“It's somewhat of a crazy path that I took to end up at Yale. I didn't know what I was doing when I decided to apply to US colleges; I had never even gone abroad. I spent 19 years in my native Salvador, Brazil–a city, but nothing compared to something like New York. Everything started when one of my friends showed me a video about MIT, and said she couldn't wait to apply. I didn't want to let her down, so we decided to apply together. I Googled MIT and found Yale's website as a related link, and I quickly became very interested in the liberal arts system. I taught myself how to apply–and had to explain to my teachers and counselors in Brazil everything they needed to do as well. In the meantime, I took a transition semester at a medical school in Sao Paulo–the largest city in Latin America. It was my first time ever out of Salvador. I remember walking around with all my “stuff” in this huge city, trying to figure out where I would live and how I would succeed. To this day, I am so much more mature because of that.
Halfway through med school, I got my acceptance letter from Yale. I could not stop screaming and crying of joy. I actually started jumping on my bed, tried to land on my couch, missed the couch, hurt my foot, and could not walk the next day! My initial plan was to go to a party to celebrate my spot at Yale, but I ended up spending the night in the hospital getting my foot fixed, which, in all honesty, was still the best celebration ever.
After going back home and seeing my family before my trip to New Haven, I tried ignoring the fact that I would have to leave them soon. I actually started freaking out about the fact that I had to live in the U.S. dealing with all the typical insecurities every college kid goes through, I took my first international flight, and cried the whole way. It was a new beginning for me, even if my Mom would not stop calling me. Upon my arrival at JFK, I spent my first day in what is now the city of my dreams. I like to share this story to remind myself how tough it was, and how lucky I am to be here.”
- Seon Augusto Ferreira, our #HumansOfOISS for the week. You are simply wonderful!
