Lizz Herron-Sweet ’09
2006-07
Copacabana and Carnaval, futebol – Ronaldinho, anyone? – and capoeira, Gilberto Gil and Lula, favelas and beaches and the Amazon. What’s not to love about Brazil? I started Portuguese on a whim at the beginning of freshman year at Midd and I found myself thrown not only into the language, but also the culture and history of a country that seduces me more and more every day. Middlebury introduced me to Brazil, and my long-standing interest in Latin America has found focus in this mysterious and rich Portuguese outpost in Latin America. It is this region that I want to study in depth, not just one academic discipline, and the International Studies program serves this purpose exactly. Whether I’m reading “the one hundred best Brazilian short stories of the century” in Portuguese, discussing the colonial founding of Rio de Janeiro by Mem de Sá, or studying torture under the military dictatorship, the mix of perspectives I can get on Latin America contributing to the major will always keep me interested. Hard as it will be to leave Middlebury, I know I’ll be going abroad completely prepared to be a brasileira for a year. It all sounds perfect. The only problem? Once I’m there I may never be able to come back…
Return to Student Profiles Home Page