CA-Brazil: November 2009

Friday, November 20, 2009

Education & Business

This Fall, West Valley College and San Jose State University are hosting five Brazilian students from Universidade Federal de Itajubá and INATEL in Minas Gerais, and FUCAPI in Manaus, Amazonas. Besides attending classes at either WV or SJSU, students have an opportunity to visit various Silicon Valley companies and organizations.

On November 20, students visited Hewlett-Packard Company. Software System Engineer for Business Critical Systems, Ahmad Rostami, gave the group a tour of HP's facilities in Cupertino.

Students had a chance to see the latest laptops and printers and learn about HP's history, founders, culture and how it became one of the largest technology companies in the world. Thanks, Ahmad, for hosting our group!

Comments from past exchange students

“The words such as great, wonderful, marvelous, splendid, awe-inspiring and the likes come in to my mind. The exchange program has and will continue to benefit me indefinitely. Not only have I made life long friendships, but I have in a sense of seen the world. The knowledge of language, culture and economy will of course benefit me in various ways throughout the working years of my life.” Jansher Ashraf, WVC student

“I have to say this is one of the best experiences of my life”. Raymond Cota, SJSU student

“My time in Brazil was one of the most eye opening experiences of my life. I think that I grew more during this time than any other 6 month period. It gave me perspective on my own life, as well as perspective of the world around me.”, Chris Penksa, WVC student

“Being in Brazil for the past four months has been an incredibly enjoyable and enriching experience. My enrollment in UNIFEI and residence in the student “republicas” have allowed me to enter into the educational experience of another culture and country. I have also been involved in a number of other activities such as training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, giving English classes a few days a week and assisting UNIFEI students and other foreigners in a non-profit based internship. Being involved in these activities has made the experience even more worthwhile as I have been allowed a variety of opportunities to become involved with many wonderful people on different levels.

If I would have to attribute the quality of this exchange to one thing, it would have to be the people that I have met in my time here. I have always wondered what make people love Brazil so much and my participation in this exchange was motivated by the urge to discover it first hand. Now that I am here, I realize that it is because of the Brazilians themselves that visitors worldwide love Brazil. Wherever I have gone, inside and outside of Itajubá, I have been receipted with open arms and smiles and made to feel as if I was truly at home.

I have traveled quite a bit for my age and in all the countries I have been to, I have found Brazilians to be the most interested in foreigners and extremely eager to welcome them to their country and make a connection with them. I have met so many people in Itajubá that it has even become impossible to remember everyone’s names. The majority of these people have been happy to go out of their way to help me and offer their assistance.

I believe that this exchange has taught me to open myself and become friendlier to other people regardless of nationality. I have had a great time and am even considering coming back after I graduate to work and live. (..) I would definitely recommend this program to other students interested in learning Portuguese, experiencing other cultures and obtaining a different educational perspective”, Michael Grossman, SJSU student

Friday, November 20, 2009

Education & Business

CA-Brazil

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