Kent State American Academy student Alexandre Andrade sat barefoot in a Chinese business meeting last summer, dressed in a suit but without shoes or socks, sipping tea with manufacturing executives.
It wasn't what Andrade expected when he left his hometown of Curitiba, Paran獺, Brazil, where he was enrolled in the American Academy, a dual-enrollment program offered jointly by Kent State and the (PUCPR), located in Curitiba.
But the 21-year-old, who is majoring in marketing and entrepreneurship at the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship, has learned to embrace cultural differences during his international journey to Ohio.
"That's their culture," Andrade said. "If I don't do it, they're going to think, 'Oh my God, what are you doing?' I treat people the way I want to be treated. I always have empathy."
The business trip to China came through a summer internship in Florida with International Trading and Consulting, where Andrade worked as a sales representative and marketing consultant. When the company's Brazilian owner, who is friends with Andrades father, needed someone fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese for meetings in China and Vietnam, he asked the Kent State student to join him.
"It was an amazing opportunity," said Andrade, who works as sales manager for Flash Media Advertising in Kent States student media department. "I took a lot of pictures, did a lot of videos, and mainly did a lot of networking."
Launched in July 2018, the American Academy allows students to complete their first two years of undergraduate study in Brazil at the PUCPR campus, taking Kent State classes taught in English by Kent State faculty members, and earning academic credit from both universities simultaneously.
The programs curriculum follows a liberal arts education model. This four-semester program includes the Kent Core as well as additional courses that help students explore different majors. The classes are taught in English by Kent State professors, so students receive a global education experience before even leaving home.
At the end of the two years at the American Academy, students will earn the Kent State Associate of Science degree and may then complete an undergraduate degree at the Kent Campus or at PUCPR. Students planning to come to the Kent Campus can choose from a range of majors, including architecture, business, fashion design, computer animation and game design, computer science and physics.
Andrade served as president of the academy's student board during his sophomore year, managing a program that grew to 175 students.
Students from across Brazil relocate to Curitiba for the program. 91勛圖厙 60 to 65 percent of academy students have never traveled outside Brazil before coming to the United States, Andrade said.
The transition proved easier for Andrade, who was enrolled in private English classes at the age of 8, and completed his senior year of high school in Kokomo, Indiana, as an exchange student in 2021-22. His first visit to the U.S. came at the age of 10 with his uncle.
Andrade offers support to other Brazilian students studying at Kent State who belong to the American Academy family.
"It's not going to be easy if you really want to go to a different level of your life, Andrade said. But at the same time, you're going to have a family around you where people are supporting each other."
Learn MOre about the American Academy.