News Story -June 26, 2007

Why Go to the US?

Brazilian students have definite reasons for wanting to travel to the US. On a local island, called Florianopolis and located in Southern Brazil, I recently interviewed three students at the Federal University of Santa Catarina. Simply by asking specific questions I got a general feeling why Brazilian students may want to visit or study at the US.

"Going from Greek to Rome was as a great improvement," mentioned Heitor Cardoso, a journalist major who has visited the US and hopes to study next Spring semester at our school, "...it was like going to the center of the world." Heitor started with this remark as he attempted to explain why he would want to go to the US.

On the topic of "why the US" Heitor made it clear that the US was dominant in many aspects of the world. "Our famous musician Roberto Carlos is merely a Brazilian Frank Sinatra," he says to exemplify how other cultures might never be as important as the dominant cultures. Maria Casagrande, a business student at the federal university, visited the US for experience and the favorable economy. "I wanted to experience life on my own, learn culture, and make money," she mentions as she describes her recent experience at the US.

Maria now works at a World Study program and is convinced that going to the US helped her on a professional level. "I worked three jobs," she says "McDonalds, Subway, and a seafood restaurant barely giving me time to sleep and eat." While she enjoyed her busy stay others would rather not work in the US. "I visited New York and would love to live there," mentioned Fernanda Dutra a journalist major who considers living in the US, "(but) working there would just ruin my career goals." While she speaks good English, Fernanda knows she wouldn't make it as a journalist in the US and has no intention to change her career.

While discussing the lifestyle of the US Heitor mentioned "a friend who has only lived a year in Florida now has a room, car, and insurance- something like that is respected around here." He too would like to make money in the US but hopes he would not stoop to an underpaid or degrading job. He also sees the lifestyle as an array of better opportunities. "Consumption," he says "in the US is a habit, here its not, it's a privilege." Fernanda, on the other hand, made a very good point by mentioning that she is not "blinded by immediate feelings of a new purchasing power and higher monetary compensation." She feels that such purchasing power is not necessary to live a good life and in that respect does not see the US as necessarily dominant.

Lastly, we spoke of personal development while traveling or studying to the US. Marina Casagrande recounts that English development was a big factor in traveling to the US- "I had already learned it, I wanted to put it to use." She had never lived alone or worked for money and she sought the US as the best place to do so. Fernanda sees the US as a place for "personal development, yes, but you don't just get that in the US." While she learned a lot in her experience and hopes to go back, Fernanda realizes that the US is not the only place to truly develop. As I asked Heitor about what he wanted to achieve as a person and where he wanted to reach in life he responds "Life isn't necessarily a progressive movement... it's the moment your in that's most important." Indeed I found myself siding with him as he added that possibly the rest of your life has mounted up until the stage the you're in now. In essence, Heitor states that traveling to the US will help him develop personally but realizes that he does not have to wait for life's stages to do so.

Brazilian students like the US for its experience, economy, lifestyle, professional and personal developments. They want to learn and experience even further by traveling once more or studying at our dominant country. --end of article

[Yet that day, I grew as much as the summer i turned 13, except this time it was as a person. Those Brazilian students are in many ways better than other students I have met back at home but have compelling reasons for traveling to the US.]