When Luana Nascimento was six years old, she was not dreaming of college or moving countries; she just wanted to play soccer with her older brother in the streets of Cariacica, Brazil.
“He taught me how to pass, how to shoot, how to read the game,” she says. “I just wanted to play with him and his friends.”
Nascimento, now a second-year Psychology major, left behind a spot on Brazil’s Juventude’s under-20 team to pursue a dual path in academics and soccer in the U.S.
“The promise of combining higher education with competitive soccer, something rarely possible in Brazil, was enough to make me chase a new life abroad,” she says. But she says the transition was not easy.
Nascimento’s path began with a sports agency that connects international athletes with American colleges. These agencies assess a student’s academic performance, athletic skills, and preferences before matching them with potential schools.
However, before playing on a U.S. athletic field or receiving any academic scholarship, students face a complex process involving visa interviews, English proficiency tests, and financial planning.
Celina Oliveira, a second-year business student from Portugal, says, “[My family was] happy for me, but they were also scared. It’s America. There is a lot going on.”
She says she chose Mercer not only for its proximity to New York City but also because people “were really nice. The coaches, the international girls…It felt like home in a way.”
However, Sarah Kircher, a second-year liberal arts major from Germany, says, “American culture is very different. People say and promise things but then don’t really keep them. Stuff just changes out of nowhere.”
According to Kircher, she had to navigate transportation, the reality of limited on-campus job availability, and figure out academic credit requirements largely on her own.
Nascimento says, “You wake up early, go to class, train in the afternoon, and by the time you are home, you’re dead tired. Then you still have to find time to study.”
On the administrative side, the transition paperwork for these students is anything but simple.
According to Eric Grundman, MCCC’s Athletic Director, “there’s a myriad of boxes that need to be checked; transcripts need to be translated, appointments with consulates have to be set up, and they have to work with both our staff and their country’s agencies.”
“We’ve created a reputation that brings international student-athletes to us,” Grundman continues. “The world is changing, and our Athletic Program looks like the world. We have student-athletes from every corner of the globe, and I believe that prepares them to succeed in an increasingly diverse world.”
While some, like Oliveira, are continuing their journey to four-year programs, others, like Kircher, plan to return home and complete their education abroad.
“I don’t see my future here,” she says frankly. “Germany is home.”
As the political climate in the U.S. continues to change, especially with ICE restrictions being lifted, the future of the international community at Mercer is unclear.
According to Qasim Khan’, Head Coach of the Women’s Tennis Team, “I’ve gotten emails about what to look out for, if God forbid anything happens,” but no decisive instructions or protocols were given.
Head Coach of the Men’s Tennis Team, Andrew Stoll, says, “I try to make sure that I have enough local players so that if something does happen, I’m still able to keep it going and keep competing.” He adds, “I don’t know how else to deal with it, I mean, it’s a conversation that we probably have to have at some point.”
Operations Manager at International Student Services, Nicole Hover, declined to comment while Recruitment Coordinator Lisa Bogdziewicz did not respond to requests for comment.
For now, Nascimento says, “I don’t even know what I’m doing here sometimes. I’ve invested so much already; I just want to finish what I started.”
