August marks one year since students from the Brazil Scientific Mobility Program (BSMP) arrived on campus. Run by the Institute of International Education and supported by the Brazilian government, BSMP places top-achieving junior and senior students pursuing STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) at U.S. colleges and universities to gain global experience, improve their language skills, and increase international dialogue in science and technology.

The Fordham cohort—Aryadne Guardieiro Pereira Rezende, Tulio Aimola, Caio Batista de Melo, and Dicksson Rammon Oliveira de Almeida—have spent the year studying and researching alongside Fordham students and faculty.

“Fordham is a wonderful university. It teaches you to grow not just as a professional, but also as a person. I loved my semesters there,” said Guardieiro, a computer science major from Uberlandia, Minas Gerais.

Guardieiro worked with Damian Lyons, PhD, professor of computer and information science, on the use of drones to hunt and kill Aedes aegypti mosquitos, which spread diseases such as dengue and Zika virus, both of which are significant problems in Brazil.

“Different fields were available to research here,” said Batista de Melo, a computer science major from Brazil’s capital, Brasília. Batista de Melo researched with Frank Hsu, PhD, the Clavius Distinguished Professor of Science and Professor of Computer and Information Science, in Fordham’s Laboratory of Informatics and Data Mining.

“Our project used IBM’s Watson, which might not have been possible to use in Brazil, since it is such a new technology.”

The program has benefitted both Fordham and Brazilian students alike, said Carla Romney, DSc, associate dean for STEM and pre-health education, who oversaw BSMP at Fordham. Because it’s difficult for science students to devote a full semester to travel, the experience served as a sort of “reverse study abroad” for Fordham students.

“Having international students in the classroom has been an amazing internationalization experience for Fordham students, too,” Romney said. “It brings a different atmosphere into the classroom when you have students with widely divergent viewpoints and experiences. You get to know other cultures, other worlds.”

BSMP students complete two semesters of academic study at an American institution, followed by a summer of experiential learning in the form of internships, research, volunteering, or other types of “academic training.”

Earlier this summer, the four were joined by an additional 17 BSMP students who had been at other American colleges and universities and who took up residence at Fordham to undertake internships and positions at various New York City companies and organizations.

The experience was challenging both academically as well as personally, said Oliveira, a computer science major from Recife, Pernambuco who researched smartwatch applications in the Wireless Sensor and Data Mining (WISDM) lab with Gary Weiss, PhD, associate professor of computer and information science.

“The cultural shock was really unexpected, and for several months it made me feel uneasy,” Oliveira said. “Over time, I learned to overcome it. Being from a predominantly tropical country, I considered the winter to be the greatest challenge of all.”

In addition to culture shock, there was the inevitable loneliness, which Guardieiro said she felt deeply at times. However, she felt supported by her academic adviser and fellow students, and eventually came to love her newfound independence.

“I learned to never lose an opportunity to do what I needed or wanted to just because I did not have company to do so,” she said. “I learned to expose myself to new—and not always comfortable—experiences, and I was amazed with the results I got. I took dancing classes with great teachers, visited places like Wall Street companies and all kinds of museums, and visited many states by myself.”

The Brazilian government recently put a one-year moratorium on the scholarship exchange program, but Romney said Fordham would continue its partnership with the program when it resumes.

When it does, Guardieiro has advice ready for future Fordham-BSMP students:

“Don’t be afraid to do everything you want to… This kind of experience is given to us to learn as much as we can.”

That snapshot will be forever etched in the minds of four young college students who arrived at Fordham by way of Brazil in August to pursue a one-year scholarship exchange program administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE).

This year marks the first that Fordham University is participating in the Brazil Scientific Mobility Program (BSMP), which sends students pursuing the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields to colleges and universities across the United States for one year of study.

The initiative is part of the Brazilian government’s effort to grant top-achieving students the opportunity to gain global experience, improve language skills, and increase international dialogue in science and technology.

“Brazil realizes that it’s vital to invest in sending students overseas,” said Maura Mast, PhD., dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill. “This is a fantastic opportunity to tap into a new group of STEM students and add to our current students’ experience, letting us diversify in ways that will benefit all.”

Internationalization is a passion for Mast, who assumed her role as dean this August. Study abroad experiences, “have to be more than just ‘academic tourism,’” she said. “How do we prepare students when they graduate to be at home in the world?”

Mast and Carla Romney, associate dean for STEM and pre-health education, believe that BSMP does just that. They hope to grow Fordham’s partnership with Brazil each year, because, Romney said, “it’s a wonderful way to globalize our classrooms. It not only benefits incoming students, but it’s like a reverse study-abroad experience for Fordham students as well.”

Three of the four students comprising Fordham’s first cohort are computer science majors, and one is pursuing chemistry. All are junior- or senior-level students who will return to Brazil to complete their degrees.

Since arriving on Aug. 25, the students—who became acquainted on Facebook before they met in person on campus—have been immersed in Fordham’s global transition orientation, meeting other students over pizza, learning the lay of the land at Rose Hill on scavenger hunts, cycling in Central Park, and strolling through Times Square. Their weekend plans included trips to Coney Island and Chinatown.

“I’m looking forward to watching football—my football,” said Caio Batista de Melo, 21, from Universidade de Brasilia. He is focusing on the area of data mining and is excited to take the Bits and Bots course at Fordham in which he’ll explore robotics. There’s no doubt he will have plenty of opportunities to play soccer on campus, too.

Not only have the students left their country, but, as commuter students at home, three left their families for the first time.

Aryadne Guardieiro Pereira Rezende, 22, who attends Universidade Federal de Uberlandia, said that while she’ll miss her older brother, she is excited about her first-ever year away from home, and feels that Fordham is the right fit for her.

“Fordham not only gives students knowledge, but the values to learn how to use that knowledge,” she said, adding that she hopes her experience here will help her decide whether to apply her computer science background to a career in academia or business.

One of six children, Dicksson Rammon Oliveira de Almeida, 21, works while studying at the Universidade Federal del Pernambuco. He said he was worried about not being able to contribute to his family while abroad. “But being here will make it possible for me to contribute more later on,” he said, noting he hopes to work as a developer for a start-up firm in the future.

Tulio Aimola, 22, from Sao Paulo, had already left home to study at Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos—though he is grateful for “Skype, texting, and e-mail, which makes it much easier to stay in touch,” he said. Like his peers, he expressed gratitude for the warm welcome they’ve received in the short time they’ve been at Fordham.

The cohort will reside at the Lincoln Center campus, enjoying the camaraderie of studying science and technology with their U.S. counterparts while taking in the rich culture of New York City.

–Claire Curry