Students of YL Series: Sophia Bernat

The Chris de Reemer overlooks the bustling favelas and Ipanema beaches in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Sophia Bernat and her twin sister Susana Bernat together made the over 2,000-mile journey from Brazil to California to pursue their intellectual curiosity for learning about American culture and exposing themselves to the various activities offered at Yorba Linda High School. 

Sophia shares in an interview “What made me want to come was the idea of experiencing a new environment and improving my English. Also, this school’s emphasis on sports interested me, since I really enjoy dance and volleyball.” Her decision to study abroad was something not a lot of her peers were thinking about, but having her twin sister Susana by her side helped ease the process of studying in America. She shares, “I probably wouldn’t have come [without my sister]. I am with my sister 24/7 during our free time, school, volleyball, dance, and English. So if I were to suddenly come here alone and be without her, it would make things really hard. Considering how hard it’s been being away from my friends and family in Brazil, I can’t imagine how hard it would be to also have to be away from my sister.”

Furthermore, Sophia’s favorite part about studying in America is the Career and Tech class. She talks about how even though she enjoys math and writing, she’s not sure about what she wants to pursue yet. She talks about how “One of my classes here is CCR, which is a class that’s supposed to help you choose your career path. I think that’s a great class because not only can it help you not only academically, but it can help you in deciding what you want to do with your life. So I don’t know yet, but these classes are really helping me to decide.” 

The career and tech class is just one of the things Sophia admires about Yorba Linda High School. She also appreciates our school culture and how it’s a culture shock from her school in Brazil. She shares how “This is the first time I’ve gone to a different school and the first thing I noticed was people’s willingness to help, which was amazing! Another thing I noticed is how the students have huge pride in representing their school and how competitive it gets with revival institutions, especially when it comes to sports.”