Eloi Alves Ferracioli
4th-year

This collaborative course was one of the best experiences of my life! The lectures, faculty, practical work and site visits provided wonderful knowledge that certainly will be a great help in my academic and professional life. It was very important to have the students in direct contact with the professionals responsible for the big issues of our city.

But the most important part of the course was to meet and develop close connections with the amazing people, exchanging ideas and creating huge friendships. Living together and sharing ideas for 10 days made a huge difference which maximized the results of this course. I expected to learn more about how things work in US and which technical, economic, social and political aspects they have in common with Brazil. But, I didn’t expect to learn and understand more about my country and my culture while I was trying to show a little about Brazil. The most important discovery was to see our urban problems from another point of view. Sometimes, during discussions, I realized that common things here may not be known to our American friends. It actually can be a key point to understand the sources of problems and to create new solutions. Being able to share in broad discussions made finding new possible solutions a reality.

I’m so glad to have met all the participants from Harvard and I hope to visit in the future, or see you in France, my new home next semester, all invited! I’m so grateful to all the organizers and everyone how made this course possible!

I’m already feeling “saudades” for all!