One evening when she was nine years old, São Paulo native Yasmin Paiva de Siqueira was watching television with her parents. She heard language she could not understand. 

She turned to her father, who identified it in Portuguese. It was English. 

“My parents had enrolled me in an English language school, hoping to give me opportunities they had not had and to prepare me for a more competitive future,” Siqueira said. “The memory of that moment has stayed with me all this time. I wondered whether I would ever understand what I was hearing without subtitles or ever be able to speak it myself.” 

Siqueira’s family history is shaped by movement across Brazil and by the pursuit of education. Her parents both grew up in small Brazilian cities but relocated to São Paulo to seek expanded educational and professional opportunities. 

In her home, education was tied closely to mobility and access. Over time, Siqueira became increasingly interested in the ways language shapes understanding and cultural connection. 

She earned her undergraduate degree in literature, Portuguese, and English from the University of São Paulo, where she developed interests in Lusophone and comparative literature. Lusophone studies focus on the cultures, histories, and literatures connected through the Portuguese language across countries and regions. 

In 2023, Siqueira received a Fulbright scholarship to serve as a Foreign Language Teaching Assistant in Portuguese at Spelman College. Teaching Portuguese in an English-speaking environment deepened her interest in language instruction and cultural exchange. 

This spring, Siqueira completed her master’s degree in Romance languages at UGA's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. She is a first-generation graduate student and the first person in her family to earn a master’s degree. 

At Franklin, she focused on Portuguese and Brazilian literature. In a seminar taught by associate professor Cecília Rodrigues titled “Trajectories of Displacement in Brazilian Literature,” she developed a paper that later became a published article. The work received honorable mention in the inaugural Romance Languages Distinguished Research Publication Award. 

“Since the beginning of her studies with me, Yasmin’s strong work ethic and intellectual ambition stood out,” said Rodrigues. “She truly savored every opportunity to learn and to hone her research skills. It is remarkable how much she has learned and matured during her Master’s at Franklin.” 

This fall, Siqueira will begin a Ph.D. program in Portuguese and Brazilian studies at Brown University. Her research will continue to focus on Lusophone literature, language, and cultural exchange, alongside her ongoing interest in teaching. 

She still remembers hearing English on television as a child in São Paulo. What once felt distant and unfamiliar became the foundation of her academic and professional path.