As a freshman entering UMass, the only goal I had in mind was to get good grades in order to go to medical school. I joined a living learning community called BIOTAP where I was able to take smaller science courses to strengthen my skills in lab and create closer relationships with my floormates and professors. This experience allowed me to get some premed courses out of the way, but I was still at a loss for what I wanted to major in. I soon began to miss my Brazilian culture that was a very big part of my high school experience and decided to take a Portuguese course to have more variety in my schedule and learn how to write formally in Portuguese. After that course I decided that studying a language along with my science courses would be an important way in order to continue enjoying my challenging courses and engage with Latin culture.

I decided to major in Spanish and continue Portuguese for fun because I wanted a degree in a language that I was not raised speaking, but also enjoyed taking classes in Portuguese. I soon realized that something was missing. In order to go to medical school, I wanted to have a science exposure, but I also wanted to be well rounded and I decided that majoring in Public Health would be the best way to diversify my courses and learn about various aspects of health care. From the end of freshman year on I took 23 credits each semester and 4 summer classes- 3 of which were during the Salamanca study abroad program- to complete my degree on time, and I am now graduating a semester early with a dual degree in Spanish and Public Health. If I had taken another semester and graduated in 4 years I would have graduated with a triple degree, which requires 180 total credits. Instead, I decided to enter the accelerated master’s program in environmental health science so that I could continue research before applying to medical school. Overall, my courses in Spanish and Portuguese were some of the most enjoyable courses that I have taken, and I made many unforgettable connections with professors who were willing to work with me to help achieve my goals and maximize my college experience.

Brazilian Treats made for a class group project