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| Claudia Rodrigues |
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| Claudia Rodrigues |
More than a year ago I met Claudia Rodrigues, a charming girl from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She is a visiting scholar at the University of Illinois, working towards her Ph.D. in Molecular Parasitology. I vividly remember the incident when we met each other. New to Urbana-Champaign and the first time out of her home country, she had made very few acquaintances. With tornado warnings, common to Champaign in the month of April, all the people in the building had often to go to the basement for shelter. Never having heard of tornadoes before in her life, Claudia was sitting alone, scared in one corner. I approached her and got into a general conversation. I got to know Shola Sulaimon (Nigeria) about the same time who also got into the picture of this wonderful trio friendship. Though living in Orchard Downs, Claudia soon became a part of the Cosmo family, participating in all our activities. It is amazing to see the transformation of a shy girl I knew into a bold, sophisticated person, hosting two Brazilian Coffee Hours and being in charge of two Brazilian dinners at the Cosmopolitan Club.
In the first coffee hour we witnessed some aspects of Brazilian dances such as the Lambada, Samba, Meringue, etc. The demonstration was awesome. The audience loved the music and dance and later tried some of the dance moves. Angelo Pasacale, a Kinesiology graduate student, was her dance partner for the occasion. He says, "First of all I would thank Cosmo for giving me the chance to get to know Claudia. She was looking for a dance partner to perform with her during the Brazilian Coffee Hour, and I was the only guy who was not shy to accept her invitation. And we've been dancing together from that day on. She is supportive with friends, bright in her work, sensitive with those who need her and very talented as an artist. A pretty girl, she always finds time to stay with all of her numerous friends and gives them a great time."
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| Corcovado |
Claudia goes together with Fabio and Paula for another great performance at the dinner she hosted. The exotic food was delicious, accompanied by pleasing entertainment of Brazilian music. Today the group has grown into a full-fledged band, Corcovado. Fabio Konder, graduate student in Computer Science, one of the lead players of the band, says, "Hearing Claudia singing for the first time was a pleasant surprise. When we later joined the Corcovado band, Claudia continued to please us with her beautiful voice. She is always pushing us to play new songs and planning new gigs. It's great to have her with us." The band has become popular, drawing big audiences with a growing group of selective fans. They have even given performances at the Bread Company, WEFT festival, Borders, and the Cosmopolitan Club.
Claudia is a diligent researcher at the laboratory. At the workplace she is very focused and dedicated to her work. Sergio Uyemura, her co-worker at the lab says, "Claudia was the first person I met when I joined the lab. She is very serious about her work, pushing herself hard, sometimes getting stressed out, but at the same time she is very funny!" Indeed, she is a successful researcher with many papers published in reputable journals.
Claudia, a loveable personality to get acquainted with, I feel very lucky having met her and I wish our friendship may last a lifetime.
Pratik Singh, a Cosmopolitan Club resident and graduate student in Veterinary Pathobiology at U of I. |
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