resident of Belo Horizonte (MG) and coming from humble origins, Sofia Santos de Oliveira, a student from Minas Gerais, was approved in three colleges abroad with a full scholarship: Harvard , Yale and Stanford, all in the United States. The 18-year-old has an interest in education that comes from her own experiences with transformative educational experiences.
Sofia is not part of the group of students who were trained, from an early age, in bilingual schools to enter the most sought after and renowned universities in the world. In fact, she learned English on her own because her parents couldn’t afford a course. Even so, the student says that she already wanted to study abroad as a child. “Since elementary school, I had considered the idea of going abroad to study, but it was almost a utopia. I didn’t know exactly how I was going to get there.”
Trajectory
Your school history is not linear. She went through difficulties, especially in childhood, when her father was fired from the steel industry where he worked and she lost her scholarship at Sesi, in the 5th year of elementary school. She had to return to municipal public school and continued to do extracurricular activities to stay engaged academically.
“As I always enjoyed studying, I didn’t want to conform to the situation and continued looking for opportunities to go to a better school. During these years, I participated in math olympiads and participated in school assemblies”, says Sofia.
The turning point occurred in the 9th grade, when he got a full scholarship in a preparatory course for college entrance exams and, during his organization for the selection of federal schools, he met Ismart (Social Institute to Motivate, Support and Recognize Talents). This institute was essential for her to decide to focus on universities abroad. “After joining Ismart, I heard stories of other young people from humble origins like mine who had achieved the dreamed approval in American universities with a scholarship, and I realized that that dream could indeed come true.”
According to Sofia, the differential of these international faculties lies in the fact that they are endowed with greater academic flexibility, value research more, generate international study opportunities and have a culturally diverse student body.
Ismart recognizes low-income young talents and grants them scholarships in private schools of excellence, covering tuition, food and transportation costs. That’s how Sofia won a scholarship to study at Colégio Santo Antônio in high school, in 2019. There, her routine consisted of waking up at 5 am and taking two buses to get to school, returning home at 8 pm.
In the meantime, she also created a social project to support low-income students, in addition to joining the New York Academy of Sciences, starting autonomous scientific research (which received about ten recognitions at national and international fairs) , give free English classes to low-income youth and participate in the Brazilian Youth Parliament and a program of the Chamber of Deputies, among other activities, while dedicating themselves to their studies.
The student managed to extract good results from the heavy routine. “I learned to optimize my time. So, I always tried to use every second of the day productively. I’ve always been a very organized and methodical person: I planned my days the night before and prioritized what had to be done first. I also dedicated myself to extracurricular activities and personal projects, important for the selection processes of American colleges. They were very busy and busy days, but I really liked everything I did. They were enriching and rewarding experiences.”
The approval
Passing Harvard represented mixed emotions for Sofia. She says she was surprised and in disbelief to have passed the most competitive admissions cycle in history. Out of 61,220 applicants, only 1,954 (about 3.19%) were accepted this year. She was also happy to see the realization of years of effort into a result that would transform her entire life from now on. To finish the equation, anxiety and distress contaminated her with the feeling of having to choose between the famous institutions.
Sofia thinks about studying Chemistry and Social Sciences with a focus on Education and Public Health. For her, “in addition to awakening my intellectual curiosity, chemistry can be used to help humanity advance in many areas, especially in the environmental and human health areas.” However, she is open to exploring other areas as she has until the end of her sophomore year to make the decision official.
The young woman sees education as a life-changing mechanism. “Quality education has not only changed my life, but also the lives of many people around me. My father didn’t have the opportunity to finish high school when he was studying because he needed to work to help his family. Almost 30 years later, seeing the positive impact of education on my life, he was inspired to finish his studies through EJA (Youth and Adult Education) and take a technical course.”
Now, preparing to enter North American lands, she wants to understand how she can change educational and political systems so that these opportunities are present for all young people and help them to pierce the bubble of Brazilian social inequality. “No dream is so big that it’s unattainable and, if it hasn’t been conquered by someone in your community, you can try to be the first to realize it. Regardless of the outcome, you will have become a source of inspiration to others by simply having the courage to try.”
*under the supervision of André Rosa
Source: CNN Brasil
