São Paulo – Brazilian Rhayssa Braz chose, among ten options for foreign universities, to study in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. She was accepted in the ZUXMinerva admission process, a project created in a partnership between the Zayed University in the UAE, and Minerva, an institution in the United States. Braz will enroll in the first class of the course, which has three fields of study and a program including studies at seven other universities worldwide.
Before being selected for the Arab university, the Brazilian took admission exams for 44 institutions and was accepted in ten. It was in these exams the student was improving and finding more ways to study abroad. “I started to enter this world of opportunities abroad. My training was already in ‘the real thing,’ I was already being evaluated. It was terrific, I started to get rid of the fear of writing, and I learned English that way,” revealed the young student.
During her years of study at public institutions in the municipality of Santos, about 70 kilometers south of the capital of the state of São Paulo, she developed and sought new ways of learning. “I always liked being involved in the school environment. Both to learn and socialize. What drove me to look for an opportunity abroad was that I did not feel like ENEM [the Brazilian standardized public university admission exam] was for me. This was one of the factors that made me apply to universities abroad,” she said. ENEM is the National Secondary Education Exam, which assesses the academic performance of Brazilian students at the end of secondary education, and is currently accepted as a way to enter several higher education institutions.
Educational path
A Brazilian public education student throughout her whole career, Braz is already packing to move to the Middle East this month. To reach her destination, she started crowdfunding for her financial needs. With the amount raised, she hopes to supplement her scholarship, which can range from 65% to 100% but has not yet been defined by the university, and have more stability with the cost of living in the Arab country. To help her, click the contribution link for the Vakinha crowdfunding website.
The young woman was raised by her mother, Silvia Helena dos Santos Braz, and her maternal grandmother, Maria dos Santos. “We are very close, but they know when I focus on something, I know what I want. The only concern they have is financial, but we are enjoying ourselves while I’m still here”, revealed the young student.
The university in the UAE
Thirty students will form the first class of the joint course by the Arab and American universities. Besides Braz, other Brazilians were also selected. Classes are scheduled to start on August 22, and, on average, after every semester in the UAE, students will have a few months of experience in partner institutions in other countries. “At ZUXMinerva, we will have three fields of studies. Business Transformation, aimed at business, Social Innovation, a more cultural part, and IT, the technology and artificial intelligence part. I will, of course, be able to concentrate on what I like the most, but I will study the three.”
Rhayssa already has plans for her future and sees herself doing a Masters in Journalism. “I’ve never even left my state, so this is a really sudden and radical change, but something I need. Even to be able to overcome the hardships I went through in life. I think the UAE, and the opportunity to go through seven more countries, will be that in my life. It’s not that I think it will be perfect, but that’s precisely why I want it. I want to get out of this reality in which I stayed for so long to be able to understand and in the future tell stories that need to be told and are hidden out there,” she revealed.
Does she have a message for other young Brazilians? “I would like to tell my story precisely because of our reality. Sometimes, we don’t even feel like taking ENEM or getting FIES [student loans program] or PROUNI [scolarship program]. I want to bring this new option to people like me. I applied without mentoring, without extra courses, I had to search for information just ‘googling,’ without much extra support. I want to leave a message that we can do it! We can go beyond,” she concluded.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
