Last Week at Rotary - January 26, 2023

Maria Eduarda Corsini Liz (Liz) is our exchange student from Brazil. She is from Três Corações in the state of Minas Gerais. This is an area with beautiful lakes, rivers, and waterfalls. It is also the hometown of the soccer star Pele and there is a Pele Museum there. Liz lives there with her mom, dad, grandma, and 2 dogs. She misses them all, especially the dogs. While Liz is here, her parents are hosting a Rotary Youth Exchange student from India. She got to meet him briefly before she left Brazil.

 

Liz reminded us that the land area of Brazil is larger than the continental United States. She showed us a picture of one of her favorite foods, a kind of cheese roll. They are eaten at any time of the day but particularly at the afternoon meal, which is eaten between lunch and dinner.

 

She thinks that the US schools are not as rigorous as Brazilian ones and was surprised that the US students get to select their classes. At her school in Brazil, she studies 15 different subjects every semester. The students have school uniforms and there are about 30 students in a graduating class. This class size is typical for schools in her area.

 

She loves to paint pictures as a hobby. During the pandemic she and her dad painted a mural of animals on a wall of her bedroom. She also enjoys festivals and, of course, carnival is the biggest festival in Brazil.

 

She is very dedicated to volunteer work and would like to continue by pursuing political science as a career. She is a member of the Latin American Leadership Academy, which is made up of young people throughout South America. They met virtually during the pandemic, but will begin meeting in person in different countries this year. Liz is a member of the Youth Parliament of her state which drafts proposed legislation and presents it to the state legislature. The last law that they worked on proposed changes to mental health treatment. She also volunteers with a local group that prepares and distributes food to local families. October 12 is Children's Day in Brazil and this organization hosted a party for the children they serve.

 

Here in Holland, she attends Holland High School and is taking some AP classes. She played on the volleyball team at Holland High. Her 18th birthday was after she arrived in the US, so she got to celebrate it here. There is no snow or ice in her area of Brazil and that has been a new experience. She tried to learn ice skating with the exchange students. That didn't go so well! However, she accomplished a life goal when she went to NYC and saw Funny Girl on Broadway.

 

After she finishes her exchange year, she will either go back to Brazil and study for the college exam or apply to colleges in the United States.