Ignacio A. Lopez Jr.
(or Iggy :D)
20th Century Fox Flute Version | HQ
General Info about Your's Truly
I was born on July 5th, 1997 in Orlando, but both of my parents are Colombian. I attended Cypress Creek High School here in Orlando as well (if you can't tell I have lived in Orlando my whole life). I have an older sibling, Francisco, who is a year and 8 months older than I am. He is currently studying Mechanical Engineering on the other side of the country at Stanford University in California. My dad, Ignacio A. Lopez Sr., is the Executive Chef at a restaurant in Dr. Phillips called Chatham's Place while my mom, Martha Lopez, devoted her time to the struggle of stopping my brother and I from burning down the house for more than 18 years.
Halloweens
My parents never wanted to let my brother and I forget our heritage, so for every Halloween we would dress up in the traditional clothing of a Colombian coffee farmer so we could look like the famous Cafetero Juan Valdez. We rocked that look yo.
"Are you guys twins?" - EVERYONE
Wherever my bro and I went someone would always wonder whether we were twins or not. It was amusing until even my own family began to mistake me for my brother. By then however, it was amusing to pretend to be Frankie while my relatives on the phone unknowingly told me what they meant to actually tell my brother. For cereal though, my brother and I get along amazingly. We play music together and I basically followed his footsteps throughout my early years of education. We still have arguments over who misses the other more. But if he ever asks its me.
RUN FORREST RUNNNNNNN
I met all of my best friends because of the Cross Country team at my high school. I was never a great runner but I sure had a lot of fun messing around every Saturday with my teammates at the meets. It was the first team sport I had done in high school and it was a great experience where I formed friendships that helped me get through school and rough times.
STEM is Life, STEM is Love
STEM has always been a passion of mine, as well as my brother's and many of friends' as well. I knew from an early age that I will pursue a STEM career but I was just unsure of what it would be. My brother started a Jr. SHPE club at our high school (see above) and from then on we began to discuss more about what we wanted to do with our lives. Frankie was always the more mechanically-inclined sibling, so it made sense that he would pursue mechanical engineering. We had this dream that we would someday start our own engineering company, the Lo Bro's Co. (the name is still up in the air but I mean come on it rhymes).
College and EXCEL
I was excited to know that I would attend UCF because it had been the SHPE of UCF that helped my brother start the Jr. chapter at Cypress Creek. I met a ton of great people that gave amazing advice and helped me get on the path towards an education in Computer Science. I had already been thinking of the idea because it would make sense for me to be able to program the machines and robots my brother would create for our company but the more I thought about it the better it seemed to get. I had never programmed at all before I came to UCF but I always found it fascinating and I believed that it would be something that I would enjoy.
I had learned about EXCEL from a friend and without him I believe my college experience would have been very different. Ali explained to me what resources I would have at my disposal and convinced me that it was the better option. Already I have made new friendships within the program I hope to make more as the years go by. I especially believe that the program is great for me because of its close ties to STEM related activities taking place on campus. I wish to join a research team, which EXCEL can help with, and take internships to gain experience of what it actually means to work in the STEM field, which EXCEL also offers. Its all that I could have asked for and more.
One of the reasons Frankie and I get along so well is because we grew up playing music together. We could basically read the other's mind when we played. Playing guitar is one of my favorite things to do, both with and without my brother. Together we can play some mean Flamenco music is both fast and relaxing. I always found that guitar was a great way to relieve stress and help me clear my mind, but it was always a hobby, even when we had the amazing opportunity to record and album of our favorite songs together with a producer from Universal Studios. Its an experience that I will never forget, but its most important purpose is to help me stay connected with my brother while we are a country apart.