Making the split-second decision to apply to an internship in Brazil led Eliza Hobbs to a unique experiential learning opportunity.
When Eliza Hobbs (Molecular Biology ’27) saw a poster advertising an internship in Brazil, she immediately scanned the QR code and started the application process. Applying was an obvious choice since the program perfectly combined two of her passions: science and Brazilian culture. Through the Brazil Global Health Internship, Hobbs found culture and connection, bridging the gap between her studies in the sciences and the humanities.
Off to Brasilia
While the internship was offered through BYU’s Public Health program, Hobbs was excited that it would give her the chance to practice her language skills, too. She learned Portuguese serving a Church mission in Brazil and continued her language studies at BYU, where she is pursuing a language certificate. Hobbs feels that her Portuguese classes helped her “throughout the entire [internship] experience.”
Hobbs spent five weeks in Brasília, Brazil, immersed in the culture while she learned about public health on a global scale. Her internship helped her explore a country that has “different public health issues than we do and different aspects of culture and language,” she says. During this time, she assisted faculty at the University of Brasília in their current research. “We got to work with a bunch of different projects, which was awesome,” Hobbs says.
During the internship, Hobbs worked alongside an entomologist—bug scientist—to test the efficacy of an early-stage pesticide, learning new vocabulary in the process. She put her language skills to the test when she helped write and translate a paper from Portuguese into English about the effect of certain jobs on women’s health. These research opportunities gave her the chance to use her language abilities “to continue blessing people, and to connect it to my career,” says Hobbs.
While the internship did not require a Portuguese language background, Hobbs found that her skills allowed her to work more closely with the researchers and the locals involved in these projects. These interactions, she says, “enhanced my communication skills by varying my vocabulary.”
Studies Beyond Science
Hobbs and her peers did more than just research. “We were there to see the science but also experience the culture,” Hobbs says. For this purpose, they had culture classes every morning, taught by students at the University of Brasília.
Hobbs especially enjoyed the unique opportunity to learn from these students because it gave her the chance to learn “from people who have lived in Brasília most of their lives.” In these classes, the interns learned about the Portuguese language, studied the history of Brazil, and visited museums. During long lunch breaks, which are typical of Brazilian culture, the interns explored the city and ate Brazilian cuisine, which, in Hobbs’s opinion, is “one of the best parts about Brazil.”
As part of experiencing the culture, Hobbs and her peers explored several sites: Água Mineral, which is a national park that contains natural pools that visitors can swim in; the botanical gardens in Brasília; the famous Cristo Redentor statue in Rio over a weekend; and the Brasília Brazil Temple.
Learning from the Culture
The interns also attended a local ward each Sunday, which gave them the opportunity to glimpse the welcoming nature of the Brazilian culture. Hobbs says, “One of the things that I admire most about the culture is how loving they are.” She observed that there is a big focus on making connections with others and fostering those relationships. For example, a former mission companion reached out to Hobbs while she was there and invited her to dinner with her family, and as an intern, she formed impactful relationships with her peers and the professors she worked with. “Everyone is family,” Hobbs says.
The experience as a whole gave Hobbs a new appreciation for connecting with other people, and she is grateful for the time she spent throughout the internship discovering, as she says, “how other people experience life.”
Learn more about this and other Spanish and Portuguese internship opportunities here.