Autobiography

I was born in July, 16, 1977 in Floresta, PE, Brazil. I am the youngest in my family; I have two brothers and two sisters that are all living in Brazil. I lived my whole life there and moved to Niles, MI in The United States in the end of 2007 where I currently live. I am married to an American citizen, but I do not have kids. In fact, my marriage was the reason why I moved to The United States.

I am a blessed person, who had the chance to grow up in a small town and make many friends throughout my life. I also have a good family that worked hard in all aspects to help me become who I am. I grew up in a Christian family, we were all Catholics for a while, but later my mom, my sisters and I started attending a Baptist Church. I was still attending it when I left Brazil. I don’t consider myself a religious person nowadays; in fact, right now I attend a church without denomination, but I still love Jesus and uphold my Christian beliefs. 

My parents encouraged me to be a good person and an honest woman. They have always worked hard, it was hard being away from them for so many hours, especially from my mom, but now I understand the sacrifice they made to teach her kids how to become good human beings.

Throughout my journey in The United States I have learned a lot, especially how to respect the cultural diversities. I have also made some trips inside and outside of The United States, which gave me a better understanding of the world. Attending Andrews University was a great opportunity to interact with different cultures, races and to embrace diversity as well.

The companies I worked for where fulfilled with immigrants. It was a challenge for me to interact with people from all parts of the world in the beginning because it is not a common experience for people who live in Brazil. I loved the experience of working and interacting with people from all over the world with different backgrounds. After all, I realized this experience was a preparation for what God has prepared for me, because he knows my desire to work as a student affairs practitioner, so I must be prepared to engage with student from all sorts of background and celebrate diversity on campus environment.

During my college degree at Federal University of Pernambuco I used to be a professor assistant. The professor I was assisting is originally from Belgium but was teaching Anthropoly of Education in Brazil. It was a great experience for me because we studied customs and beliefs of humankind and the cultural development of groups in order to better serve the students and professors on campus and the teachers in schools.

Still, I worked during my college degree interviewing people. I did all sorts of surveys and later I began to supervise the interviewers. We traveled in many different states of Brazil, which gave me the chance to see different peoples, different worldviews, and different answers for our questions. Then I realized that I did not have the truth, I guess nobody has.

I was approved to become a public teacher in Recife , I was supposed to be an elementary school teacher, however, in the meantime I decided going back to my home town, because I was looking for a different life style that small towns offer. I couldn’t handle the busy life of Recife anymore. Then I started working as a supervisor in a supermarket and stayed in the same position for about 5 years. It was a challenge for me because I learned a lot about leadership when I was pursuing my bachelor's degree. In my understanding a leader is someone who motivates a team, who finds the best ways to solve conflicts, who is willing to listen from staff, but to avoid conflicts with my boss; I couldn’t put in practice everything I wanted. My boss did not study, did not learn anything about the importance of the employees’ wellbeing, so he pushed me so much to be a tough boss because he did not want to empower employees. It was frustrating for me many times because I learned a different approach of leadership from people, who value the dialogue in the workplace, unfortunately I couldn’t do much, but at least I kept trying. 

In The United States I worked as a Program Counselor, I assisted people with all sorts of disabilities, helping them develop their skills and helping them discover their own talents. I also worked in an Assisted Living called Woodland Terrace. There I had the opportunity to learn a lot from elderly people, from Alzheimer’s patients, from people that were living a lonely life, but the best of all was the fact that I met a retired couple who lives there, both of them used to be professors at Andrews University and because of them I found out about this institution. The way God works really amazes me.

It was so hard to attend Andrews, for a while I wanted to give up because of some challenges that I had to face during my first year in school, but because of God’s grace I overcame those challenges. I am about to graduate and it is not a dream that came true, because I had never planned moving to US, but as a believer I know that God brought me here and he will help me find my way, so I can become the professional I want to be.

During the time I lived in Brazil I never learned anything about student affairs. Before I finished my bachelor in Pedagogy I studied Psychology in a different University for a short period. I did not go through with Psychology because my professors did not inspire me, most of them actually did not know how to develop a relationship with students, so I gave up. However, when I heard about student affairs in The United States I felt the desire to work with students, especially with freshman, helping them in their transition, giving international students the support they need and helping them find meaning to their lives. I guess I should have finished my Psychology degree, but I don’t regret not finishing it. 

I am willing to learn from others and looking forward to face all challenges that life may bring to my personal and professional paths, always believing that God is by my side and that through Him everything is possible.

Autobiography PDF

Personal Photos


1. My Family

2. The day that I took my test to become an American citizen 06/28/2011.  I decided to celebrate the fact that I was able to embrace a second naturalization and second culture.