An International Student Experience Unfolding into Professional Interests

Authors

  • ISABELA CABRAL FELIX DE SOUSA

Abstract

In 1981, almost forty years ago, I was dreaming of being an international exchange student in the United States. While my father was then very ill, my mother preferred that I did not travel and stayed at home with my family in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. But both my parents ended up allowing me to pursue this dream because they valued cultural exchanges. I took care of all the bureaucratic endeavours to travel. I would not lose an academic year with an experience of six months, I was determined to study and deeply motivated by the few friends and acquaintances who had been international students. Besides, this was not my first move. As a family, we have not only moved from Brasília to Rio de Janeiro, but also lived in Lebanon, Beirut. Yet, I was the first of a family of five children to travel to the United States.

Author Biography

  • ISABELA CABRAL FELIX DE SOUSA

    ISABELA CABRAL FELIX DE SOUSA is a Psychologist from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (1988) and earned a Ph.D. in International / Intercultural Education from the University of Southern California (1995). Currently she works as a researcher at the Joaquim Venâncio Polytechnic School of Health (EPSJV) in a Vocational Program for High School students and as a professor in a graduate program named Teaching, Biosciences and Health at the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC), part of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz). Since 2014 she has coordinated the research group Comparative Studies in Scientific Training. She is also a research associate of the Interdisciplinary Group Migration Studies (NIEM). She has developed research on female empowerment of Brazilian women through reproductive health educational programs, empowerment of Brazilian migrants in Italy, gender awareness and differences in education, scientific training for youth and evaluation of educational programs directed to international students.

    E-mail: isabelacabralfelix@gmail.com

Published

2022-09-04

How to Cite

An International Student Experience Unfolding into Professional Interests. (2022). Comparative & International Education Series, 79-83. https://ojed.org/cies/article/view/5193