really put things in perspective. I know for certain there are people filled with different stories in their life. I get a little peeved when I hear people say that their life is ‘boring,’ or that nothing interesting ever happens for them. I feel it’s all relative. I’ve had a unique life so far, but I’ve never really developed roots anywhere, which sometimes makes it painfully difficult to make friends I can relate to, and even worse, keep in touch with. So I think we all have something to gain from one another, no matter how little we may think we have to offer.”

(MH) What’s the best movie you’ve seen this year?
(MA) “Black Dynamite and Inception.”

(MH) What about the worst movie you’ve seen this year, and why?
(MA) “The bad aftertaste of the Twilight: Eclipse film has seeped into this year. I haven’t seen any movie I haven’t enjoyed recently other than that.”

(MH) What’s your guilty pleasure?
(MA) “It’s deep and dark, but I always like revealing magicians secrets I’ve discovered from rehearsals or mistakes.”

(MH) What current popular phenomenon is something that you just won’t ever understand or like?
(MA) “Politics are dangerous, but the Tea Party movement always seemed droll to me. Mainly because a lot of what I hear and read from their leaders and activists contradict everything I ever learned about American history.

(MH) If you won a million dollars tomorrow, what would you do with it?
(MA) “[I would] see if I could get some sort of infinite travel arrangement from an airliner for the rest of my life. If not, then I’d see if I could start my own animation company.”

(MH) In your opinion, what is the most beautiful place on earth and why?
(MA) “Santiago, Chile. The city was beautiful, and seeing their coastlines was also jaw-dropping. More importantly, I thought the people were beautiful as well. They’re mixed with European (mainly German) and Latin blood, which, oddly, really made me feel like one of them. There’s a lot of European influence as well, which made me feel like home in both worlds.”

(MH) What was the best part of your summer?
(MA) “Living and working in Europe for sure. Being able to go to France to [rock]climb every week. Visiting Florence and Paris again was certainly unforgettable. Getting paid to go on a seven month vacation? Can it get any better?”

(MH) Zombies or vampires?
(MA) “Zombies. Vampires may have been scary at one point, but today’s society encourages our youth to have sex with a bloodthirsty man or woman that glitters.”