Meet Luis de Carvalho Leao

Now that we are through the opening of the year, my goal will be to regularly introduce you to a member of the Winchendon community between my other musings.

Luis de Carvalho Leao is in his second year here at Winchendon, where he is working hard to get into a pre-med program. His journey has been a long one, the kind that stories are written about. He told me about arriving at Winchendon a little over a year ago and walking into his first class. There his teacher, who coincidentally was Coach Byrnes, asked him to read. There was a problem…Luis knew little English and was even less confident in his ability to read.

It may have been long journey from Brazil, but the academic and educational journey that Luis has been on is even more impressive. Luis’ spoken English today is incredibly strong, and he talks about Edgar Allen Poe being a favorite author. When we started talking, I had just assumed that he had grown up in a bilingual family. Assumptions can be dangerous. Luis clearly has taken advantage of the opportunity to immerse himself in the Winchendon experience.

Today, Luis is in the midst of his college search, and is focusing on several Ivy League and other top tier schools. He is preparing for the SAT’s next weekend and the upcoming basketball season while also being a proctor on West Wing. Then there are the applications… It’s a busy time on top of an already full Winchendon schedule.

When I asked Luis where in the world he might like to visit, he didn’t hesitate to mention that he would like to get back to see his family in the south of Brazil. It’s been almost eighteen months since he has had the chance to get home to see his mother, father and ten year old brother. He is able to check in with them each weekend on Skype, but he would love to get home for some barbecue and Feijoada, a bean-based dish.

In closing, I asked Luis if he had anything to say to students considering coming to Winchendon. His response was “If you are looking for a school where you don’t have to do much work, this is not the right school.” We must be keeping him busy! Luis certainly seems to be making the most of the Winchendon opportunity.