Article February 27, 2012 Issue

University transfer

By Tiago Ferreira de Carvalho

First published in the Portuguese edition of The Herald of Christian Science, O Arauto da Ciência Cristã.

I always had the desire to study at a particularly prestigious university here in São Paulo. For various reasons, I felt that was my place. However, I knew it would be difficult to pass the rigorous and competitive admissions examination, because I felt the public schools had not given me a good educational foundation.

I took an entrance exam prep course so that I would be better prepared. But the result was terrible, and I did not get the kind of preparation that I so much wanted.

I ended up getting into another college with a less demanding entrance examination, but it quickly became clear that it just wasn’t right for me. The teachers, the focus of the education, my fellow students—nothing felt like a good fit. I prayed a lot about this, even with the help of a Christian Science practitioner. My prayers led me to continue at that college, but an intuition kept telling me that I should ask for a transfer to the university I had always wanted to attend. Two years later, when I felt the time was right to attempt it, I did.