WWWHHHYYY???

Why are you studying Geography? / Why did you decide to study Geography?

Before entering to the college I didn’t know very much what I wanted to study, when I was an adolescent we were always made the same question along time until I left the high school. The last year in the high school was terrible, because we always had somebody who was saying us what we had to do. I had good classmates in this time. I also remember that I belonged to special group called the “chichas team", that it is like say a “drinkers team”. Well, what was the question? Why am I studying geography? I am studying geography mostly because I think that the territorial problems are very interesting and the normal people don’t know very much about this. I like the urban problems, too, I love the city and its ways to live it, if I’ve got a great dream, undoubtedly is to know everyone cities around the world.

What will you be doing (professionally) in 10 years time?

This is the hardest question that anyone has made me. Really I don’t know it very clearly, but I’ see me travelling around the world, I have always thought that the best geographer is the one who knows more, it is by I want to know everything I can. So, I think that in teen years I am going to be working outside the country, I don’t know where but it doesn’t matter of any way, because the important is be “outside”, knowing…

How can geographers help save the planet?

This is a children question. Who do want to save the world? We are not superheroes and I won’t try to be one of them. We live in a neoliberal world and everyone have their business, every person takes care about his problems. If we want to save the world, we must be able to change the way the people think, we must build a collective conscience that protect us of the human evil.

What tools will the geographer of the future need to have?

First, we need to learn English very well, if you can’t understand anything about English and you want to go outside the continent; you are dead because you won’t be able to talk with anybody.

Other important tool are the GIS, if you aren’t able to take a computer and use software like ArcGIS or Erdas, you are a dead man, too. Both things are linked very strong and if you cannot drive you remained in the past.

What is your favourite subject?

I think that my favourite subject is the urbanism because as I said earlier I love the city. In relation to urbanism I could say that my favourite subject is the gentrification process. This urban process began in England, specifically in London city. In Chile this urban process has begun slowly to appear on the urban spaces of our cities, getting an important increase since 80’s until now.