My name is Natália Juliano, I am an incoming freshman at Lewis & Clark College. I was born and raised in Mafra, a city of 50,000 inhabitants in the countryside of Santa Catarina, Brazil. For many years, I felt alienated from my hometown and longed to achieve my freedom as a global citizen. At 18, after five rejections from exchange programs abroad, I felt hopeless as I graduated from high school and started my first full-time job. Good news finally arrived in the
first semester of 2022: I was awarded a scholarship to pursue the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program at the United World College in Mostar. I moved to Bosnia-Herzegovina and the journey of becoming the person I have always aspired to be began.
During those two years, I lived alongside peers from 72 different countries, forming an international community of friends who taught me more about cosmopolitanism than any book could. Being in Europe ignited my thirst for empirical knowledge, leading me to volunteer in France, Belgium, and Luxembourg during school breaks. Additionally, I discovered the beauty of
linguistic diversity, dedicating my free time to developing my Spanish and French. My exploration of Global Politics and Economics as Higher Level subjects, combined with my extracurricular involvement in the Global Awareness Team, deepened my interest in International Affairs, which I now aim to pursue as my major at Lewis and Clark.
Community work has always been a significant part of my identity, even back in Brazil. I am a proud alum of the Latin American Leadership Academy and had the opportunity to apply my skills by founding a new student union supporting low-income and first-generation students at UWCiM. Outside of school, the post-conflict context of Bosnia-Herzegovina, combined with my role as a vocalist in the Mostar Rock School, inspired me to organize Integration Jam Sessions.
Welcoming local youth and international students to participate in artistic performances, the sessions promoted diversity and inclusion. Equity is a value that is important both to me and to Lewis and Clark, which significantly influenced my decision to spend the next years in Portland.
I am excited to step out of my comfort zone once again by moving to the United States, aiming to further develop my academic and personal competencies during my university years. I plan to pursue a minor in Philosophy to enhance my critical thinking skills and achieve intellectual independence as an adult. Believing in the fundamental importance of real-world practice, I intend to take full advantage of the internship opportunities offered by Lewis and Clark to qualify myself as a professional capable of participating (and, hopefully, impacting) effectively in the
international system.