1. During my STEP signature project I learned so many different things about Brazil. I learned about Brazilian history, Brazilian economics and the Brazilian culture before my very eyes.
2. I learned so much during my STEP experience. I learned about Brazil, realized more about the United States and also learned a ton about myself. When I first went to Brazil I didn’t realize there were different systems of running education systems besides the United States way. I also didn’t realize how many Afro Brazilian people there were in Brazil. Lastly I realized how much of a poverty gap there was between the rich and the poor in Brazil. These things really transformed my way of thinking about how I live my life in the United States. I more specifically learned how the United States government is run compared to the Brazilian government and how I go about the every day tasks in my life compared to Brazilians.
3. Two key aspects that really lead to my overall transformation took place in Bahia, Brazil. The third aspect came in São Paulo, Brazil. The first was one day when we were all swimming in the ocean and relaxing on the beach. One of my friends came out of the ocean in a lot of pain. He accidentally stepped on a sea urchin. Luckily there was a Brazilian man on the beach selling souvenirs and he had a pair of pliers on him for a situation just like this. He then proceeded to take all the sea urchin spikes out of my friend’s foot. This really transformed my way of thinking about cultures outside of the United States. It was cool to see a stranger that my friend had never met before help so nicely in an urgent situation.
Like I mentioned above the second aspect that led to my overall transformation also took place in Bahia, Brazil when my study abroad group saw a favela. It was so crazy to see such a different way of life outside of where we were staying in Bahia. It really transformed my way of noticing how impoverished people in Brazil are treated. As we entered the favela our tour guide acted as if we were entering a zoo with people that were on a lower level than us. It transformed my way of thinking about those who are less fortunate. After going through this tour I immediately thought of how I thought of homeless people and less fortunate people in the United States are treated and tried to change any discrimination I had.
The last main aspect that affected my overall transformation was just seeing the city of São Paulo. I can’t focus on one specific moment because really everything in the city lead to a lot of my transformation experience. I didn’t even know there was another city in the world that even compared to New York City but this city definitely did. It transformed the way that I now think about other countries because now I realize that there really are other cities in the world that compare to New York with a different culture.
4. Even though my overall transformation came from many different areas and it lead to a very unique transformation I do believe that this was a very important experience to have. Without going on this trip through STEP I would have totally missed out on seeing my first South American country. Through this experience I now have a new outlook on life. I will be able to bring this outlook into a business when I begin working. Lastly, It is my goal to do an exchange in Brazil or maybe even live there someday. In conclusion, this experience will help with my goal of bringing new ideas and thoughts into the workplace and maybe one day I will bring the American culture into a Brazilian business.