Brooke  Barrera Sheldon
English Teaching Assistantship  |  2021-22

Portugal

Brooke Barrera Sheldon graduated in 2018 from the University of New Mexico with a BA in International Studies and Foreign Languages. Prior to beginning at UNM, she spent her senior year of high school in Brazil as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student, which fostered an interest in Portuguese and other romance languages. While at UNM she gained a strong foundation in Portuguese by taking classes in the internationally recognized Spanish & Portuguese Department. Along the way, she took advantage of various long-term exchange programs through UNM's GEO and International Studies Institute in Quebec, Morocco, and Senegal. Shortly after graduating from UNM, she obtained her Master’s degree in Global Studies from Columbia University in 2020, where she researched the social phenomenon of Brazilians converting to Islam.

By participating in this Fulbright program, Brooke hopes to strengthen her understanding of Portuguese dialects and learn about the histories that influence and affect the rest of the Lusophone world. She looks forward to the experience and representing UNM abroad.