Resource KT
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Classify: 2020
Hometown: Anapolis, Brazil and San Francisco Bay Area
Fun fact about yourself: As a child, I was a very bad Super Mario player, so much so that my brother handed me an unplugged remote control (I quickly understood). I’m happy to report that after graduating from Darden I beat the game.
Undergraduate and major school: UC Berkeley, Chemical Engineering
Most recent employer and job title:
Pre-Darden: I was working as an operations supervisor at ChemTrade Logistics, a sulfuric acid plant.
Post-Darden: I am currently working as a project manager for Facebook.
What did your parents do for a living? Both my parents clean the houses.
What was the highest level of education your mother and father achieved? Both of my parents graduated from high school in Brazil.
Which family member or mentor is your greatest inspiration or role model? Why? Probably my maternal grandmother. She is one of the eleven. She was elated when she graduated from elementary school. She then found out that her student days were over and she would start working because her family couldn’t afford to send the 11 children to school, so none of them would go. That same day, she tore up her elementary school diploma.
She eventually had a very successful career as a car saleswoman and was the support of her family. Her financial independence allowed her to walk away from a dysfunctional marriage – a lesson I will never forget.
When did you decide to pursue higher education? I would have liked to know so that I could recreate this moment for others. I think it was a combination of three factors:
1) During the summers in high school, instead of visiting colleges or taking SAT classes, I went to work with my mom to clean houses. These were often huge houses in San Francisco, and most had walls decorated with multiple degrees, many of which were MBAs. So I started to associate greater life opportunities with education from an early age.
2) By nature, I like challenges. If you tell me that I can’t do something, I will work harder to achieve it. Growing up, my mom and I spent more time designing my wedding dress than talking about college or careers. I was raised to be a wife and a mother. And I quickly noticed that the rules I had to follow were different from my brother’s. So I chose to challenge everyone’s preconceived ideas, and to realize my own expectations.
3) Luck. Even though our family had our fair share of obstacles (when we first arrived in the US I was one of ten people in a 2 bedroom / 1 bathroom apartment), I didn’t never had to worry about my next meal or where I would sleep. night. My parents had the courage to come to a country they knew nothing about and spoke a language they did not speak so that they could give my brother and I more opportunities. I didn’t choose that. They chose it for me. No matter how many “moments” arise, if I hadn’t been born to my parents, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
What was your biggest worry before going for your undergraduate degree? Pay for it. Due to my immigrant status at the time, I was not eligible for scholarships, student loans, or work. My registration has been blocked several times due to late payments.
What was the hardest part of getting your undergraduate degree? All.
Berkeley engineering was a whole different ball game. I graduated from high school with a GPA of 4.2 and did well on the SAT without any help. In Berkeley, you’re thrown in the deep end – and you sink or swim. It turns out that a lot of my classmates had buoys, while others had swam their entire lives or had a personal lifeguard.
Living at home was the only way I could afford Berkeley, so I commuted by public transport which took a long time in my day. And the house wasn’t exactly the best environment for a student. One day, as I was coming home from the organic chemistry lab, I witnessed a shooting outside our home. I was then called as a witness in court for the trial. I remember getting my first F, in a multivariate calculus quiz, and I cried from Evans Hall to Tolman Hall where I had my next class. I got a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from UC Berkeley because I saw my obstacles and failures as opportunities to prove myself.
I cannot stress enough the importance of having programs in place for students who do not have much support outside of school. A few programs that helped me at Berkeley were the Multicultural Engineering Program and the Professional Development Program, led by Cal alumnus Hugo Ramirez. In these programs, I was able to find a smaller community of people with similar backgrounds to mine in a school of over 30,000 undergraduates.
What has your family not understood about the higher education experience that you wish they understood better? It’s not just about putting your head down and getting the job done.
There are a lot of nuances and networking involved in being successful. It’s not just about school, there are also so many extracurricular activities and social events where attendance may not be required but expected. It was hard for my family to figure out that I was not partying when I attended four networking events in one week. The work does not end at the end of the course. It is also difficult for them to accept that following the opportunity sometimes means spending time away from family. To say that my father was adamantly against my leaving to pursue my MBA is an understatement. But he was still proud once I graduated and realized all the doors that an MBA can open.
What prompted you to do an MBA? I wanted to continue building my professional career and saw the MBA as a way to access new opportunities. I also wanted to complete my experience to have more impact wherever I go.
My undergraduate experience allowed me to acquire technical skills. However, this does not always translate into effective leadership, so I decided to pursue my MBA. I also believe that the more I accomplish, the greater the influence and reach I can have in communities and people close to my heart.
How did you choose your MBA program? I had a few priorities when choosing an MBA: I wanted to follow a program that was consistently ranked in the top 20 at all levels, I wanted a tight-knit community and I wanted to work on my soft skills.
After experiencing what it’s like to be part of a large school, I wanted to be a student in a school where I recognized everyone’s face. Darden’s case study method and the required core and learning team create a collaborative environment that teaches you to think on your feet and articulate your ideas and reasoning eloquently and effectively through practice. In essence, it mimics the corporate world the best and teaches you the emotional intelligence you need to be an impactful leader. I’m glad Darden ticked all three boxes. A bonus: the teachers are really as good and accessible as they say! Believe the hype.
What was your biggest worry before starting your MBA? I was scared to make friends and to know if there would be someone I could relate to.
How were you able to finance your MBA as a first generation student? I was fortunate enough to receive a full merit-based scholarship from the Darden Foundation, for which I am extremely grateful. Dean Beardsley has devoted a lot of energy during his tenure to increasing scholarship funds because he knows that having an affordable education increases the diversity of the student body. So, it can create a richer experience for all students, which allows them to take bigger risks like starting a business. Affordable education is especially important for students who lack a safety net, like most first-generation students.
What advice would you have for other first generation students? CARRY ON. It will be hard. You will often be the only one at school and at work. And when you get home, you will also be the only one. You will feel lonely. You will have the unique experience of not belonging to any world and of belonging to both worlds at the same time. You will not feel included in either of the two worlds. You will have to work harder than your peers. The list of obstacles can seem endless. But someone has to be first, and you have the option of making sure someone is you.
What do you plan to pursue after graduation? I started working at Facebook in July as a project manager in the community operations team. I believe the technology we build is amoral, and we are all called to the challenge of using it to do good. Our platform gives people the power to create a group called “Empowering First Generation College Students” (currently at 4.7,000 members!) So that students can connect and not feel alone on their way to Higher Education. Meeting other successful people like you helps you see what is possible for yourself. My job is to make sure our communities are safe so people can come together and do what they do best!
I also look forward to using my location to connect with people and build communities offline. Facebook partners with various organizations that connect the early career talents of underrepresented local communities with roles at Facebook and teach them the new skills needed to be successful at companies like Facebook.
DO NOT MISS : FIRST GENERATION MBAS 2020: BOLD, BRILLIANT AND FULL-CURRENT
