My name is Anna Paula I’m a 20 years old Brazilian girl, a student, currently at the 3th year of Business administration at Federal University of São Paulo (BR), who had this incredible opportunity to come to Canada to work with Dr. Francine Schlosser and her team at the University of Windsor EPICenter.

To come to Windsor, I took the airplane and it was a very long trip. Spending 12 hours sitting on a plane was hard but it was totally worth it! I also did 2 connections one from Chile to Toronto and another one from Toronto to Windsor. Once I was on Canadian soil, my adventure had begun. I didn’t know where should I go next and who to talk to, I was afraid that people wouldn’t understand me because English is my second language and I have an accent, but fortunately, they did understand me and it was easier to find my way than I thought it would be!

During my first days in a foreign country, I had some hard times. everything was new and I didn’t know much about the city, but everything went well. I’ve met a lot of good people, they’ve helped me a lot by showing me the place and where to go and where I should avoid. They’re making make me feel so welcome and when you are new somewhere this really makes a difference.

Windsor is a good place to go if you want to see different cultures, as a Brazilian, I am learning a lot of the Canadian culture which already is very different than mine, but I also am learning a lot about Indian and Chinese culture too. So, this isn’t just a great opportunity to work and improve my skills and English, it is also a great cultural exchange experience.

I’m delighted to say that EPICentre is a wonderful place to spend my time! I’ve never seen a place so organized and welcome as this, we have big spaces to work, where people always are talking and discussing new projects and always are willing to help you with everything. It’s a place that encourages the entrepreneurial spirit, and a place where people develop incredible projects and are super nice. This is what makes this place so magical in my eyes. I believe that everyone should come here one day and take a look. The whole University campus is gorgeous and huge, very different from what I know in Brazil. During my first week of work, Dr.Schlosser (my supervisor here) and I arranged the details related to the work I’ll develop during my time here. She also introduced me to people and to the areas and activities I’m going to take a closer look and help at EPICentre, it was very nice of her and made me feel more confident.

Although I’m missing my family and friends, it has been a wonderful time for me, with a lot of learning and discoveries, I’m extremely happy and glad to be part of it.