Oscar Godinez-Avila

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🌐 A twenty-first-century polymath

Skilled and experienced in areas like:

  • Historical research and analysis
  • Digital humanities & web development
  • Community interpretation & engagement
  • Technical troubleshooting & IT fluency
  • Spanish and German language
Portrait of Oscar Avila
“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”

— Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist (English trans. 1993)

👤 About Oscar

I am a first-generation American of Mexican heritage. I was raised across multiple cities and towns in Northern Colorado, the only home I've ever really known. Moving around so much, I often found myself pondering how I-- and the people around me-- related to our surroundings. I was especially fascinated by the overlapping of urban and rural worlds across landscapes, neighborhoods, and history. Determined to more deeply understand and engage my environment, I threw myself into the humanities in both study and participation. I wanted to feel the fullness of the human world around me and broadened my knowledge base horizontally across fields more than vertically within a single discipline.

At Colorado State University, I gravitated toward interdisciplinary and systems thinking, which shaped my studies around the intersections of history, community life, and cultural geography. That approach continues to guide my work today. I research local and regional history with a focus on how ordinary people create meaning in the places they live, and I aim to make that knowledge accessible to both general audiences and professionals.

Outside of research, I spend my time learning new software, experimenting with creative digital projects, exploring Northern Colorado's communities, cooking healthy meals, and occasionally unwinding with a Pokémon battle or two. These habits keep me grounded, curious, and committed to understanding the world with both rigor and imagination.

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