5 Questions with Pablo Ramirez Uribe
By Damian Cristodero
Pablo Ramirez Uribe, an integrative studies major in George Mason University’s New Century College in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, has quite a backstory. His dad is a Colombian diplomat working in Washington, D.C., in the Organization of American States. He has a monster LEGO collection, is on the university’s Forensics Team and was born with Autoimmune Polyglandular Syndrome Type 1 (APS1), a condition that, among other things, inhibits the gastrointestinal system and production of growth hormones.
His essay on the nature of genius, which won first prize in a contest at the University of Oxford in England, made an argument the late Colombian drug lord, Pablo Escobar, was a genius.
Why start with Escobar, who might have been a genius but used it for illegal purposes? “It’s weird for me to think ‘I’m going to pen this essay by talking about a figure I revile so much.’ The reason is because I realized you cannot use morality as a basis to cut somebody out of the argument, so I tried to reconcile it.” (Read more about the essay here).
What’s your LEGO collection about? “It’s the first big obsession I had. It started with the Bionicle toy line. I think it’s the reason I had so few friends back in elementary school. I build all the toys. I religiously follow the books and the website. Right now, I run the largest Spanish-speaking Bionicle YouTube channel (Muro De La Historia).”
Describe your collection? “I use LEGO as an art medium. I’ve built the church my grandparents got married in in Colombia. My latest project is the Sagrada Familia (a Catholic church in Barcelona). It’s become another tool of creativity for me.”
How do you cope with your illness? “I take a variety of medicines: hydrocortisone, calcium, potassium, three injectable medicines a day, an antidepressant. The list usually changes either dosage or medicine multiple times a year.”
How have you benefitted from your time at Mason? “Mason has been moment upon moment of learning experiences or new connections or life-changing moments. The Forensics Team, I can talk about it for hours. I’m currently running for student vice president at a university like this. I got to go to Oxford. I’ve been exposed to different viewpoints politically. I’m proud to be a Patriot and to say I can be a Patriot for the rest of my life.”
Pablo Escobar, the Colombian drug lord who was killed in 1993, was a violent criminal. But he also was a genius.
That is how George Mason University junior Pablo Ramirez Uribe began an essay that tried to explain the nature of genius.
Ramirez Uribe said he composed the essay, which also explored the evolution of the word “genius,” to hone his writing skills—important if the integrative studies major winds up with a writing or teaching career. That the essay won a prestigious contest at the University of Oxford in England, not to mention the £1,500 prize (about $2,200), was a life-affirming bonus.
“It makes me feel there is a part of me that is decent at writing and decent at answering all these questions,” Ramirez Uribe said. “I’m not just being a daydreamer. I think the essay is an external validation of who I am.”
“I thought it was very clever,” said Hugh Sockett, a professor of education in George Mason’s School of Policy, Government and International Affairs. “It’s a real distinction for Pablo and the university.”
Ramirez Uribe, a student in New Century College in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, was one of 20 students Sockett accompanied for the Oxford Semester Experience, another of what Ramirez Uribe said has been “moment upon moment of learning experiences” at George Mason.
The announcement of the essay contest was on a wall at Oxford’s Bodleian Library, which funded Ramirez Uribe’s prize along with Blackwell’s bookshop. The question to be: “what is genius?”
Genius starts with a heightened level of intelligence and ability, Uribe wrote. A genius creates innovation and influence and must be acknowledged by society.
Is that Escobar, who as a drug kingpin was responsible for so many deaths? Yes, argued Ramirez Uribe. Escobar was smart and innovative in running his organization, even from prison. He challenged the rules. His organization had impacts around the world, and many in Colombia considered him a hero for money he spent on the poor in Medellin.
Bottom line, though, Ramirez Uribe said, “Pablo Escobar was a man who used his intelligence and genius for bad reasons.”
That’s called an evil genius.