Building big dreams, one creative day at a time

Ask 11-year-old Cristopher what makes a perfect day and he answers without hesitation. Sleeping in. Games. His family nearby. His two dogs, Camilla and Jolie, fed and walked. Maybe soccer, maybe a movie, maybe helping with breakfast. He describes it all with the easy confidence of a kid who knows exactly who he is, and has known for a while.  

A kid who builds things 

“I would love to be an architect or engineer,” Cristopher says. He has known this since he was small enough to play with building blocks. His interest has never wavered. He draws and designs. He thinks through how things fit together and imagines what they could become.  

“I love building something from scratch,” he says.  

It’s not a passing phase. Creativity, for Cristopher, is a way of seeing—problems become puzzles, ideas become structure, and every blank page is a place to start.  

Math is his favorite subject at school,  despite its difficulty  because of the feeling that comes after. “I love feeling that I completed a question or a subject,” he says. He studies hard ahead of tests, stays after school twice a week to prepare, and arrives at exams calm. “I feel really prepared,” he says, and means it. 

The life he was already living 

Cristopher is Mexican and Honduran, a soccer fan who follows the Mexican league and  wears his jersey with pride. Weekends mean family—movies, the park, meals out, or dishes made at home with chicken or steak. He helps cook breakfast. He takes care of his dogs with the seriousness of someone who understands that love is also a practice.  

He is, in other words, fully and joyfully a kid. Grounded in his family, curious about the world, clear about what he wants – despite not knowing whether he’d be allowed to stay in the United States

Where creativity was encouraged 

Over the years, Cristopher has spent time working with his attorneys at KIND. What he remembers isn’t paperwork or appointments. It’s drawing, building with blocks, playing board games, and meeting other kids his age.  

“It was a really fun time,” he says. “I met a lot of kids my age.”  

Recently, Cristopher received his green card. He speaks about it simply, without dramatizing it, which somehow makes it more meaningful. It’s stability. It’s the freedom to keep learning and growing and designing without fear, which has been removed from the background of his life. 

He is grateful, and says so directly. “I want to say thank you for everything. For always helping us and supporting us.”  

Looking ahead 

Cristopher’s story is not about arriving somewhere, it’s about the foundation to imagine a future clearly. Buildings not yet designed. Games not yet played. A future he has been sketching in his mind since he first picked up a block and wondered what it could become.  

When asked what he’d tell another child going through something hard, he doesn’t offer platitudes. He offers three things that have actually worked for him.  

“Be creative. Always have an open mind. And be grateful for a lot of things.”  

At 11, Cristopher already knows how to build something from scratch. He’s been doing it his whole life.  

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