I did not grow up knowing how the college admissions game worked. Nobody sat me down in middle school and explained that certain extracurriculars “look better,” that leadership titles matter, or that some students spend years strategically building resumes for top universities. I honestly thought if I worked hard, got good grades, and stayed involved, things would work out. Then junior year hit, and I realized I was late to the game. I remember hearing other students casually talk about AP classes, internships, research opportunities, SAT tutors, and building a “spike” for college applications. Meanwhile, I had spent most of high school doing things I genuinely loved instead of things I thought admissions officers wanted to see. I was performing in theater productions, singing in audition-only music groups, volunteering, working historical tours at the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery and at a restaurant, and helping my family whenever I could. Many times I worried that maybe I had done high school wrong. Being first-generation means learning the college process while already going through it. FAFSA looked like another language the first time my mom and I opened it. I had no idea what demonstrated interest was, how recommendation letters worked, or why everyone seemed to know what “early decision” meant except me. A lot of the process felt like trying to join a conversation that started years before I arrived. At the same time, I was balancing school with chronic health issues. Not dramatic movie-style hospital scenes, just real life: doctor appointments, treatments, bloodwork, and days where I had to push through exhaustion and still show up for class, rehearsals, work, or leadership responsibilities. I learned quickly that life does not pause when things get difficult. You adapt, figure it out, and keep moving. Even though I felt behind sometimes, I kept working. I studied for the SAT without expensive prep programs, stayed involved in the activities that mattered to me, became president of my school’s Fair Trade Club, and continued pursuing music and service because they genuinely shaped who I am. Somewhere along the way, I stopped trying to build the “perfect” application and started focusing on being a real person with real passions. That is why getting accepted to Wake Forest University meant everything to me. When I got the acceptance, my mom and I cried for almost three straight hours. Not polite little tears — full crying. Because in that moment, we both understood what it meant. It meant that all the confusion, all the late nights, all the moments of feeling behind, and all the sacrifices were worth something. For my family, college is not just another step after high school. It is something completely new. It is hope, opportunity, and honestly a little terrifying too. The truth is, I still do not fully know how we are going to pay for college. But I do know this: my family and I are willing to sacrifice, work tirelessly, and do whatever it takes to make this opportunity possible. In college, I plan to pursue the pre-med track because my experiences as a patient showed me how much compassion matters in healthcare. Long term, I want to become a physician who makes people feel heard and respected, especially patients who feel overlooked or intimidated by the medical system. Being first-generation has taught me that sometimes you need to walk into rooms without knowing all the rules. But it has also taught me how to learn fast and work hard. Honestly, I think that mindset will take me further than having the “perfect” roadmap ever could.

When people think about sustainability, they usually picture recycling bins, electric cars, or saving the rainforest. For me, sustainability became personal through my work with Fair Trade and later through my trip to Ecuador, where I saw how connected environmental issues are to everyday people’s lives. Before traveling to Ecuador, I was already heavily involved in Fair Trade work and volunteering in my community. I became passionate about Fair Trade because it focuses on something people often forget when talking about sustainability: the people behind the products we use every day. Fair Trade supports farmers and workers by making sure they are paid fairly, treated ethically, and able to work in safe conditions while also encouraging environmentally responsible practices. To me, sustainability is not just about protecting the environment. You cannot have a healthy planet if the people living on it are being ignored in the process. Because of that belief, I became president of my school’s Fair Trade Club and started helping work toward certifying our school as a Fair Trade School. Through events and conversations with students, I realized how many people simply never think about where their coffee, chocolate, or clothing comes from. Once people understand the impact of their choices, many of them genuinely want to do better. That showed me how important education and awareness really are. In February 2025, I traveled to Ecuador for a sustainability and service field experience. For about ten days, I worked alongside Indigenous communities on Amazon reforestation efforts and learned directly from people whose lives are closely connected to the environment around them. We planted trees, learned about conservation, and saw how deforestation affects communities in real life. That trip made everything I had learned through Fair Trade feel real. I realized environmental problems are never just about the environment. They affect health, food systems, jobs, and entire communities. It also showed me that sustainability cannot just be a slogan companies use to look good. Real sustainability means creating systems where both people and the environment can succeed long-term. Working at Brazilian Table also helped shape my perspective. I had conversations with customers about coffee sourcing, ethical products, and sustainability more often than I expected. Those conversations showed me that people care once they understand the bigger picture. In the future, I hope to continue working in environmental sustainability, public health, or community advocacy to help create practical solutions that improve both environmental and human well-being. I want sustainability to feel realistic and accessible, not something only talked about in textbooks or corporate campaigns. Whether through environmental science, healthcare, education, or nonprofit work, I want my future career to focus on helping communities build healthier and more sustainable systems. My experiences with Fair Trade and Ecuador taught me that even small actions can create ripple effects. A school club, a conversation, or a reforestation project may seem small on their own, but those actions build awareness, and awareness leads to change. I hope my future work helps create a world where sustainability is not just an idea, but something people can actually experience in their daily lives.

I didn’t really grow into confidence in a classroom—it happened out in the real world. At fourteen, I was giving tours at the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery, standing in front of groups of strangers, telling stories, answering questions on the spot, and just learning how to think on my feet. At the same time, I was also spending long hours in professional theater, performing, rehearsing, and learning how to stay calm under pressure even when things didn’t go perfectly. Between those two worlds, I slowly learned how to speak up, carry myself with confidence, and not freeze when all eyes were on me. I grew up in an immigrant family from Brazil, and that’s really shaped everything about me. My parents came here with basically nothing, just a lot of hope and a lot of hustle. They had to learn a new language, adapt to a whole different life, and work nonstop to build something for us. Watching that growing up made me realize early on—nothing is just “given” to you. You’ve must go get it. Being a first-gen, low-income student meant I had to figure out a lot on my own. College stuff, applications, financial aid, all of it—I was learning as I went. No one was sitting me down explaining it step by step. It was more like Google, asking questions, messing up, fixing it, and repeating. It wasn’t always easy, but it made me independent real quick. Something that really stuck with me is Fair Trade. I’m actually president of my school’s Fair Trade Club, and through that I learned how it helps farmers and workers in developing countries get fair pay, safer working conditions, and support for their communities. Coming from a Brazilian family, that hit different for me. I understand what it looks like when opportunities are limited and people are just trying to make it work. What really got me was learning how Fair Trade actually helps kids stay in school. Like, the money from Fair Trade can go into school supplies, scholarships, clean water, healthcare, all of that. Stuff that seems basic to some people, but changes everything for a kid somewhere else. That made me realize even small choices can actually matter. On top of that, I’ve also put in over 800 hours a year working in professional theater. That experience taught me discipline, confidence, and how to stay calm when things get stressful. You learn quickly how to show up, do your job, and work with a team no matter what. In the future, I want to go into medicine. I want to be that person who actually makes things easier for people, especially immigrant families who feel lost in the system. I know what that feels like, and I don’t want others to go through it alone. At the end of the day, growing up in an immigrant family is still teaching me resilience, gratitude, and compassion. Everything I’ve done—Fair Trade, theater, school, all of it—just keeps building on that. And I know that’s what I’m bringing with me into college and whatever I do next.

I am the founder and president of Team Toucan You Can the club at my school that is working to certify my school as fair trade. When I first initiated this project my sophomore year, I was meeting regularly with teachers, administrators, and even school board members. At first, I was often met with polite smiles and hesitant responses. I could see that in their heads they had doubts regarding the success that would come from my endeavors especially given I was the sole student working towards it. My vision was for a more sustainable community that began with a root in our very own high school. I wanted to do so, through the lens of fair trade, This meant that I would encourage the education and application of sustainability practices, as well as ethical sourcing. In the beginning, I had no advisor and no team. I was just a student wanting to be the start of something. Eventually, I went on to meet other students who found a passion for the same kinds of changes within our school and the greater community. I was able to build a strong team of various perspectives coming from all parts of the school community. Together, our perspectives combined to create a solidified foundation for our project and strong persuasion that allowed us to get it approved by the board. As a teenager and a mere student, people doubted my capabilities and thought certification to be far too great of an undertaking. This showed me the power of a community. When more than one student comes together to make a stance for change, there will always be results, even if they are small. Instead of stepping back and accepting defeat I pushed even harder because I knew going into it that it would not be an easy process. I have continued to lead my team through meeting after meeting being met with the same hesitant gazes; however, those gazes have begun to shift. They meet us with more confidence and knowledge of our capabilities. We have won the people over and instilled influence within them. We now participate in many local community events, school events, we host events, teach all the AP Human Geography courses and IB Economics courses a full period lesson, and we are even on the cusp of publishing a children’s book that will reach an even younger generation of people who will grow with the ideas we hope to instill. Recently, we were awarded 5th place globally in the CAS (Creativity, Activity, and Service) Challenge out of hundreds of entries. I am proud to have been at the head of this change in my community. Despite resistance at first, I persevered with the help of my community. Not just my team mates, but the teachers, administrators, and even local businesses that have given their support to our project. These experiences have taught me that it truly does “take a village”.