Living in a new world

A young girl stares at the ground watching it grow smaller and smaller as the plane rises higher into the sky, taking her away from everything she knows. She is moving away from her home in Brazil at the age of 13 to live in America where she is to start over and live a new life.

She was sad she had to leave her family behind and scared because she had no idea how to fit into a place so different from her world.

“I lived in Brazil for 13 years so when I moved to the United States I couldn’t speak English at all,” senior Ester Nascimento said. “The only thing I could say was ‘Hi, my name is Ester.’ I left Brazil because my mom had a job transfer and that gave us the opportunity to move to the United States. I’ve been living in America for five years now and I have enjoyed my experience of America.”

While America offers plenty opportunities of education, the first step for Nascimento when she first moved to the United States was for her to learn English. Now that Nascimento has the opportunity to obtain a higher education she currently strives to get into college so she can pursue her passion of the World Affairs journal to write stories about different people’s lives all across the globe.

“It took me a whole year to fully understand and speak English,” Nascimento said. “America is full of opportunities and honestly you just have to seek out what you want and take it for yourself.”

Nascimento keeps her grades up to further her chances of being accepted into any college of her choosing. Physics teacher Rebecca Delozier had Nascimento in her class during Nascimento’s junior year. After getting to know her Delozier helped Nascimento keep her grades high whenever she needed help. She would stay after school with Nascimento to help her in any of her subjects she was having trouble with.

“She was quiet and stayed mainly to herself while she finished her work,” Delozier said. “After a few weeks though she started to talk more and become more engaged in class. She was a very smart student and would catch on to the lesson very easily. She really didn’t need much help from me to keep her grades good, it’s just mainly her scheduling that needed to be fixed to support all of her studies.”

Delozier isn’t the only one supporting Nascimento through her school year; former student Emily Burkett has been friends with Nascimento since their freshman year of high school and they helped each other with their goals ever since.

“We bonded over the fact she was from Brazil and I have family that lives in Brazil too,” Burkett said. “We became close friends after that and we even shared a few classes together during freshman year. Her hobbies consist mainly in talking with people and getting to know them better. She loves to meet new people and learn more about them and their culture.”

Nascimento had to leave her whole life behind in Brazil when she moved including her family members. She was saddened to leave her older sister behind but she had to make sacrifices to ensure her goals for her future.

“My older sister is still completing college in Brazil and pretty much my whole family except for my parents still live in Brazil like my grandparents, my aunts and uncles,” Nascimento said. “It is cheaper for us to send money to our family in Brazil so they can fly to the United States to visit us.”

Nascimento has enjoyed living in America, learning the culture and making something of herself in her new surroundings by focusing on her education above all things.

“I do plan on actually going to visit [family] in Brazil for the summer,” Nascimento said. “I’m thinking about moving back to Brazil and it will most likely be after I finish college so I can go and support my family and show them what I have accomplished in America.”