Skyline College: International Student Spotlight: Caroline Barros

San Bruno CA

01 October, 2021

1:58 PM

Description

Press release from Skyline College: Becky Threewit October 1, 2021 Caroline is originally from Brazil. However, after her father got a student visa in the United States when Caroline was eleven, she and her family moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, as one of the only people of color, the environment wasn't a good fit for her, "I was bullied a lot. It was just the worst seven years of my life." Her grades suffered accordingly. Despite this, San Francisco was a bright spot in her life. Caroline had the opportunity to visit San Francisco a couple of times and was struck by how diverse and welcoming the city was. She proclaimed to her family that she was moving to San Francisco no matter what. In the end, her status as the only child prompted her parents to move there with her. Caroline was quite ambitious and aspired to go to Berkeley law. As a result, she wanted to go to a prestigious undergrad school such as UC Berkeley or Stanford. However, she couldn't get into either and couldn't afford the nearby colleges she did get into. As a result, when a friend told her about Skyline College and Caroline learned she could transfer to a four-year university afterward, she jumped at the opportunity. Caroline ended up loving Skyline College, "It was a great experience. I always joke with my friends that we peaked at Skyline [College]." Caroline had always considered herself an introvert, but at Skyline College, she came out of her shell. She says, "everything that I wanted to be in high school, I got to be at Skyline [College]." She joined Model United Nations and Student Government as the Commissioner of Public Records. She also notes, "some of my best friends I met at Skyline [College]." The ISP had particularly great community-building events, including their International Food Festival. This press release was produced by Skyline College. The views expressed here are the author's own.