Hello! My name is Gabe

Philly born and raised, world living and growing

From North Philadelphia to [currently] Germany, my life has been a series of blessing, and I owe all my success to my family, teachers, and mentors through the years who gave me many chances to learn, grow, and develop. Those chances were also lessons, and my hope with sharing my reflections of those life lessons is that you can all reflect on your own life and realize you have all the skills to lead a successful and happy life. Cheers to you!

Background

My name is Gabriel Antonio Del Valle. I was born and raised in the city of Philadelphia, PA in the late 90s and early 2000s. Much of my childhood was super happy and I remember it – as much as I can generally have a poor memory – fondly with a safe home environment, older sister and younger brother (I am a middle child – and, yes, I do believe that the middle child syndrome is a real thing), dogs and cats around all the time, a neighbor that is a brother and parents that loved me, taught me valuable life lessons and supported me in pretty much everything I did, Thanksgiving with extended family, Christmas mornings opening gifts with the film A Christmas Story on loop all day and so on and so forth.

My home childhood was impeccable, and it’s made all the more impeccable by the fact that just outside my door, in my everyday life, Philadelphia was not impeccable. A general sense of anxiety and dread loomed any time I was outside and exposed beyond the walls and boarders of home or school. Crime was simply a part of life – you’d hear stories about muggings and learned to be ever vigilant. Fights among kids from rival schools was a normal thing. Fights among races was a normal thing. Phrases like “watch ya body” or “be safe” were common place as the last thing you’d say to your friends and you didn’t say those words lightly; you really meant “be safe from who or whatever is out there on your way home” and you learned to keep your head on a swivel even if you had no reason to think anyone was out to get you for any good reason.

While many people – tourists, in particular, but also people from just outside of Philadelphia proper – came to see historic Center City Philadelphia to learn all about the Cradle of US civilization, which is all well and good and part of the reason I’m one of the most proud Philadelphian’s ever, or to eat at really nice restaurants or do shopping or any of the amazing things you can do in this great city, the reality for many people not living in Center City was different. The real Philadelphia can be bit grittier than all that, but the reality is that this contrast also offers a glimpse into what could be out there for anyone.

And as much as my parents protected me from it, as much as they shielded us from some of the worst of the worst, there is still a reality of living in impoverished, inner-city Philadelphia as a minority in minority dominated areas. I spent most of my childhood and young adult life between North Philly and Olney, two areas that weren’t the easiest places to live. But there’s the rub: in the difficulty of growing up in these places, one is afforded – dare I say – the opportunity to develop some fundamental knowledge, skills, abilities and other traits (KSAOs to my fellow I/O Psychologist out there) that are necessary to survive in the hood but are also tool to thrive in other contexts whether that’s school or professional life in the corporate world. The same environment that potentially breeds so much pain, suffering or frustration can be the sample place that prepares you to learn how to overcome and win at anything in life.

So my vision and goal of this Urban Chameleon project to help shed some light on those things that may seem to have been disadvantages at the time but are actually the very things that allow you to be successful and thrive wherever you are. Also, I hope to hear and learn about what challenges you faced and overcame and now use to your advantage! I'm sure I still have some undiscovered potential laying around just waiting to be unlocked - maybe we can find out together!

Cheers,

Gabe