Reflections from MHIRT Students: What A Time...

As I approach my final week in Florianopolis, I am able to fully reflect on this experience and its overall impact. Before arriving here, my only knowledge of Brazil was its reputation for having the "largest Black population outside of Africa". My eyes were opened soonafter to the wealth of history, culture, and lessons that this country offers. Brazil is still a developing nation, and like any country, it has its own unique social and political problems. What I have found to be amazing is the level of positivity and determination among the people despite the adverse conditions. Here I am, an American student financially equipped to go out, place R$50 Uber Eats orders, and shop freely from being on the benefiting end of a 1:4 currency conversion ratio. Meanwhile, there are Ph.D students in my lab, working to achieve the highest, most respected level of education possible, who make R$700-R$1000 per month. Depending on the job market and city, many will not make significantly more after they graduate, as several recent pharmacology graduates have gone on to only work at drug stores. Nevertheless, they maintain positive attitudes/outlooks, work tirelessly, and passionately perform their jobs based mostly on pure, personal fulfillment of doing so - a refreshing contrast from the capitalistic, money-driven lifestyle we lead.

Day in and day out, we as Americans preach that education is the "way out”, never considering the fact that in many places people don't even have that promise to hold on to. We have done nothing to deserve the benefits we have. Something as seemingly arbitrary as one’s place of birth can subject them to an entirely different reality from what we have come to know. Realizations like these are the reason I travel. A single interaction with an individual with different experiences or perceptions can completely alter your person’s point of view. Brazil has done, and continues to do, that for me with each passing day.