Can you speak a little about the current situation in Venezuela, or your experiences there?

Michelle: I was born in Venezuela, and lived there till I was nine. In recent years, I haven’t been back that much, partially because it is dangerous and also because traveling and immigration policies are ambiguous between the U.S. and Venezuela.

Ideally, would you want to split your time between Venezuela and the U.S. when you grow up?

Michelle: I don’t see myself living in Venezuela ever again, but I would definitely want to visit. I see myself doing journalistic research there or maybe taking some literature classes in universities there. If I were to live in any Latin American place though, it would be Buenos Aires.

Which art form do you think is the most bizarre?

Michelle: In my Spanish class, my professor just showed a video of a new movement in poetry: sound poetry, or video poems. [These poems] are all made live, and don’t have any real words. They deconstruct language to the point where you can “read” emotion in the sounds.

Have you ever been caught in an awkward love affair, a la that which Lady Gaga sings about in “Bad Romance” — a song apparently about her own experience of being in love with her best friend?

Michelle: Yeah, with the guy who became my best friend last year. We were attracted to each other, but we kept it platonic for the sake of our friendship. But he still goes around telling everyone that we’re going to get married …

What do you think about the trend of clothing becoming more unisex? Is there a certain way that people should dress, or are clothing decisions just based on socially constructed perceptions of gender?

Michelle: I think the trend is a good thing. I think that for the most part that what is feminine, and what is masculine is socially constructed. There is a tendency now to deconstruct and fragment everything, and reinvent the individual. As long as [gender-blurring fashion] is not just done for the sake of contradicting the norm, in which case it would probably look unflattering [on the person], then I think it is a good thing.