For Dairon César Fundora Pérez, belonging to the University Student Federation (FEU) is a privilege. He says it while listing a part of the history of the organization that he no longer looks at from afar, but from within.

Playing “when I grow up I will be” is not the same as being in a classroom training as a doctor. Moreover, if they had asked him as a child, his answer would have been different. Engineer? Lawyer? Journalist? What was clear from the beginning-beginning, back in elementary school is that the boy had the makings of a leader.

They took longer to ask for disposition than he did to raise his hand for anything. That was how they immediately recognized in him the qualities that now serve to argue a proposal. A proposal that, however, did not see coming. Dairon César is one of the direct delegates from Ciego de Ávila to the X Congress of the FEU.

—When does your career as a student leader begin?

—Since Primary School, when I was elected president of the group for several years. Already in Basic Secondary I was selected again as head of the detachment and in ninth grade I was part of the school group. This stage was marked by a broad connection to the Movement of Pioneers Explorers and I participated in different events and competitions. In my first year of pre-university I was chosen to be part of the FEEM Secretariat (Student Federation of Secondary Education) at the municipal level.

—Why did you decide to opt for the Medicine career?

—My vocation for Medicine was not since I was a child; I had many other aspirations typical of my age. It was when I got to Pre-university when I realized that this is the career I wanted, and the motivation came from friends and, above all, from some friends who had already graduated. I fell in love with seeing what they did, their dedication and dedication, the love they gave to patients and the faces of relief, gratitude and well-being.

—If you are in the second year, it means that you entered the University in the year of COVID-19. What was it like studying in the middle of a pandemic?

—As you say, my admission to the University was marked by COVID-19. As all the young university students in the country did, I joined the tasks of confronting the pandemic such as research and vaccination. When our school year officially began, I was selected by my classmates to occupy the position of brigade chief and, well, now, on the X Congress of the FEU, they chose me to be their direct delegate.

—"Did that choice make you happy?"

—It is a pride to be the direct delegate of the University of Medical Sciences of Ciego de Ávila. This speaks in favor of the work carried out by the brigade, which, as we highlighted in Congress, has been a united, supportive brigade, always immersed in each task guided by the FEU, and for this reason it is the brigade that deserves such recognition.

—What are your expectations with Congress?

—As my main expectation, I have to bring answers and solutions to the approaches that I have, which are the ones that emerged in the scientific group, related to student quotas for students who visit other provinces in events and the quality of scholarships, among others.

Dairon César is still a long way from leaving the classroom, but if we invite him to look to the future, he does not hesitate: his aspiration is to specialize in Internal Medicine and follow the order, where it will be most useful.

At this point, it is no use asking him where he would be if he were not a doctor. Only in a parallel universe, or in a galaxy far, far away, would he have been a lawyer. However, this boy knows exactly what he wants... and his colleagues, those who voted for him as a direct delegate, too.