Nelson Bustamante motivated 50 UF students to dream big on Friday.
UF’s Vensa, the Venezuelan Student Association, brought the animator, who won four Suncoast Emmy Awards, to be the group’s annual speaker. He told students his steps for making dreams come true and how he became an animator.
Every day, Bustamante said he repeats Maickel Melamed’s quote, “Today we start again; we start dreaming big.” The quote inspires him each day.
He started his speech by telling students his first step is “find your objective.” As he showed a video of himself as a child, he told the audience he had known he wanted to animate since he was 12 years old.
He said people shouldn’t listen to others’ opinions. His grandfather wanted him to be a doctor, but Bustamante decided to study social communications in Venezuela instead.
He said he thinks the fear of failure can prevent students from dreaming.
After he graduated, he worked as an animator for the show “Atrévete a soñar” (Dare to Dream), in which participants met their idols, including Shakira. Working here inspired him to help others.
Ricardo Remis, 20, the president of Vensa, said Bustamante motivated and inspired students during finals. He said the speaker needed no introduction because of his prominence.
“His message to ‘dare to dream’ is something all students, Venezuelans or otherwise, can apply to their lives,” the UF telecommunication and business junior said.
Bustamante told students not to give up on their dreams.
“Fake it until you make it,” he said.
