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The world is her stage.

Deborah Belintani Rosa plopped down in front of the Pantheon and started to draw. The former Roman temple served as a backdrop for Rosa’s sketch as she documented the moment over spring break.

It was her first visit to Rome and the opportunity came thanks to Dr. Marie Gasper-Hulvat’s class abroad to study Baroque art. Growing up in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Rosa always dreamed of traveling to Italy’s capital.

Now, she was there, capturing the ancient city through her contemporary lens.

A theater production major at �鶹ӰԺ at Stark, Rosa’s studies brought her to the United States, where she lives with her father, Sergio, a Goodyear employee. “It is a great opportunity to study in America,” the 18-year-old said.

A recipient of the 2018 Run the World Scholarship and student worker in the Office of Global Education Initiatives, she came to the United States “to know about the culture and, consequently, have more knowledge.

“The situation in Brazil is hard,” Rosa explained. “Money that should be helping the poor, or going toward schools, is not.”

Her hometown’s streets often served as a harsh divide. “There was a very fancy side and a very poor side,” said Rosa, who, even as a young girl, saw the inequity that spanned her neighborhood. “I wanted to make a difference.”

She naturally gravitated toward the stage. There, everyday problems are solved.

“We can see the positive change that takes place when people are transformed by what is happening,” said Rosa, who witnessed that firsthand during �鶹ӰԺ State Stark’s spring production of “26 Pebbles”, a docudrama recounting the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

As she directed the stage lights toward the actors, illumination resonated in more ways than one. “Director Brian Newberg shared with us how one audience member changed his mind about guns after seeing this play,” Rosa said. “That’s the thing that I love about the theater.”

This sophomore is determined to make her mark on the world, be it in Canton, Sao Paulo or Rome, through the transformative power of the stage.

This story was featured in the .