Lloyd, BSc Biomedical Science
My name is Lloyd, and I am a second year Biomedical Science student. In the summer of 2024, I attended a summer school at the University of Sao Paolo (Ribeiro Preto campus, Brazil) to study Brazilian Business and Economics. It was an amazing experience as the course felt accessible, even though some of us are not from a business background; we also had several trips within the course, including a visit to a coffee factory. In addition to the trips included in the course, we had the opportunity to travel within Brazil, and I opted to travel to Sao Paolo city, and Rio de Janeiro.
When in Rio, we visited a number of world-famous landmarks, including the Christ the Redeemer statue. This trip was organised as a group and meant that we could see more of the country. In addition to this trip, a smaller group of us went to Sao Paolo city to watch a football match and see the rest of the city.
We were also joined, on the course, by three Brazilian students; these three students were amazing and helped to organise local trips, and gave us a taste of Brazilian student life. They really helped us to settle in, as well as giving us important advice, which made the trip even better; they were also very understanding that our Brazilian Portuguese was very limited and helped to translate to other locals. These students were so accepting, and it was sad to say goodbye when we had to leave the university, however, we do all keep in touch.
To help to fund this trip, I received the IEO Summer Award*, in addition to the Turing grant, which covered the majority of the costs of the trip including flights. This funding also meant that I could afford to travel and join in with extra-curricular activities. I would encourage all students to take any opportunities to travel, such as this.
Overall, this was an incredible experience, and I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to travel to Brazil, see different parts of such a beautiful country, and meet a wide range of people, including both Surrey and Sao Paolo university students.
*The IEO summer award will be available for students to apply for but is not guaranteed. It is subject to application and availability.
