# Reflections from a Harvard Brazil Office Fellow December 15, 2025 ![luis_mlab](/sites/g/files/omnuum12451/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/2025-12/Captura%20de%20tela%202025-12-15%20163646.png?itok=wPdPe-Vl) Growing up, I never imagined I would one day attend Harvard, let alone work at the Harvard Brazil Office in São Paulo. This path was the culmination of a journey that began with my interest in learning languages. I enrolled in Portuguese class junior year because I wanted to learn to speak the language, but what I gained was far more: the opportunity to study and experience the complex cultural and societal nuances of the largest and most populous country of Latin America—a region I’ve always felt deeply connected to because of my Mexican heritage. I feel profoundly grateful for these experiences, and I attribute much of this journey in large part thanks to the Portuguese Department, Harvard Brazil Office, and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS). My Portuguese language professors—Jaqueline Ristau, Marcia Mendes McLean and Cristiane Soares–helped me develop my language skills and deepen my understanding of Portuguese-speaking communities around the world, along with other Portuguese language students, the undergraduate Brazilian community, and Tiago Genoveze from the Brazil Studies Program. They made it easy to find a home within the Department through classes and language tables—where we played games, made brigadeiros, and became better acquainted with each other and the Portuguese language. At the Harvard Brazil Office, Helena, Tim, Breno, Camilla, Maria and my co-Fellow, Liz, were all instrumental to the quality of my experience with the Fellowship, the Summer Internship Program (SIP) and the Mentorship and Language Acquisition in Brazil (MLAB) program. Participating in these programs as a student helped bring the Portuguese language program to life—giving me both the means to implement what I learned and the motivation to continue developing my abilities. As a staff member, it was a genuine pleasure to show up and engage in interesting, meaningful interdisicplinary work and to share thoughtful conversations over.My coworkers ensured that more than being colleagues at an office, they supported me in everything I needed and showed me that productive work relationships and friendship are not mutually exclusive. More broadly, DRCLAS, provided me the opportunity to deepen my understanding of Latin America through an 8-week remote internship with a non-profit in Argentina, three fascinating weeks exploring Mexico City for the first time during an in-person internship, and three separate international experiences in Brazil—opportunitites that would not have been possible without DRCLAS’s support. ![mlab_luis](/sites/g/files/omnuum12451/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-12/Captura%20de%20tela%202025-12-15%20163021.png?itok=YthPrRSQ) Of all my experiences with Brazil Office programs, the opportunity to engage with MLAB as a participant, and later as an organizer, continues to be the one that stuck with me the most. I will always vouch for how special MLAB is because of its ability to forge meaningful relationships among people who, otherwise, would probably never cross paths. In addition to relationship building, the program places an emphasis on providing participants with unique exposure that they, similarly, would be less likely to experience without MLAB. Some of this exposure occurs organically through interactions between Harvard mentors and Brazilian mentees as they exchange information about their cultures, daily routines, and general knowledge. It is also more intentionally stimulated through activities during the two-week, in-person immersion in São Paulo. Over the past two years, this has included visits to learn about: sustainability efforts at a Natura factory; higher education at the University of São Paulo; African influence and scientific discovery at the Afro Brasil and Butantan Museums; the collection and dissemination of information at a CNN Brasil studio; and various initiatives—involving farming, tailoring, sculpting, and educating—at a community center in Paraisópolis, the largest favela in the state of São Paulo. Helping coordinate student programs was especially rewarding and eye-opening. While I had participated in several DRCLAS programs as a student, it was only through, the administrative side that I truly understood the effort requires to make them run smoothly. Seeing this work first-hand deepened my appreciation for the care and dedication behind these experiences. ![luis_carrie](/sites/g/files/omnuum12451/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-12/Captura%20de%20tela%202025-12-15%20163222.png?itok=wUTxPw-w) In addition to being able to work with students, my role also allowed me to collaborate with scholars from Harvard and Brazil. In August 2024, I supported Professor Steven Levitsky when he travelled to São Paulo to discuss the themes fromin his co-authored book—Tyranny of the Minority. Later that year, I played a larger role in making preparations for Professor Carrie Conaway’s work trip to São Paulo in November 2024, where she led a mini-course on practical implementations of education research for Brazilian professionals across various organizations. The following spring, I contributed to a major project by compiling information to produce a comprehensive report of the [Lemann Brazil Research Fund](https://www.drclas.harvard.edu/10-years-lemann-brazil-research-fund-harvard-university)—detailing more than 60 large-scale, multi-year projects undertaken by more than 250 investigators across 26 Brazilian states. This diversity of experiences—engaging with democracy, education and research in these three projects alone—embodies the breadth of the Brazil Office’s body of work and the variety of learning opportunities it offers its Fellows. Finally, one of the greatest components of the Fellowship was the opportunity to live in Brazil for a year. Every time someone in the U.S. asks me about São Paulo, I tell them it is the Brazilian equivalent of New York City: financial hub; bustling; culturally diverse. It is a city of immigrants—old and new—creating a fusion of identities, and with that, a cohesive blend of traditions, foods, and music. It is abundant with cultural centers, museums, art exhibits, movie theaters, shopping malls, and all types of events. The people share the customary Latin American warmth and a kind openness to foreigners that always made me feel excited to explore this special culture and comfortable to practice my developing Portuguese. Living and working within Brazil enabled me to understand some of the values, perspectives, and customs of Brazilian people and society, and that is something I will always carry with me *beyond* its borders. Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#)