The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success.

Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you,
and what did you learn from the experience? (643 words)
“Lu, there was a shooting at the children's school,”​ reported the voice message of the
15-year-old Pernambuco regional director. I froze. Maria's tearful speech reverberated in my
mind. She had been a part of​ Gotinhas do Bem ​- “Little Drops of Good” - for three months.
Tears ran down my face while I stood in my school’s hallway.
"Can we Skype in 25 minutes?" I wrote with trembling fingers. Images of children
wearing bloody school uniforms flashed through my mind.
​ "Please,"​ she replied.
As the founder of the project, I had the responsibility to tell her the right thing. But
what was the right thing? I had less than half an hour to figure it out.
Back in 2017, my own emotional processing of being bullied was the reason I created
Gotinhas.​ It started as an initiative focused on developing socio-emotional skills in students
at underfunded schools through play-centered activities and quickly became an innovative
methodology to solve deeper issues in failing educational systems from all over the world.
Gotinhas created a powerful connection between teenage volunteers and kids, building a
warm and safe atmosphere during our visits. This bonding resulted in cathartic sharing:
revelations about sexual abuse, domestic violence, and suicide attempts. I had to ask for help.
Psychologists taught me and the volunteers the art of listening and I learned that sometimes
the best answer is a hug. Above all, I had to understand my role in these circumstances: to
stand for children’s rights and work with qualified authorities to enact structural change.
As ​Gotinhas ​grew, my decision-making skills were tested. June: the crisis in Venezuela
resulted in the closure of schools. How could we justify working on emotional intelligence
during a blackout with children who are thirsty and hungry? September: the HIV problem in
Botswana required us to adapt our curriculum. How should we address sexuality in
elementary schools? The roots of these problems were systemic and I, a teenager from rural
Brazil, did not have enough power to resolve all of them. Still, these challenges couldn't wait
until I felt prepared. I had already engaged young people from over twenty communities and
we had spread Gotinhas around the globe. Like Maria, they were relying on me for guidance
and support.
Odd sleep patterns soon turned into part of my routine and stress became constant. Yet
I chose to respond by remembering small moments of personal connection. When anxious, I
let Marcos’ image take over my thoughts: the aggressive little boy who cried alone because
of his father’s death from drug addiction and his mother’s struggles with extreme poverty. At
the last ​Gotinhas do Bem activity in his school, he hugged me and said: “Lu, because you
believed in me, I have decided to become a lawyer”. ​Regardless of the obstacles, my NGO
was teaching both me and the kids that everyone has the right to dream. Episodes like
Marcos’ story make up the catalog of resilient memories that helps me find strength in the
face of complexity: I bring with me every child who started to believe in the unbelievable
power of education.
 As I prepared myself to Skype Maria, Mr. Neri, the kind school doorman, asked me,
"Vilanova, what's scrawled on your hand?" I glanced at the old man, smiling. ​“It's not just
about you.”
On my computer screen, I was about to meet a girl scared by a violent tragedy. She
was also a strong young woman capable of enacting change, even in the most impoverished
Brazilian region. Although I was terrified of not having the perfect response, I would do my
best to help her find hope in the middle of despair. Taking a deep breath, with the image of
Marcos in my heart and inspired by the smiles of the almost 8,000 children from seven
countries embraced by ​Gotinhas do Bem​, I started the meeting.

Duke University seeks a talented, engaged student body that embodies the wide range of
human experience; we believe that the diversity of our students makes our community
stronger. If you'd like to share a perspective you bring or experiences you've had to help
us understand you better - perhaps related to a community you belong to or your family
or cultural background - we encourage you to do so. Real people are reading your
application, and we want to do our best to understand and appreciate the real people
applying to Duke. (250 words)
Pirates and fairies everywhere. Suddenly, I noticed a 10-year-old girl alone in the
corner. As I approached her with my biggest smile, I realized her eyes were tearful.
“Sweetie, why are you not wearing a costume?” I asked. “​I can’t play. I don’t know
how to read,” s​ he explained. Looking deep into those little eyes, I saw the depth of that
child's suffering. Illiteracy didn’t simply prevent her from participating in our theater: it was
an obstacle to accessing endless opportunities. Her tears revealed the painful reality where
one in five Brazilian children don't learn to read before age eight.
This was my epiphan​y. The sky is blue, the sun is bright, and I’ll continue to fight for
a quality education system. I could see growing up how my goals were ​empirically affected
by education. ​While my fingers are calloused from handwriting, my grandfather's palms are
hardened from working on a farm since his childhood. I witnessed my siblings drop out of
school due to unequal access to educational opportunities.
Seeing that girl’s hopelessness, the gap between our open doors reminded me of why
I want to enact change in public education standards. I’m committed to deepen my insight
into the effects of illiteracy on childhood development to solve problems that span
generations.
Quality education does not simply change communities, it creates changemakers.
What truly matters to me is how I will use all my academic opportunities to transform whole
education systems, providing an equal starting point for everyone.

If you are applying to the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences as a first-year applicant,
please discuss why you consider Duke a good match for you. Is there something
particular about Duke that attracts you? (Please limit your response to no more than
250 words.)​*
 I aim to revolutionize education systems using humanizing policies based on
socioemotional skills. At Duke, I want to pursue Public Policy Studies and delve into the
Civic Engagement & Social Change Certificate​. I firmly believe that a Duke academic
experience will help me to develop a humanistic but pragmatic political vision, enabling me
to pursue a career to implement effective evidence-based education policies.
I am eager to get involved with the ​Adopt A Grandparent and the ​Political
Engagement Project ​to continue my work in the nonprofit sector and further boost my
interest in public policy and innovative educational methodologies. Moreover, classes like
I&E 590-01 Social Innovation Practicum will give me the tools to keep improving my
NGO’s horizontal leadership model.

My inner activist is what makes me and Duke a perfect match. Both of us believe in
the importance of youth engagement and leadership, shown through the ​Hart Leadership
Program​. ​Through ​Duke’s Policy Lab,​ I will be challenged to debate the most prominent
21st-century political issues. Also, my outgoing personality makes me excited to participate
in ​Karaoke at the Krafthouse to start new friendships across Duke’s incredibly diverse
student body.

Finally, I look forward to an inbox full of emails with career tips and reflection
questions from ​Bass Connections. To me, attending Duke is a call to action to address
societal challenges​: I’m proud to be the first from my community to occupy certain positions,
but I can’t settle for being the only one.