William Zavala
William Zavala is proud of his heritage. It's a pride that's been instilled in him all his life. Growing up in a family of Honduran immigrants, he grew up immersed in the culture he'd come to love.
Zavala is a sophomore at Wittenberg University, where he is a nursing major and a swimmer on the swim team. Even though Honduras is 1,750 miles from Springfield, and over 1,900 from his hometown of Ypsilanti, Mich., Zavala doesn't let distance weaken his connection.
"My dad," Zavala explains "Immigrated here from Honduras almost 30 years ago now, and honestly, I couldn't even begin to explain how hard it must've been for him to abandon everything."
That's made all the recent I.C.E. incidents in Springfield hit that much closer to home.
"He left his parents, siblings, everything he knows just to come here for the chance at a better life," he said, "I was really reflecting on that last year when the Department of Homeland Security was, you know, deporting everybody."
Ohio and Michigan are both home to more than 7,000 Honduran Americans, and have each had their share of I.C.E. involvement throughout the state. Deportation is a real fear for millions nationwide, regardless of their nationality or country of origin.
But rather than letting all this negativity in the news push down his beliefs, Zavala uses it as their foundation.
"It like, just made me think about my dad, and how lucky I am."
His father's courage has been an inspiration throughout his life, pushing him to accomplish anything he can.
That courage has led him into some of the things he's grown to love. Zavala says his favorite foods are pupusas, which are fried dough stuffed with refried beans, cheese, and meat, as well as pollo con tajadas, a layering of fried plantain chips with chicken and cabbage.
He'll also enjoy the occasional Tropical, a banana-flavored soda that you can find only in South America, and select locations throughout the United States.
Beyond just food, Zavala loves traveling in Honduras, including his favorite destination so far. Roatan is an island off the coast of with beautiful blue water and white sand beaches.
But he isn't done traveling yet. "Right now, I really, really want to go to Brazil. I'm hopefully planning to go there in a couple years."
His love of South America extends past destinations. He cheered on Argentina in this year's World Cup final, and was devastated when Lionel Messi, the player whose jersey he donned, didn't walk away with the trophy.
And as far as music goes, he loves Bad Bunny. When he saw Bad Bunny performing at halftime of the Super Bowl, he thought, "It's like a dream come true, it's like pretty awesome...he's like a rockstar."
And beyond just watching him perform, Zavala said he'd pick to have dinner with Bad Bunny over any other celebrity.
In Springfield, when he can't get the meals he'd like, he frequents the Chipotle just a few miles away.
Growing up near both Detroit and Ann Arbor, Zavala quickly became a fan of most Michigan sports teams. In fact, he went to a rival high school of current University of Michigan starting quarterback Bryce Underwood.
"I'm just saying, me and my friend are standing next to his banner pointing, in our marching band uniforms."
While American culture differs extremely from that of Honduras, it's safe to say that Zavala won't stop helping his dad try to feel more at home.
