Mixed Bowl: The Podcast Paxton Hall

"I'm from Hong Kong, but, you see, I'm not exactly originated from China, I'm more of a third culture kid. That's what they're called these days. Basically, they're people whose parents come from a different country who migrate to another different country, and then they are born there... Not being able to fit in is not exactly a bad thing, because it makes you very adaptable. It gives me a very unique perspective on life. It doesn't require me to take very strong left or right, black or white, political stances. It allows me to be a bit of an observer. The best way I would call it, is being rooted in the winds. You have a ground somewhere, but this ground is always moving, but you always keep yourself. It's very important not to lose it." - Lorenzo Ponce & "I'm from Venezuela, from Caracas, the capital. You basically live in a cage. My parents in Caracas create these walls trying to protect you, but at the same time these walls keep you from living a normal life. There are many things you guys would take for granted that we don't. As simple as going for a walk. We can't do that back home. The thing is, I don't picture myself living anywhere but Caracas. Despite everything. Yes, it's the most dangerous city in the world. Yes, there's an economic crisis. Yes, there are lines at the supermarkets to get food. Despite all of that, that's still my home and I feel like I'm really rooted in all of Caracas." - Ricci Zaragoza

"The capacity to listen... this is something that you might take for granted, but most people don't know how to listen. More often than not you talk to somebody and you realize that in the meantime, this person is thinking of the next argument they are going to bring across... without having listened to what you have to say. So more often than not you find two people saying the same thing, like ten times, because they are not listening to each other. Everyone wants to bring up their own point of view without listening."

On Syrian Refugee Crisis: "I think it is also a huge problem and I think that we as a country should help, but not in the way that we are helping now. Because in Portugal they are offering houses, jobs, and everything to these families and we have families in Portugal that also need this kind of help but don't get it. I don't know what is the best way, but I don't think that this is the best way."

“I’m from Porto, Portugal… in my master’s program we received an exchange student from Namibia. All of the classes beforehand were in Portuguese, but because of her they were given in English, so everyone could understand and so she could adapt.”

What are your first thoughts when someone says, "What are you Meghan?" "I would say, 'What are you?!'... I'm a very sarcastic person so I would probably be like, 'A human being... a person.' Then I would be like, 'Just kidding, I'm black and white!'"

"I'm not sure if you're familiar with the singer Azealia Banks, but she came out with this song, and I believe I was in 10th grade going to 11th grade, and it's called Liquorice. And it was the first time I ever saw a dark-skinned, brown-skinned, female artist, talk about her skin color and love it and embrace it. She associates her skin color with black liquorice. It was an influx of self-love. And I just thought it was so cool and so empowering and then I started realizing... hey, I'm really cool, I love my skin color, I love being a black girl, I love all these things about me that society has told me not to like. And I think that's where I gained this strength over time... I didn't always look at why is it that people value light-skin over dark-skin, why is it that people value curly hair over kinky hair. And then I started understanding those things more and understanding, well those girls probably didn't hate me specifically, but they've been taught to hate me because society pits us against each other."