You don`t come across many people in your lifetime that epitomize your values and everything you want yourself to be, but once in a while, you stumble upon someone that is capable of these things. Not only does this girl have admirable ambitions in life, a mature mindset and achievements beyond the average teen, but she has also has the heart to reflect on how she can be the best person she can possibly be. I’m glad to say that I’ve met someone of such esteem, the one, the only…. Rafaella Leitao!
Rafaella was born in Brazil and speaks Portuguese as her first language. Her family eventually moved to Montreal and then to Calgary, and within a time span of a few months, she managed to master the French and English languages by teaching it to herself. In an effort to practice the languages, she found herself reading the entire Harry Potter series around 14 times in Portuguese, French, and English. And this is exactly what amazes me most about Rafaella; it is her ability to juggle her passion for learning along with her extracurricular activities. Within the school year, she’s involved in soccer and field hockey, concert band, and musical theatre (I went to go see her in the Queen Elizabeth School production of the Sound of Music, and oh boy, her voice is angelic *-*). On top of that, she takes Advanced Placement (AP) courses in physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics just for the purpose of challenging herself. It’s also no surprise that she excels in all that she does. The amount of effort she puts into her work is what I admire the most. She always aims for her work to be of utmost quality; a work that would be indicative of her hard work and pride. If it were anything less, it wouldn’t be worth handing in.
But wait! That’s not it~
Not many teens take time out of their daily schedules to contribute to a worthy cause purely because they have a passion for it. Rafa took up a significant leadership role when she decided to advocate for universal education. But she made it look so easy because of her amazing work ethic, independent learning style, hard work, and determination. So in 2007, when Rafaella and her brother, Gabriel, moved to Montreal, they decided to study ahead of the Quebec curriculum. During that process, they compiled educational videos and materials to put together a website – CosmoLearning. Since then, they’ve helped over 2 million undergrads, teachers, homeschoolers, professionals, and avid learners in all subject areas (such as Anthropology, Art, Computer Science, Business Management, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Law etc.) with more than 1,700 documentaries, 11,800 video lectures, and 1,200 videos. They have garnered over 2,600 Facebook fans in more than 110 countries. Not only has their website reached out to global learners, but it has also affected the local community since peers, students, and teachers all use their website to further their knowledge (in fact, I encourage you to use the website next time you need homework help ;D). Their mission statement is to centralize educational and cultural resources in a variety of formats, allowing anyone in the world to educate themselves and succeed in their lives.
Despite being a busy bee with her studies, extracurricular activities, and CosmoLearning, Rafa still has the time to be a charmingly sweet girl and a dedicated friend. If I ever find myself confused about school work, she will go out of her way to dig through her resources to help me learn my material. And part of that owes itself to the fact that she is a curious and constant learner. She is the type of friend that will come find you and check up on you just to see if you had a good day at school. Just writing this makes me smile.
Rafaella is a true leader within the global and local community. Globally, she works to better the world through the spread of accessible education, and at home, she consistently works as a role model in bettering herself as a student, friend and person. It is admirable to see people like Rafa use personal initiative and integrity to advocate for meaningful causes, and ask for nothing in return. I know I’ll see great things from her in the future.