The U.S. "way of life"
By Marcela Beltrao Teixeira
[email protected]
Where I am from, it is not common for students to leave their homes when coming to the age of going to college. In Brazil, the system is pretty different; mostly, you only leave the home you grew up in after getting married. Our parents’ home matters a lot to us Latins.
I grew up in a small city in the Northeast part of Brazil, called Maceio, located in the state of Alagoas. It is always sunny there, and the lowest we ever get is 75ºF. We have a few of the most beautiful beaches in Brazil. Believe me, you can Google it.
Going against everything I just said, I first left my home when I had just turned 18 years old. However, I did not come to the U.S. just yet. I moved to Sao Paulo so I could attend the Fine Arts University Center of Sao Paulo where I got my first degree in fashion design.
While studying there, I knew I wanted to go even further. That is when I decided that I wanted to study in America and earn a degree in journalism. That is how, when I was 22, I came to the U.S. to study.
Moving from your home is never easy. I knew that. But moving to a different country is even harder and more confusing. When you first get here, you are scared for a number of different reasons like adjusting to a different language and seeing news stories that are always showing the bad side of being a foreigner here. To summarize, there is the fear of the unknown.
Even though I already knew how to speak English, is never easy to adapt to communicating and expressing yourself in a dialect that is not your mother language. That process can be even harder or more frustrating if you do not speak English.
The university itself has a very different model that many Brazilians and I are used to. In Brazil, we have classes from Monday to Friday, and classes that are only related to our majors. It takes some time on getting used to this change and also to the food, probably the one thing I am still not used to.
But I was surprised – happily surprised – on how I was received when I first got here. Americans were receptive. They tried to understand and help me when I was trying to say something I was unsure of. I know the news is true. I know a lot of bad things happen to foreigners, but now I also know that those bad stories are the majority there because they have more “views” and responses. There are a lot of good things happening too, and I had to get here to see it.
Living here it is an adventure. You are surrounded by so many different cultures, people, and experiences. It is never easy to spend a year away from your family and only being able to see them for a couple of days at the end of the year.
Study abroad may be hard and often frustrating, but at the end of the day it is a hundred times more rewarding.
The lives of those who chose to fly are paradoxical every single day. But being able to always experience new things, cultures, and situations is very rewarding. It beats every self-doubt you may have had during the process.
[email protected]
Where I am from, it is not common for students to leave their homes when coming to the age of going to college. In Brazil, the system is pretty different; mostly, you only leave the home you grew up in after getting married. Our parents’ home matters a lot to us Latins.
I grew up in a small city in the Northeast part of Brazil, called Maceio, located in the state of Alagoas. It is always sunny there, and the lowest we ever get is 75ºF. We have a few of the most beautiful beaches in Brazil. Believe me, you can Google it.
Going against everything I just said, I first left my home when I had just turned 18 years old. However, I did not come to the U.S. just yet. I moved to Sao Paulo so I could attend the Fine Arts University Center of Sao Paulo where I got my first degree in fashion design.
While studying there, I knew I wanted to go even further. That is when I decided that I wanted to study in America and earn a degree in journalism. That is how, when I was 22, I came to the U.S. to study.
Moving from your home is never easy. I knew that. But moving to a different country is even harder and more confusing. When you first get here, you are scared for a number of different reasons like adjusting to a different language and seeing news stories that are always showing the bad side of being a foreigner here. To summarize, there is the fear of the unknown.
Even though I already knew how to speak English, is never easy to adapt to communicating and expressing yourself in a dialect that is not your mother language. That process can be even harder or more frustrating if you do not speak English.
The university itself has a very different model that many Brazilians and I are used to. In Brazil, we have classes from Monday to Friday, and classes that are only related to our majors. It takes some time on getting used to this change and also to the food, probably the one thing I am still not used to.
But I was surprised – happily surprised – on how I was received when I first got here. Americans were receptive. They tried to understand and help me when I was trying to say something I was unsure of. I know the news is true. I know a lot of bad things happen to foreigners, but now I also know that those bad stories are the majority there because they have more “views” and responses. There are a lot of good things happening too, and I had to get here to see it.
Living here it is an adventure. You are surrounded by so many different cultures, people, and experiences. It is never easy to spend a year away from your family and only being able to see them for a couple of days at the end of the year.
Study abroad may be hard and often frustrating, but at the end of the day it is a hundred times more rewarding.
The lives of those who chose to fly are paradoxical every single day. But being able to always experience new things, cultures, and situations is very rewarding. It beats every self-doubt you may have had during the process.