I would like to travel around the world, get to know new places, cultures, traditions, food, and help poor communities especially in poor countries. What about you?
That is a good idea, last summer I went to Malawi and worked on a project teaching locals better nutrition practices. We planted some seeds to see what would grow best. I think I would do basically the same, and I would tried to learn a language living somewhere and learning by immersion. Maybe I would learn faster that way
You would. I say that from experience. Hahaha
That's true, you been living here for how long now?
3 years and counting If you could invite anyone on earth to have dinner with you, who would it be?
Hum, let me think... That's a hard one. I'm trying to decide. I'm not sure if I should invite someone from my family, or someone famous.
Yeah That is a hard one. I have to take some time to think about it myself. I'll tell you mine, and why I choose it. Maybe it helps...
Great
I thought about inviting The Rock (Dwayne) because he is very inspirational. I read a little about his story and he had a hard childhood, was involved with drugs, played professional football and many other things. But despite all of that he became a great professional, overcoming all his problems, addictions, and now he helps people through his example.
Wow that's cool I was thinking of him as well hahah
He posted on his instagram that a girl invited him to her prom
really?
yes, but he couldn't go because he is shooting a movie but he is paying for her and more than 200 people to watch his new movie, popcorn and candy included
That's amazing. Good for him, he is a nice guy. now I want to invite him But since you chose him, I'll choose Emma Thompson
Why?
because she is funny and I love her as an actress. I don't know a lot about her story, or what she does when she's not on the big screens, but I think she is very talented.
That's cool. I don't know anything about her.
I have a question for you
:)
But before I ask I want you to know that I'm not trying to offend you or anything like that
ok
Why did you come to the U.S?
Hahah, no offense taken, I get that question a lot. I always wanted to have some international experience. Growing up I thought of going to Canada, but I decided to come to BYU instead, just because it's a great university and it's cheaper. hahaha
I see So do you think you want to stay when you finish school?
I don't know, I think it will depend on the opportunities ahead of me. If I get good job offers here I'll probably stay and work, but if I don't, the world it's my living room I can go back to my country, or honestly I can go anywhere in the world. I currently speak 4 languages and I'm studying CS, so I can find jobs anywhere. Even if I have to learn other languages.
Wow, 4 languages? That's amazing. And I like your thought on opportunities. What languages do you speak?
I speak Portuguese (Native), English, Spanish, and basic French.
How did you learn those languages?
Well, I learned English through movies, video games, and tv Spanish I learned mostly here, people look at me and assume I speak Spanish, so I kind of pick it up, and I have many Spanish speaking friends. And I took a few French classes at BYU Do you speak any other language?
No Just English But I want to learn other languages someday. I just need to take the time.
It's true, if I don't practice Spanish, or French I forget a lot of words. So you have to put in those hours
Yeah ahah maybe during summer
I saw a Ted Talk, I forgot the guy's name, but he says that you can learn something in 20 hours.
Really??? I read somewhere that it has to be 10 thousand hours
Oh yeah he talks about that. He says that the 10 thousand hours rule, it's to become an expert in something, but if you want to learn the basics of something 20 hours are enough
I like that idea, 20 hours seem more doable. hahahah
True Maybe you should try it and tell me if it works... ;)
That's a good idea, I guess I have time this summer. Do you watch a lot of Ted Talks?
Just a sec, I'm on the phone I'm back Sorry I do watch a lot of Ted Talks Do you watch them ?
I do. Especially the ones about productivity or the ones about motivation, and this kind of topics.
Yeah, I like those. There is one I love, it's a short one, I don't remember the name, but it's a boy from a country in Africa, he created a way for people to clean themselves. It's like a dry shower Have you seen that one?
I haven't Do you remember the name?
No, but if you search dry bath Ted Talk you can probably find it.
I'll watch it later then. I like one with Amy Cuddy she talks about power poses and some research about it
That's cool, what does she teach?
She says that doing power poses boost your confidence. Let's say you have a job interview. If a few minutes before you do one of the power poses you will feel more confident and ace it
That's dope I never heard about that.
Yeah, me neither, until I watch her video she says fake it until you make it. hahaha
Hahah I have a friend who says that all the time.
Yeah, I heard that a couple of times, but from different people.
:) So, what are you doing this weekend?
Studying. I have an online test to take So I have to go over the study guide and try to answer all the questions I'm trying to finish all my finals before Tuesday What about you
I have a homecoming to go tomorrow, then I have to study as well, I still have two tests left. What test you're studying for?
Public Health what tests do you have to take?
Organizational effectiveness and CS but the OB test is online
Mine too I'm so glad I don't have to go at the testing center.
Me too. I don't like those lines.
Me neither or how close the desks are to each other
That's so true last time I took a test there, the guy sitting behind me was frustrated with his test and kept hitting his desk on my back
what did you do?
I just walked away without finishing my test. I'll probably fail the class, but that was very annoying.
I'm sorry Did you talk to your professor about it?
No I decided to accept the consequences of my decision
I don't even know what to tell you
don't worry but I wish they had more space in the testing center people hit me constantly with their backpacks, when they're coming in or at the end of their test.
So true that happens to me as well it's so annoying
but we don't have to go there this semester hahah
Yeah
What are you doing this summer?
I'm going back home I'll be there preparing for my internship
cool what internship you got?
I got one at UVA I'll be there for two semesters working in different things I mean different aspects of a dietician career
That's awesome. Is it a paid internship?
Not quite. I have to pay for it. In dietetics we don't usually have paid internships
That's lame. I think internships in areas related to health care should be paid. You're doing important work
Yeah, we pay them instead
I'm sorry for that
That's okay, at least I'm going to have the experience on my resume
That's true, sometimes that's all you need to get your foot at the door.
Yeah What are you doing this summer?
I'm going to my internship at Microsoft I think I told you about it
Oh yeah, that's true. Do you know more details about it. ?
Not yet, I think I'll get more info in the next two weeks
Cool when do you start?
May 14
I think you will love it
I think so too I heard many good things about it, some interns tell their experience online
That's awesome
Are you watching any tv show lately?
Not really I finished watching The White Collar, and then I was just trying to get over school. I heard about a show called the good doctor, my friend said that one is good. I want to see at least one episode of it, to see if I like it. What about you?
I love White Collar Neal Caffrey is the best hahaha
He is And charming
Yes So I saw that one I also heard about the good doctor one Apparently it it's a boy that has autism, and he is brilliant as a doctor he sees things no one else sees it. I saw the trailer for it
Me too I also saw a doctor watching it and commenting the things they got right and wrong on the serie
Hahaha I wish Netflix would make a show that brings dietitians and doctors, to read or watch those bloggers posting about their "diets" and evaluating that. I think there is so many things people say nowadays on the internet, and those things propagate really fast because everyone can see it in a matter of seconds and share it with the click of a button.
I know, fake info is a huge problem we have right now. And I agree with the TV show idea. It would be good for people to see professionals teaching and showing the misconceptions. People say whatever they want and there are others who are less informed and believe whatever information they get.
Yeah, I've seen so many fake news on Facebook People don't look for the source or for more info about news they just share
Yeah I saw a post the other day, someone talking about gun laws and how Hitler took the guns of the population away before doing what he did. Everyone was sharing and then my friend who is from Germany and study history commented on the picture that it wasn't like that And she gave a history lesson on her comment.
Lol I don't like social media I think it defeats the "being social" part of life. Maybe in the beginning it was a good thing, but now even though people try to say that they connect with friends through it they are getting distant because of the fake feeling that they are connected, they see pictures and think that just because they can see those things, they are in contact with the other person
I know right? ! What about those who talk politics, trash everyone with a different point of view and even loose friends over it?
I know, people don't accept difference
That's so sad. I think that they should accept it, since we're all different.
That's true, but if you're different, people try to change you and make you like them. That makes it hard for some people to separate opinion from character. They forget that it's okay to disagree and still be friends.
yeah, I've noticed that during the last elections. People are less tolerant
Yeah, maybe it's because we have everything happening so fast. We don't want to wait, and we want people to do what we do. hahaha
Yeah. The same happens in government. One party complains about the other.
So true
For me, what is important is the idea, not the party. If an idea is good, they should implement it, regardless of political parties. and if the idea is bad, don't do it.
You're right. People should learn how to discern that
They should
Another problem that I've seen here is that TV channels are very focused on that as well One channel loves a political party and talk about it all the time the other channel doesn't like that party and trash talk them all the time so it doesn't matter what you watch it's always biased
Yeah and that's why I don't watch it hahaha you either hate it or live it
Yeah And the news here only talk about America TV news in Brazil talk about other countries and talk about good things as well. hahah
Really? like what?
Well, there are some parts that they talk about tendencies in home decor, or travel tips
But is that on the tv news or a specific show?
On the news. They take time to show cool things as well
That's awesome maybe if they did that here I would watch more news. Talking about news, Did you watch the hearing about the data breach?
I saw part of it. hahah it was funny some congress people don't understand technology really well, so they were asking weird questions haha there was a guy asking if he emailed about black panther on whatsapp, facebook would send him adds hahahah
and Mark was saying no because it's fully encrypted I saw that I was laughing because you don't email on whatsapp hahaha
yeah I thought congress would talk to a specialist before writing their questions hha
I just think they should have more regulations about it.
Yeah, like for those little apps and games on facebook, when you use them and agree with their terms, you agree to share your friends info as well they should change that and only share the information of the person agreeing.
Really??? I didn't know that
yeah let's say you start playing a game and accept their terms, you're giving them permission to access my info as well
That's messed up you didn't agree with it
I know, and that's what I'm saying, it shouldn't be like that. Other thing that bothers me tons is that many of the sharing things come enabled by defaut like sharing your location on google and things like that they should be disabled by default and you should enable them if you wanted.
I agree Especially because many people don't know about it so they are sharing their information kind of unvoluntarily Yeah technology is growing and developing so fast that we don't have policies to control or to secure some aspects of it. That's challenging
I know, but they should have general regulatory rules about it. I just don't like the fact that these websites and services gather info on you, create almost like a dossie and them sell it to companies that will target you. They use your own habits and psychology to make you buy their product. All of that for money. It's becoming harder for people to get out of debt or to set priorities about the things they want and the things they need because companies are exploring weaknesses that people don't even know they have. It's kind of like trying to fight your subconscient, but your subconscient has a team to analyze your data develop campaigns and adds that will effectively work and hitting back with that
Humm I never thought about that, but now that you said It's very insightful because if they have all your info, browsing history, likes and shares history, and all of that, they can create that profile like you said, and it would be easier to manipulate you to buy those things, like they see you search for something twice in a week, then they can just send you a shiny email saying that the product has 10% off that would probably appeal to you
Yeah, that's right You know, I love technology but I try to be aware of those kind of things.
That's a good idea Especially if you study something that is technology related I like that you have the mentality of using technology, but not exploiting people in the process. If you're going to develop something, do it to help, not to make it worse
I'm with you on that one haha So... Do you like reading?
I do, but for the past few years I haven't been able to read a lot, school is tough. What about you ?
Yes, I just finished reading a book called Smarter Faster and Better by Charles Duhigg
What is it about?
Well, it's about productivity techniques. He talks about many things like motivation, mental models, setting goals and some other things.
What are the mental models?
Mental models is like visualizing the outcomes or your reaction to things. It's like having plan A, B, C... He tells a few stories, one is from a crew in a flight and how they panicked and made many errors that ended up in a tragedy. Then he talks about another crew in which the captain would talk to his crew and make mental models all the time. He would ask questions like, if this equipment breaks what should we do? And his crew would answer and  evaluate the answers, so basically their were constantly coming up with scenarios and training their minds to know what to do. They also had a problem in the air, but because of that training they didn't panic, they talked through it, and landed safely, even though the airplane was super destroyed. Everyone survived.
That's so cool. I didn't know about mentally training. Do you think that work for non-technical fields as well?
Yeah, absolutely. When I have to give a talk somewhere, I try to picture myself giving that talk and practice on my head. That helps me to practice and sometimes I come up with other examples or I expand more on some topics. That helps every time.
Maybe I should try that for my tests hahaha or presentations.
Yeah and if you exercise before you prepare your performance can also increase.
Really? why?
I read that one in another book that I finished last week
Wait, what? How many books do you read? How do you find time?
Well, I try to read 1 book a week, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't I usually take a few minutes in the morning and a few minutes at night before I go to bed. Honestly I found that the amount of minutes don't make a lot of difference. Consistency and focus help more than anything else.
Wow congrats Not everyone can pull that of during school year. So tell me about the other book about the exercise
Thank you hahaha Okay, so the name of the book is Spark. The book talks about the benefits of exercise on our brain. So the author presents some data from researches and she explains the data. One of the exemples was of a school that was one of the worst schools in the U.S. Then they start putting the kids to run in PA every morning before classes. The kids in that experiment started having more energy during the day, they were more focused, and their test scores were better than other students.
What is the relation they found in the study?
Apparently, when we exercise, some of the hormones and active parts of our brain are exactly the hormones and parts of the brain activated when we are happy. And you're more alert for longer. I don't remember the name of the hormones specifically, but the lesson I learned from the book is that exercising before studying is really good. And also it's good to help with addiction, depression and other problems.
Interesting, I want to read that one how is it called again?
Spark I forgot the author's name.
No worries I'm interested because I like exercising, so I want to learn more about that.
Yeah, sure, it's a great book.
I think you would like a book called Intuitive Eating
what is it about? Diets?
Not really, two dietitians talk about the misconceptions we have about the food we eat. They also talk about diets and how they are bad for you.
Interesting, what else?
They say people don't need to diet, rather they should eat until you start to get full and stop, but it's not full like you're going to explode. It's full like you are starting to get full. They also talk about knowing when to eat and not neglecting our body signal.
What signal?
When your stomach starts complaining it's hungry. They say you should look for that and try to figure out if you're hungry or just bored. Usually drinking some water helps you to know.
I will read that book. Do you think the library has it?
I don't know, but I bought one on Amazon for $10
That's super cheap. I will buy one.
Any other interesting books?
Yes, have you heard about the mindset by Carol S. Dweck?
No, what is it about?
It's about the fixed and growth mindset. Basically, if you believe you can learn and change you have the growth mindset, but you believe that people achieve things merely because of talent you have a fixed mindset People with fixed mindset don't like leaving their comfort zone because they want to show that they are in control, so trying something hard or new is a no go for them. People with growth mindset always value challenges and hard tasks, they take that as a learning opportunity.
So, what if I relate to both?
Yeah, that's possible, you can have a growth mindset for one thing and fixed to another. They did experiments and saw that some people have both mindsets, but the important thing is not letting the fixed mindset rule. hha So one important thing they said is that parents shouldn't praise their kids saying something like you are smart or anything that show the kids they were born with that innate talent. They should praise their hard work instead. Saying things like congrats for your hard work. Or demonstrating somehow that hard work is more important than talent.
That's cool. Many parents tell their children those kinds of things, and our society in general don't praise hard work, they praise talent.
True, no one wants to say that they studied for a class for a long time. Most people are proud for not studying at all.
Yeah they do that. Listen, I've been distracting you all afternoon. You said you would study.
True, I've been watching some lectures online while talking to you so that shouldn't be a problem. Unless you have to go
No, I'm okay. I just wanted to make sure. Do you like hiking?
Not really, I've hiked some places around here before, but hiking is not my favorite thing to do.
I understand. What hikes have you done before?
I did Angel's Landing, that was my first. I loved it. I did Stewart falls, Timpanogos, the Y mountain and others
That's quite a few for someone who doesn't like it.
Yeah, but I have who like it. So I just go with them. which one have you done?
I hiked the Y, Stewart falls, and many others. But I've never been in Zions National Park I heard it's pretty.
It is absolutely gorgeous. The red rocks with the trails and the trees. When you are going up on the shuttle, they tell you many stories, and you see how huge the mountains are.
How many trails do they have?
I'm not sure, I haven't done all of them. But you would love any of them for real. Unless you don't like nature, scenery, and all the great pictures you can take.
I love nature.
I just got an email saying that my ancestry DNA results will be ready in a few weeks I'm so excited
That's awesome
Yes, and a great idea, identifying cultural heritage and traces of many generations before you through your DNA.
Yeah. Like we were saying earlier, technology develops super fast. Where do you think your ancestors came from?
That's a good question. Brazil is a melting pot. My ancestors can be from Italy, Portugal, England, Spain, Greece, Africa, and pretty much any other country.
Someone told me once that there are many people from many different countries in Brazil. Is that true?
Yes, overtime, there were a lot of different immigration periods. People came from Japan, countries in South America and many others.
I guess that makes the difference
It does, you get used to the diversity and the benefits that come from it.
Cool, and how do you see diversity in the business world or technology world?
For me it's a matter of having different points of view. Many people believe diversity is just hiring minorities to some kind of job just to be compliant with regulations and policies. But what they don't really know is that diversity is more about having different opinions. If you have a group of people that have similar experiences, background and everything else, the way they think, the way they solve problems will be similar. But if you have different backgrounds, gender, economic level, etc. you will find many ideas that are great and were never possible otherwise. So I'm in favor of diversity. Give me your 2 cents on it.
I agree, I think there is power when we are welcoming and we try to understand the culture of the people around us we connect better with them and there is more respect and creativity.
It's a good opinion to have. People kind of don't respect each other a lot these days
They don't I read an article that Bill Gates wrote for the time magazine and he says that we are focusing on the negative things. He says that there are many reasons to be optimistic. I agree with him. TV and internet show us the bad things happening, but there are great things happening as well.
That's a good point. Yesterday I visited a mosque because I wanted to know more about them and their beliefs. It was a good experience.
Yeah? What do they do there?
They had their sunset prayer, then the leader taught something from the old testament, then I came home.
So it was pretty normal?
Yeah, they are very friendly. I still don't know many things about their beliefs, but the fact that we went there and they saw our respect for them shows that we have tolerance for differences. hahahah
I agree. Do they have people visiting all the time?
They said that some BYU students go there as part of an assignment for a class. So I think it that class that they study the world religions.
Oh that's cool. Did they teach anything you didn't know or that was very different?
Well, he was reading from the old testament of the Quran and he was explaining that Solomon could talk to birds and other animals. That was different because on the bible there's nothing about Solomon talking to animals. But he didn't read a lot, so I could compare the differences.
I don't think they would say anything super different when they have visitors.
That makes sense What kind of movie do you like watching?
All kinds why?
I saw a movie yesterday that was really cool. It's called Pele and it talks about the career of a soccer player from Brazil. The movie has great lessons. And it explains why brazilians play soccer different from the rest of the world
and why is that?
So, during the slavery time. Slaves developed a kind of martial arts called capoeira, so they practiced that as a dance so their owners wouldn't know. Some of them ran away to the jungle and when they came back capoeira was banned, so they started playing soccer as a way to practice some of the movements and express
That's so cool I would never imagine something like that. hahah
Me neither, but it was cool you should watch it, it's on Netflix
I wrote the name down. After Tuesday I can watch everything.
I can watch things after Saturday because I still have to pack my things, so I'll have to decide the things I don't want anymore and will donate. I also need to decide where to leave some of my things because I can't take it all with me. Oh and I need to find housing for next year
That sounds like a lot to do. Have you looked at the off campus housing website?
No yet. I was so worried about school that I didn't do a lot of things regarding housing for next year. But I want to find a place that is nice and possible have a private room.
Do you know what side of the campus?
Not really. I just want a cool place  with great people
You'll have a lot places to look for then. When do you come back?
The beginning of August.
You should look on the facebook page, people post contracts all the time. Some get engaged and have to sell it as soon as possible, so they are cheaper.
That's true. I am counting on that. What I really wanted is to have my own space, like a studio apartment where I could live by myself, decorate it, keep it clean, and these kind of things. But that would be expensive. Especially because I think of an studio apartment that has brick walls, wood flooring, and other features that can add costs.
I can see that getting expensive. But it would be a good idea. Having a studio apartment. Can you get a waiver for that?
It depends on the reasons why you want to live by yourself. It's technically doable, you just need to explain. Like Megamind says, It's all about presentation.
Hahahaha Can I tell you a summary of one of my readings? It helps me to memorize.
Sure, tell me.
So, the reading was about the theories on how to solve poverty in the world. One of the theories says that if everyone donate even if it's 1 dollar, that can take many people from poverty The guy behind this theory visits many poor countries and develops projects to help small communities.
That's cool What are the other theories?
There is one more. It says that when people give to much, they become dependent and do not work to improve their own lives. According to this other theory, the best way to help people is to teach them how to improve their own lives. Teach them the skills instead of just giving free money.
I also like that one. and I agree with both hahah Is there a theory that combines these two?
Maybe, but not in this reading.
That's an interesting reading.
Yeah, I read many interesting things for my classes. there was a book called sex and the world peace, and this book talks about how in many countries, specially very poor countries, they don't treat their women well. They are victims of many things. And the countries that treat their women well and have women in leadership positions are richer
Cool, women power
yep That's all we need
Yes, that goes back to diversity. and female wisdom I wonder if there were women at SpaceX when they sent a Tesla to space. I feel like any woman would say that isn't a good idea.
Wait? a car in space?
Yeah, a few months ago, they were testing their rocket, so they sent a car to space, and left it there. Just like that.
That's insane
a little bit Okay, I'll read a chapter of my book and I'll be back, don't end the chat
I'll do some reading to