Global Connections - Emily Roth

This was the longest time I have ever spent abroad and being totally immersed for an extended time allowed me to see the global connections that I would not have seen had I only stayed one week. Exploring more than just the touristy parts of the city gave us the ability to see what it was really like as an average person living in Recife. One of the greatest things about studying in Brazil was the ability to interact with and take classes alongside Brazilian engineering students. Through my conversations with the students at the University of Pernambuco, the state university where we studied, I learned many different aspects of the culture in Brazil.

I was very impressed with the Brazilian students, they all knew at least two languages if not more and they immediately wanted to talk about American politics and music. They knew about Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump and wanted to hear our opinions and who we sided with. I found this eye opening because they were concerned with American politics and the outcome of our presidential election when I did not even know the name of their president or all the details of their current political situation. This realization definitely opened my eyes to how globally unaware I was and how much knowledge I lacked when it came to the political situations of other countries. Being aware of other countries’ situations and being able to speak their home language when you visit them is a very important way to connect to others around the world.  

I saw the connectedness when I learned how similar the students were to us. Just like engineering students thousands of miles away at Texas A&M, the Brazilians similarly talked about which professors were the best to take, about the pains of being an engineering student, the internships they hoped to gain, and many of the other day to day things an engineering student would be concerned with at A&M. I enjoyed hearing about one of the girl’s aspiration to earn her Master’s degree and then hopes to obtain her Ph.D. in America. I felt connected knowing that other countries were providing engineering educations to students so that solutions can continually be improved. We saw proof of the improvement engineering had brought to the city of Recife while visiting Porto Digital, one of Brazil’s largest technological parks. We also visited the JEEP Car Plant, a new plant only three years old, and the Port of Suape. These technical visits gave us a better view of how Recife is connecting to several other parts of the world. The JEEP car plant created around 8,000 jobs in the area which was very impressive and connecting individuals in Recife to other company locations around the world. The opportunities we have to work with others in different countries in industry someday are very large. This experience has shown me that there are others around the world working towards the same goal of improving the lives of their citizens and that knowledge connects us all.