I am Luca Scutari, an Argentinian 21 year old that has grown up all over the world. Thanks to the wonderful opportunities given to me by my incredibly hard working parents, I have lived in 6 countries in these first 21 years of my life, moving (on average) every 3-4 years. With the incredibly varied cultures I have encountered and friend groups I have made, I have gained a big appreciation for the small differences every one of us has.
Below is a breakdown of all of the countries I have lived in, as well as the years that I have lived in them and, for the ones I wasn't too young to forget, the key lessons they have taught me.
My country of origin and were I lived most of my life, Buenos Aires city feels like home to me. The old center with pebble roads, the highly modernized commercial center, and the varied and outstanding cuisine are something I will always hold dear to my heart. I lived in Argentina for the first 4 years of my life, and then came back for another 4. During my time in Argentina, I learned the important skill of adaptability, something that was crucial from that moment on. I had moved and changed schools multiple times in the span of 4 years and being able to learn how to thrive in a completely new environment became natural to me.
Montevideo, Uruguay, was my first international move throughout my life, and it all happened when I was barely 4 years old. Although I do not remember all that much about Uruguay, I do remember something that has made me a much better and stronger person: while I was in Uruguay, I was regularly bullied by 1 really bad kid (which wasn't entirely their fault, they had it rough too). This situation, as awful as it was, eventually taught me how to stand my ground and not let anyone treat me badly, as well as gain a lot of compassion and empathy for others.
When I was 12, I had the wonderful and life changing opportunity to come live in the United States, specifically Texas. This international move was what the Uruguay move had prepared me for: I had to leave my friends and extended family in Argentina to come live in the land of opportunity. While I lived here, I honed my English speaking skills to make it 100% fluent, but I also put to the test my adaptability, which I demonstrated with my wide variety of extra curricular activities while maintaining academic excellence. Texas taught me to embrace the unknown and give everything a chance, even if it is just to think it over. Now older and wiser, I am happy to be back.
The chaotic streets of Lima are something that I remember vividly, as well as having to wait hours for traffic and being stressed that my school bus might not fit in the small streets. However, those times waiting was where my creativity thrived. They say that being bored is what encourages creativity, and I learned this lesson first hand. These creative moments made me realize that I love my creative side and that sometimes I need to make my logical side take a backseat, both for myself and for whatever I am doing, as well as make me really develop my patience. After a bit, I met some of my greatest friends which made these boring times better, which i still talk to and work on projects with.
Although the shortest amount of time I have ever lived in a country, the year I spent in Toronto was an extremely important one for me. It was a lonely time in my life because as much as I tried, I had a hard time making new friends, especially after how great my friends from Peru were. However, this lead me to spend a lot of time with my family, doing things such as snowboarding and weight lifting. Toronto has taught me to take care of myself outside of my usual good diet and exercise; to check up on myself and how happy I feel with what I am doing, as well as now being more acutely aware when others are having hard times themselves.
In Costa Rica is where I would say I have changed the most: from developing an appreciation to the hard work I put into things (rather than only the final product), to figuring out who I want to be, Costa Rica was a truly formative time of my life. The friends I made there showed me that I didn't have to change who I am to adapt to new environments; rather, that being myself is enough regardless of where I am and that as long as I stay true to myself, I work hard, and I am kind to others, I will always find good people around me and I will always find myself improving my work, my conditions, and my life. This lead me to continue my more daring activities and pushed me to do surfing, white-water-rafting, and ziplining.