Sofia Santos de Oliveira, 18, a low-income student and scholarship holder at a private school in Belo Horizonte was accepted at three of the most prestigious universities in the world: Harvard, Stanford and Yale.
The young woman, who recently visited the US, decided to attend higher education at Harvard because the institution has more connections with Brazil.
Sofia received a full scholarship, which covers tuition, housing, food, materials and personal expenses. She proved with documents the need to obtain assistance.
Studying abroad was a childhood dream for Sofia. Not even the financial difficulties faced by the family made the young woman give up on the idea.
She says that in the early years of elementary school, she studied at a Sesi (Social Service for Industry) school. She received a scholarship because her father worked in a steel company that had an agreement with the institution.
When she was finishing elementary school, she got to know the Ismart Institute, an NGO that offers scholarships to low-income youth at reputable schools.
Sofia applied for a scholarship and was approved to attend high school at Colégio Santo Antônio, one of the most recognized schools in the capital of Minas Gerais.
"There I realized that I had the conditions to get what I wanted. I continued studying, did the Olympics, research, some online exchanges because of the [Covid] pandemic and many social projects. I always liked to study, so it was a pleasure."
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon