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. Quickly, it 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.

At Brown, you will learn as much from your peers outside the classroom as in academic
spaces. How will you contribute to the Brown community? (250 words)
​“An arrow hit my shoulder. If I didn't get up I would die.”
I took a deep breath: I was creating my first book. ​Without having to leave my room, I
wrote about terrorism, immigration crisis, and gender inequality. My book colored my
understanding of 21st-century global issues.
I belong to a community of storytellers. Like a real-life Sherlock Holmes, I'll explore
Storytellers Fellowship to keep acting in fields I love. On Main Green, my ​SOMOS Latino
Literary Magazine’s friends will become used to hearing ​“Wait! I need to write that down!”
if they say something that spawns a plot idea. Through these moments of personal
connection, I'll expand my passion for stories while studying at a college that understands the
importance of diversity. Brown feels like home.
Creative writing fascinates me because it allows me to blend the power of storytelling
with the possibility of engaging others with real-world problems. Thus, with the Social
Innovation Fellowship​, I'll deepen my insights on youth leadership and apply it to this vision.
Nowadays, I’m ecstatic to use my storytelling background to find my place at Brown.

Brown’s Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply
into their academic pursuits. Tell us about an academic interest (or interests) that
excites you, and how you might use the Open Curriculum to pursue it.* (250 words)
(250 words)
I open my inbox full of emails. Tax reform vote, Education Committee, Parliamentary
Infrastructure Front. Another day as a Brazilian Congresswoman. Drinking black tea, I
remember my study sessions for ECON​1480 Public Economics​ at the Blue Room.
Entering the plenary I observe, once again, entrenched dogmatism negatively
impacting evidence-based policies. I think back on my talks with Professor Gregory Elliott
and recall concepts I learned in CLPS​1470 Mechanisms of Motivated Decision Making​,
seeking to build sympathetic but realistic arguments. Before climbing the podium, I keep in
mind valuable lessons from TAPS​0220 Persuasive Communication while calming my nerves
using COST​1080 Meditation, Mindfulness, and Health​ techniques.
Recalling POLS​1090 Polarized Politics​, I take a deep breath to remind myself of my
purpose: to revolutionize education systems using humanizing guidelines based on
socioemotional skills. 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, and Brown shaped my
dream of placing each student as the protagonist of learning.
With Brown’s Open Curriculum, I’ll further my goal of becoming an inspiring
political leader amidst a Latin American leadership crisis. Through the Open Curriculum, I’ll
delve into different departments, which will add to my repertoire of sociocultural
methodologies that I hope to later replicate in my home country.

Tell us about a place or community you call home. How has it shaped your perspective?
Carefully spread sheets made up the roof. My grandmother’s colorful pillows formed
the beds. Giving free rein to the imagination, my cousins and I turned my grandparents'
backyard into fantastic universes. After doing our homework, we were going to build our
castle, fort or even more unusual dwelling. My older cousin’s unpredictable playlist would
set the pace for our play. Swinging in the hammock, I felt free to reach for the sky. Grandpa's
unique laugh at the resulting mess made everything more fun.
Replacing conventional toys, our inner innovative curiosity helped form what feels so
essential to my identity. My cousins and I could exercise creativity, even though the lack of
education opportunities was a problem that spanned generations in my family. Regardless,
amid our playhouses, I was encouraged to dream big.
I am not sure if anyone knows what they are building until they’ve finished it; in my
case, through our imaginary houses, I constructed the strength to believe that my dreams can
become true.
I like to think back to my childhood to check if younger Luiza would be proud of my
new creations, from education reform enterprises to political activism. Quality education does
not simply change communities, it creates changemakers. Nowadays, 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.

Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences

that was particularly meaningful to you. (Response required in about 150 words.)
An ex-president tries to run for the presidency from prison. Another candidate is
stabbed during a political rally. Fake News reigns over a polarized country: 2018 Brazilian
elections, my first time exercising my political rights. Looking for mechanisms to understand
Brazil’s democratic crisis, I interned at the Federal University of Goiás and worked on the
research project ​“Hate in Social Media.”
​With the current political landscape as a background, I experienced the art of data
collection amid ideologies across the political spectrum. I was challenged to study a great
diversity of perspectives while investigating Facebook pages, from extreme right to far-left.
 ​ his research showed me how the current Brazilian polarization precludes dialogue, a
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requirement for democracy. I intend to continue engaging in this topic while in college,
seeking to develop ​humanistic but pragmatic political views that ​will enable me to pursue a
career to implement effective, evidence-based policies.