Carlos Baez
This month’s installment of our Community Spotlight series features a long-time Beam Camper, Carlos Baez. Carlos went to Beam Camp in New Hampshire at the age of 13 and continued going for the next 5 years, he then transitioned from the role of camper to camp staff/counselor. Currently, Carlos lives in California where he works in the Hardware Engineering Group at Apple. One of the reasons why Carlos decided to move across the country from New York City to California was because of what he learned at Beam Camp. He says, “one of the things that always stuck with me is to always take the opportunities that are there.” He also adds that going to Beam Camp alone at the age of 13 helped him gain confidence and believe in himself. He says, “And going from New York to New Hampshire, that was the scariest thing, like I cried a little bit on the bus to myself… and doing it for a couple years led to me being I can do this, I can leave my nest and grow and do something and improve myself.”
When Beam Center was founded in 2015, Carlos was one of the first people who helped with our after-school programming at the Invisible Dog. After graduating high school, Carlos went back to Beam Camp as a counselor for summer camp season. Speaking about his experience at Beam Camp and with Beam Center, Carlos says, “Beam laid a foundation by introducing me to this area, introducing me to New Hampshire, House camp, putting on hiking boots, being almost independent in a way too and I think the independence part is really big for somebody growing up.” Carlos also adds that he learned to use tools that he used to think only “grown-ups” could use. “There's so many different tools that you know, you felt like only a grown up could use but (at camp) you felt like you couldn't touch it, you couldn't do it. But once you did it, you had the sense of power in yourself, like I'm able to do it, I'm able to manage my own project, use the tools I need to and be safe about it.” He went on to say this helped him gain confidence and allowed him to think “outside the box.”
When asked who at Beam Center inspires him, Carlos said Brian Cohen, Beam Center’s Executive Director and co-founder and his mother Sally Cohen. Carlos says, “ Brian has always been an inspiration of how he gives speeches, how he talks to everybody. He knows that you can do it and you have the potential. And that's the other part of it too, when somebody knows you have the potential and believes in you. I needed that… For somebody else to believe in you is something big, because that's empowering you. And you want to have that belief. So it's like a list, you have more and you know that you have more potential and it gives you that drive. So I always look up to Brian.”
Carlos also adds that Sally Cohen has advised him about what it means to grow up and why someone shouldn’t be afraid of it. He says, “Sally Cohen, she was a huge inspiration, talking to me, and counseling me about growing up, and what does that look like? And why we shouldn't be afraid of certain things and why it's okay to make yourself uncomfortable.”
Carlos says the power of Beam Center is the people that work there. “Anyone who is there and decides to be there. They decide to do so because of the exchange of knowledge and perspective. The beauty of it is that since everyone comes from different spaces [backgrounds] and different mindsets nobody argues with one another; it’s a truly collaborative and understanding space.” Carlos continues on to say that whatever ideas he decided to explore while in the Beam realm were never turned down. Instead he was allowed to refine his ideas and his abilities with help of others. He also says, “Beam is everyone’s puzzle, weaving in and creating this cool looking space. Everyone can think of a different way to create something. It’s just different things and methods that allow you to think freely and it [Beam Center] is a safe space for that. That’s the specialty of Beam Center and that’s what really put me in the position that I am in today.”
We’re grateful to Carlos for being part of our community and supporting our programming through his generous donations. Thank you Carlos for being part of Beam.
