“Suscitatio Terminus (Awakening Border)” Student Response Mural
The Suscitatio Terminus (Awakening Border) mural was developed by Fernandez and students (and sisters) Gabi Zaballa and Karenina Zaballa. It touches on important social, environmental, and economic challenges the US-Mexico region faces along the international border. The mural displays people from the US-Mexico international border and around the world to represent diversity as we are all affected by climate change thus no one should be left behind.
The Beyond Borders Digital Talks is an SDSU TED Talk style-based community platform lead by the MOCLLAB (livestream event) used to share knowledge, storytelling through virtual meetings and conversations between alumni, researchers, and international experts from all over the world. The SDGSU Digital Talks features professionals from across the SDSU campuses and beyond discussing the many dimensions of the climate challenge: from law, business, and public policy, to public health, design, the sciences, and engineering, and the humanities. Other topics include but are not limited to innovation, diversity, inclusion, equity, sustainability, education, wellness, entrepreneurship, health, career paths, technology, and society at large in a dynamic exchange of knowledge and experience.
Karenina “Nika” Zaballa
Karenina “Nika” Zaballa is a Master of Science in Big Data Analytics graduate. She was born in Quezon City, Philippines and her family moved to San Diego in 2007. She received her B.S. in Computer Science in 2016, then returned to attend graduate school for Big Data Analytics at SDSU.
This mural has a deep connection to me as an immigrant in the United States. I moved here right after high school, so learning how to live and move in a different country and assimilating was a challenge. I grew up helping take care of my younger siblings so a lot of the themes like gender inequality and inclusion were very relatable to me. The mural represents hope for people like me who have seen what it's like to live as a foreigner in the US, who didn't really think she was "good" in STEM but tried it anyway, and for those who are faced with seemingly impossible things but tried anyway. It inspires me to continue to wrestle with the difficult things while keeping my heart and mind open to better opportunities.
Gabi Zaballa
Gabi Zaballa is a B.A. student in art with an emphasis in Studio Arts at SDSU. In addition to her studies and a day job, she also runs an art business called Grand Cross Artworks.
To me, the mural is about social awareness and change. It speaks upon a lot of issues that are happening today, all of which we need to act upon. In a way, we've simplified these worldly projects in eighteen different panels upon the mural's eye, and conveys plainly and simply, not only the struggles that the human race faces in the 21st century, but also the battle within us between those who enhance the problems, and those who are inspired to solve them. I could go on and on about what each piece of this work means, but I want to state this plainly and simply. Let's be better to each other and the Earth, let's find within us the capacity to empathize and understand, let's act upon our own realizations about ourselves that we can control, let's do this together, and let nobody be left behind.