My name is Gilberto Padilla Gonzalez, I am 20 years of age, I am indigenous to Oaxaca, Mexico. At the age of eight, my family and I moved to the United States. I was raised in Winston-Salem where you aren’t too far from the coast or too far from the mountains. As a child I had few friends due to my lack of fluency in English and my shyness. I spent most of my time outdoors exploring. My family and I moved multiple times, all in Winston. I’ve always had a very vast imagination and one of my favorite past times is exploring and expressing it through the arts. I took art classes all through my elementary and middle school years. Music has always been a big part of my life. I couldn’t go a day without my headphones. I’m interested in a wide variety of music from relaxation music, ambient, jazz, reggae, electronic, to hip-hop. All music is a gift to the ear to me. I discovered my interest in acting my freshmen year at West Forsyth High School. Theater arts class was the perfect place for me to express my dynamic personality and I remained in the class for three years. It was in this class that I was discovered and cast as the lead actor in the independent feature film, Sunset Edge. This was an incredible stroke of good fortune and a truly wonderful learning experience. I am so proud of the results!

I have had a very dynamic life. Moving from one country to another allowed me to experience entirely different cultures, perceptions of life and society. This helped me in my own personal self-growth. It has been an intense but very blessed journey. Recently, I had the opportunity to fly with the cast of Sunset Edge, to New York City. It was an unbelievable experience! That was my first time in one of the biggest cities in the world. Being in the center of New York was definitely an experience that I will never forget.

In the future, I aspire to influence people to spread awareness of self-love and compassion for all living things because I am a great believer that all of creation is divine.