Humans of NSU
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Interviewee Name
Jake Delladio
Date of Interview
Winter 1-29-2023
Location
NSU Tampa Bay Regional Campus
Brief Bio / Description of Interviewee
“When I was 19 in college, I got diagnosed with colon cancer. For me, that was a time when I had to leave school. I had three surgeries in the course of nine months. That time really ignited my faith. It was not something I was ever really negative about. I felt it is what it is. I had people around me who were going to support me. With my my mom as a stay at home mom and my dad working from home, I always had people around me. Their support helped me realize that maybe that’s just the way my life is supposed to go. Maybe it’s something God planted in my life. I wasn’t going to college for medicine at the time, I was going for dental school, but after I started up again I was sitting in my classes and called my parents and said I think I am going to try going to medical school. They were like “just don’t let those grades slip”. For me, it made me think maybe life plays out the way it’s planned to. I go to mass sometimes in Clearwater. My faith is something I drifted away from and came back to. I know it’s always there. I got put in a place where I wasn’t following too much and then things led me back down that path. Positivity is something I learned back when I initially had ulcerative colitis. I was negative for a while about it. I saw it really negatively impact every aspect of my life - my mental state, my social life. I didn’t feel good about who I was at the time. I came to realize having a negative mindset on things has zero benefit to your life. For me, even when I had to take time off from school and go into surgery, I realized you’re going to have negative days and that’s fine, that’s life. But being negative about situations you’re in, no matter how bad they are, it doesn't help at all. I felt like from my experiences, negativity took away from who I was and who I wanted to be as a person. It came down to what I want for myself and my life. The people I surround myself with. I don’t want to be a negative person. I don’t want to have negative energy around me. Energy is contagious. I feel like if people are negative around you, you feel negatively yourself too. I try my best. There are days I do get negative, there are days that are hard. In general, I’m trying to be my best self. If I can be positive, then I can help people around me be their best selves too and that’s what feels good for me.”
Camera Equipment
Nikon Z6
Audio Equipment
iPhone 11 Pro Max
Keywords
exhibit, photographs, life stories