Sebastian and family

Sebastian was born in Argentina. He moved to Israel in the middle of his college education. He served as a volunteer there before he completed his under graduate degree. He then moved to the United States for graduate school. He completed his schooling in California at Stanford University and at the University of California, Berkeley. He has a Ph.D in Operations Research. He resides in New York City with his Argentinean wife. He has two daughters.

Sebastian has a complicated relationship with Argentina. He explained to me, “Argentina became a very difficult place to like. I am not proud at all about Argentina or about that fact that I am from Argentina. I think the country has deteriorated a lot. You know as bad as it was when I left, I think it got a lot worse. Because now not only do they have the history of autocratic repressive government – they’ll have to live with that forever – but [they also have] levels of corruption that have never been seen… You are proud of a place because you respect their values.” He recognizes the faults in his native country and acknowledges the often hard relationship he has with Argentina. He is a citizen of the United States. He tells me that it was an easy process for him to gain citizenship. “I think the country was more welcome to immigrants [back then] than it is today. There was a better understanding of what immigrants bring to the table. Anybody who is willing to leave their country and… leave their comfort zone to move into a different country… they are obviously a different kind of person that is willing to do a lot more…and should be therefore welcome because they are certainly going to add value.” Sebastian discussed his own migration story from Argentina to the United States with me. When I ask him about where home is, he tells me quite simply, “My home is America. My children were born here, so my home is where my children were born.”