Episódio 24: College Life (Vida na universidade)

Duolingo English for Portuguese Speakers Podcast

Quando chegou na faculdade Mount Holyoke College, no estado de Massachusetts, nos Estados Unidos, Alexa González tinha medo da hora do jantar.

Todos os estudantes tinham que comer no mesmo refeitório, ou dining hall, que era um lugar enorme.

E, por mais que tivesse muitas opções de comida, Alexa sempre acabava procurando uma coisa específica.

Rice.

In the dining hall, I always chose meals that included rice.

It reminded me of my home, 2,000 kilometers away, in the state of Florida.

My family is Cuban, and I was so used to the style of cooking that I grew up with.

I just wanted home-cooked food!

Além da comida, Alexa também tinha saudade da família e de casa, ou seja, se sentia homesick.

Mas era tarde demais pra voltar atrás na decisão de estudar a milhares de quilômetros de casa.

My biggest fear was eating alone because for 18 years of my life, I ate dinner with my family every night.

But when I went to college, I had to say goodbye to all of that — all of those traditions back home.

And I really missed my family.

I felt so homesick.

Welcome! Esse é o décimo sexto episódio da segunda temporada de “Histórias em Inglês com Duolingo”.

Eu sou Helena Fruet.

Nesse podcast, você vai poder praticar inglês no seu ritmo, ouvindo histórias reais e emocionantes.

Os personagens falam um inglês simples e fácil de entender — perfeito pra quem tá aprendendo.

Eu vou te acompanhar em cada episódio pra ter certeza que você tá entendendo tudo.

Hoje vamos ouvir três histórias sobre como se adaptar à vida na universidade.

Vários meses antes de sofrer na hora do jantar e sentir tanta saudade, Alexa morava com sua família.

Uma noite, ela tava na cama, se preparando pra dormir, quando recebeu uma ligação: tinha sido aceita na faculdade!

I actually missed the call because my phone was on silent.

I called back and it was the committee that reviewed my application.

They were all cheering for me.

They told me that I got into the college!

Alexa tava feliz.

Ela não só tinha conseguido entrar na faculdade, mas também conseguiu uma bolsa de estudos integral no Mount Holyoke College.

I just couldn’t believe it.

I shared that special moment with my parents and grandparents.

But I didn’t stop to think, “Wow, this is real.

I’m really going to leave home now.”

Alexa cresceu em Miami, no estado da Flórida, rodeada de praias e palmeiras.

Mount Holyoke fica no nordeste dos Estados Unidos, a 21 horas de carro de Miami.

When I applied to college, I never really considered how far it was from home.

A família dela era muito, muito unida.

Quando era pequena, Alexa não passava muito tempo longe de casa.

As a kid, I spent my summers at home, cooking with my grandmother.

I never went to stay at a summer camp.

So, I never really knew what it was like to be away from home.

After I was accepted to Mount Holyoke, my mom asked me, “Are you really sure that you want to do this? Are you prepared to leave?” And at the time, I thought that I was ready to go.

Alexa não só tava preparada, ela tava animada com a ideia de ir pra um lugar tão diferente de casa, um lugar que nevava e onde os prédios pareciam o castelo de Hogwarts, do Harry Potter.

In my immediate family, no one went away to college.

My parents didn’t leave home to go to college after high school, and my older brother decided to stay in Miami for college.

So, this was a new experience for everyone.

Em agosto de 2014, Alexa viajou com seus pais pra Massachusetts.

I grew up in one of the biggest cities in my state, and my college was in a small suburban town.

It was a lot quieter.

I saw mountains for the first time while driving to the college.

And on campus, everything was so green.

There were lots of trees and so much fresh air.

Mount Holyoke College é parecida com outras pequenas faculdades privadas no nordeste dos Estados Unidos.

Tem prédios antigos de tijolo vermelho e quase todos os estudantes moram no campus.

A diferença de Mount Holyoke pra maioria das outras é que é uma universidade só pra mulheres, ou women’s college.

I wanted to go to a women’s college because I wanted to be part of a community of smart, strong women.

Mount Holyoke opened in the 1800s.

It was part of a group of colleges for women only called the Seven Sisters.

They were created to give women more opportunities to go to college.

Todas as estudantes do primeiro ano de Mount Holyoke vivem em alojamentos, ou dorms.

Os pais de Alexa ajudaram ela com a mudança e depois foram embora.

I cried so much after I said goodbye to my parents.

Even though I had a roommate in my dorm, I was basically by myself in a completely new place.

Alexa achou difícil se adaptar à nova vida na faculdade, por vários motivos.

Começando pela quantidade de banheiros no alojamento.

I had to share a bathroom with 30 to 40 students who lived on the same floor.

It felt like going to a public bathroom.

One of the biggest changes was that I had to wear shoes in the shower because I was sharing it with so many other students.

Também foi difícil fazer amigos.

Nos Estados Unidos, os alunos escolhem que disciplinas querem fazer todos os semestres, portanto não existe uma turma fixa durante todo período da graduação.

Alexa tinha conhecido algumas estudantes de Miami, e a companheira de quarto dela era simpática, mas essas relações não eram suficientes.

Ela continuava se sentindo sozinha.

I called my mom one day when I was feeling really sad.

I told her that I was thinking about coming home.

She said, “What do you mean? You’ve worked so hard to go to that college.” And I told her, “I don’t think I can stay here.

I feel really alone.

I’m really, really homesick.

I miss my family.”

Alexa tinha saudade de casa e pensou até em abandonar a faculdade.

Mas falou com um professor que a convenceu a pensar por um tempo.

I had to make a decision: I could stay at the college that I worked so hard to get to, or I could leave because I was homesick.

Ela continuou pensando em desistir, até que um dia…

One October morning at 7:00 am, I woke up to the bells of the school’s church ringing loudly.

I knew immediately that it was Mountain Day.

O Dia da Montanha é uma tradição muito especial em Mount Holyoke.

As estudantes têm o dia de folga, e são incentivadas a sair e aproveitar o ar livre, em meio à natureza.

Pra Alexa isso era emocionante, mas ao mesmo tempo meio assustador.

Ela nunca tinha feito trilhas ou escalado uma montanha.

It wasn’t dangerous, but I wasn’t used to hiking in the mountains.

I usually just walked on paths near beaches, because, you know, there aren’t any mountains in Miami!

Então, no seu primeiro Dia da Montanha, Alexa acompanhou a colega de quarto dela e junto com outras alunas, pegaram o ônibus.

Ela sentou perto de pessoas que já tinha visto em algumas aulas ou no alojamento.

Everyone was so excited and talking to each other.

When I looked out the window, I could see the fall weather.

The leaves were changing from green to red, orange, and yellow.

We were all taking pictures and laughing.

It just felt like everyone was very happy.

Alexa, pela primeira vez em muito tempo, também tava feliz.

It was a new adventure, and I loved having that experience with my classmates who were starting to become my friends.

Durante muitas semanas, Alexa sentiu falta da família, mas na trilha ela percebeu que talvez pudesse criar um novo círculo de amizades na faculdade.

While we were climbing up the mountain, I realized that I was growing as a person.

And I thought, “Maybe I can do this!” I had to learn to welcome new experiences because that’s what college is all about.

Numa universidade grande ou pequena, fazer amigos pode ser difícil.

Hawa Sabriye não escalou grandes montanhas, mas entrou numa das maiores universidades do Canadá, a Universidade de Toronto, que tem mais de 60 mil alunos – quase 30 vezes mais do que a faculdade de Mount Holyoke!

I always wanted to go to the University of Toronto because it was close to home and a really great school.

During my first semester, there was a big event for all the new students.

We were able to see all the different student clubs we could join.

It seemed like there was a club for every type of student, and I thought, “This place is so big and there are so many people!” It was crazy.

Hawa nasceu e cresceu em Toronto, no Canadá, mas sua família vem da Somália, que fica no leste da África.

Como a maioria dos somalis, Hawa e sua família são muçulmanos, ou muslims.

Ela cresceu em um bairro somali de Toronto, mas ela não se identificava tanto com sua origem.

I’m embarrassed to say this now, but as a kid, I didn’t think a lot about being a Somali Muslim.

I considered myself to be a Black Canadian.

That started to change in college.

I saw all those student clubs, and I thought, “Where do I belong?” I knew that extracurricular activities were a big part of the college experience for many students, but I felt like I had all these different identities: Black, Canadian, Somali, Muslim.

And I wasn’t sure which place was best for me.

Hawa queria ser professora.

E, na Universidade de Toronto, ela tirou dois diplomas, um de Literatura Inglesa e outro de Pedagogia.

No começo, foi difícil… Principalmente porque ela não via pessoas como ela no curso.

Ela também não via muita gente usando véu, ou hijab, como ela usava.

There were 32 people in my program, and there was only one other Black girl.

I was the only one wearing a hijab.

I remember thinking, “Where are the rest of us?” I took an African literature course for my English degree, and it was taught by a white professor from the U.S.

In class, I talked about the experience of being a person of color, but I never really felt comfortable in that space.

E não era só nas aulas que Hawa se sentia deslocada.

Ela morava com a família e ia pra universidade de transporte público todos os dias, então não tinha muita oportunidade pra fazer amigos fora da sala de aula.

I didn’t live on campus, so when I first started going to the University of Toronto, I didn’t have a strong feeling of community.

I decided to just concentrate on school work.

I spent a lot of time on the bus or the train doing work for my classes.

Foram dias muito solitários.

E durante os primeiros dois anos, Hawa pensou que seria assim mesmo, que não tinha o que fazer pra mudar.

Até o dia em que ela decidiu participar de atividades extracurriculares.

I wasn’t planning on joining any extracurricular activities.

A lot of students played sports, wrote for newspapers, or did other activities to discover what they wanted to do after college.

But I already knew that I wanted to be a teacher, so I just wanted to concentrate on my school work.

But then, one of my professors told me about WUSC.

"WUSC", W-U-S-C, significa “Serviço Universitário Mundial do Canadá”.

É um grupo que apoia jovens refugiados vindos do mundo todo que vão estudar no país.

My parents had to leave Somalia in the 1980s because the political situation was really bad there.

They found a new home in Canada, so I thought it would be exciting to help other people in similar situations.

I said, “I want to sign up!”

A primeira missão de Hawa como voluntária foi receber um estudante chamado Ziky, que vinha de um campo de refugiados no Quênia.

With the other WUSC students, I painted signs that said, “Welcome Ziky!” There were other WUSC committees from different universities at the airport, too.

Everyone was smiling, cheering, and hugging.

They were all super nice and welcoming.

For such a long time, I didn’t feel like I had a community at my university, so being around those people was so refreshing.

Depois dessa primeira experiência, Hawa recebeu outros estudantes refugiados.

Apresentou a faculdade, ensinou a usar o transporte público, a comprar comida e também ajudou com as dúvidas que eles tinham sobre a vida estudantil.

I was born in Toronto and I grew up there, but there was still a lot to learn about the city! I helped my students find new restaurants with cooking from their home countries.

They introduced me to different types of African foods and told me stories about their families.

We found new places to study on campus and we went to plays and concerts together.

I felt like I was starting university again.

But this time, I was concentrating on more than just school.

Enquanto ajudava estudantes refugiados a começar uma nova vida, Hawa descobriu que ainda tinha muito que aprender fora da sala de aula, sobre o mundo e sobre si mesma.

Ela também encontrou espaços religiosos na faculdade que não conhecia e logo começou a participar de clubes estudantis onde não se sentia deslocada.

One of the refugee students, Yusef, was a practicing Muslim from Syria.

So, I helped him find places to pray.

I realized that there were a lot of places to pray in buildings on campus.

I never knew they existed! As I was helping him find extracurricular activities, I also discovered the Black Students’ Association and the Muslim Students’ Association.

When I found these groups, I thought “Wow! These people are like me!”

Sem querer, Hawa achou um círculo de amizades em que se sentia integrada.

Ela ainda morava com a família, mas agora passava mais tempo na faculdade, com os novos amigos.

Soon, I started going to those student clubs with friends, even without Ziky and Yusef.

I started spending every Friday night with the Muslim Students’ Association and celebrating holidays with them.

I also listened to speakers with the Black Students’ Association.

The University of Toronto can feel so big, it’s easy to feel lost.

But these communities helped me feel like I belonged there, because they understood my experience.

I started to feel a bigger connection to my Somali heritage and I became more confident in my Black skin — and in my hijab!

Participar da WUSC mudou a vida de Hawa, mesmo depois que ela se formou na Universidade de Toronto.

Inspirada pelo seu trabalho no clube, ela foi pro Quênia durante a pós-graduação e deu aula no mesmo campo de refugiados de onde vinham muitos alunos da WUSC.

Hoje, Hawa vive com o resto da sua família na Somália, mas mantém contato com os estudantes que conheceu pela WUSC.

After college, I knew that I wanted to continue working with people like Ziky, Yusef, and the other WUSC students.

So, I decided to move to Somalia — and my whole family moved back here too! I really love the work I’m doing.

Toronto is still my home, but I love being able to call multiple places home, just like I did at the University of Toronto.

And now I realize that finding a community of students like me changed my life — it’s definitely the reason why I’m here in Somalia now.

Assim como Hawa, Andrea Rodriguez-Marin Freudmann também cresceu em Toronto.

Mas Andrea não ficou por lá durante a faculdade.

Ela se mudou pra outro lugar pra frequentar uma universidade que muita gente sonha em entrar: Harvard.

When I was accepted to Harvard, I almost didn’t go, because it was too expensive.

I remember asking my friends, “Do you think I should go to Harvard?” And they said, “What kind of question is that?! Of course you should go to Harvard!” I realized that if I didn’t go, then I would always wonder if I made the right decision.

Os cursos de Harvard são famosos por serem extremamente difíceis.

Andrea sempre se destacou na escola, mas ela tinha frequentado um colégio francês no Canadá.

Ela sabia que o sistema educacional nos Estados Unidos era bem diferente.

Harvard is hard, and I knew that I was going to spend a lot of time studying.

During my first two years, I had to get used to doing work in English instead of French.

A lot of the other students went through the U.S.

school system, and sometimes I felt like I had to work a lot harder than them.

Como se já não fosse difícil o suficiente, ela ia estudar o assunto mais complicado que conseguiu encontrar: engenharia mecânica.

My goal was to study something that I wasn’t already good at.

I wanted to learn new skills and work on the things that were difficult for me.

That’s what college is for: to do things you’re not comfortable doing!

Aquilo foi uma verdadeira luta pra Andrea.

Mas ela logo fez amizade com os alunos que estudavam engenharia.

Ou, pelo menos, com a maioria deles…

The engineers spent a lot of time together doing homework and hanging out outside of class.

But not everyone was super friendly.

There was one student in my program named Alex who was really annoying.

He was really good at math and science, so he always talked about how easy the homework was.

But it was really difficult for me.

I thought, “Ugh, he’s so pretentious!” I just tried to avoid him during my first year of college.

Mas Andrea não conseguiu evitar Alex pra sempre.

No segundo ano, ela decidiu se inscrever numa atividade extracurricular: um clube de engenharia mecânica da universidade, pra pôr em prática parte da teoria que ela tava aprendendo.

A lot of my classmates joined the club to get experience building things.

Our plan was to make a bicycle for a competition against other schools at the end of the year.

I thought it sounded like an interesting project, so I joined.

O clube de engenheiros era muito divertido, exceto por um pequeno detalhe…

Alex was also a leader of the club.

I wasn’t happy when I heard that he was involved.

But I stayed in the club, even though I didn’t want to spend time with him.

Ter que aturar o Alex foi só um dos problemas que Andrea e o resto da turma tiveram que lidar.

Eles tinham pouca experiência fora de sala de aula, então tiveram que resolver muita coisa sozinhos e em pouco tempo.

I realized that bicycles are pretty complicated.

We had to design the bike, organize the team, order all of the materials, and then actually build the bike — all by ourselves.

In the beginning, we didn’t really know what we were doing.

And it was difficult to make the bike work.

Com a competição de construção de bicicletas chegando perto, Alex e Andrea começaram a passar mais tempo juntos na oficina.

Os dois queriam muito ganhar, então deixaram de ir a festas e viagens de fim de semana pra trabalhar no projeto.

Depois de passar tanto tempo ao lado de Alex, Andrea percebeu que tinha julgado ele cedo demais.

I learned a lot more about Alex when we started working on the bike.

I thought he was going to be horrible, but he was really patient — even kind.

He had more experience than me, and he taught me how to use different tools.

He was very respectful when I asked questions, and he even laughed when I made bad jokes.

It was actually really nice working with him.

Apesar do trabalho intenso de Andrea e Alex, o clube de engenheiros não conseguiu terminar a bicicleta a tempo pro concurso.

Mas os dois construíram algo que nenhum deles tinha planejado…

Alex and I still went to the bike competition, even though we didn’t have a bike.

We wanted to learn how the other teams built their bikes.

We spent the whole weekend together.

I hurt my ankle the week before, so Alex held doors open for me and offered to carry me down the stairs.

That’s when I knew that I liked him as more than a friend.

Quando o semestre acabou, Andrea e Alex ficaram em Harvard durante as férias de verão.

Andrea com uma bolsa de pesquisa num laboratório e Alex com um trabalho numa loja de bicicletas perto da universidade.

By the end of the break, we were officially dating.

Como os amigos engenheiros mecânicos de Andrea e Alex adoravam uma fofoca… o casal decidiu manter o relacionamento em segredo no começo.

We didn’t tell people that we were dating because we didn’t want to cause drama in our group of friends.

So sometimes, we kissed at school in places where no one could see us.

But then, some people saw us holding hands, and we thought, “This is stupid!” So we told everyone.

People were a little surprised because most engineers don’t usually date.

We’re so busy with classes that it’s hard to have time for relationships.

Mesmo depois que os amigos souberam que os dois tavam juntos, Andrea e Alex perceberam que manter uma relação de longo prazo num lugar como Harvard exigiria quase tanto esforço quanto construir uma bicicleta.

It was hard to be a couple and colleagues.

Our third year at university was difficult because we were teaching a class together, working on the bike together, taking several classes together, and dating.

Spending all that time together in very stressful situations was not easy.

Mas eles seguiram firmes e fortes.

No último ano, Andrea passou na pós-graduação dos seus sonhos e Alex conseguiu um bom emprego como engenheiro, e as duas oportunidades ficavam em San Diego.

Andrea percebeu que estava saindo de Harvard com algo tão importante quanto um diploma: um relacionamento com alguém que ela amava, alguém que a fazia melhor como pessoa… e como engenheira!

The relationship took a lot of work, but I think it was really good for me.

It made me more productive.

Alex and I realized that being together made us both really happy.

Now we live in San Diego.

We both love our jobs and going surfing together on the weekends.

We always have so much to talk about.

It just works!

Andrea Rodriguez-Marin Freudmann é estudante de pós-graduação em San Diego, na Califórnia.

Hawa Sabriye, nossa segunda protagonista, trabalha em uma agência das Nações Unidas em Mogadishu, na Somália.

As histórias de Andrea e Hawa foram produzidas por Lauren Spohn, que faz mestrado em história na Universidade de Oxford.

Nossa primeira protagonista, Alexa González, participou do Dia da Montanha todos os anos.

Ela se formou no Mount Holyoke College em 2018.

Agora, vive perto da Filadélfia e tá fazendo mestrado em psicologia.

A história dela foi produzida por Alexander González, jornalista de uma rádio de São Francisco e irmão mais velho de Alexa.

“Histórias em Inglês” é uma produção de Duolingo e Adonde Media.

A edição de áudio e sound design foram feitos por Samia Bouzid, Giovana Romano Sanchez, David De Luca e Andrés Fechtenholz.

Laurent Apffel e Antonio Romero ficaram responsáveis pela masterização.

Nossa assistente de produção foi Caro Rolando, e Stephanie Joyce editou os roteiros.

David Alandete é o editor-chefe e Giovana Romano Sanchez editou os roteiros em português.

Nosso gerente de produção é o Román Frontini e a diretora-executiva é a Martina Castro.

Segue a gente no Spotify ou na sua plataforma preferida.

Eu sou Helena Fruet.

Thank you for listening!