Across the lawn, groups of people gathered with binoculars in hand, trying to catch a glimpse inside. Five months after receiving their green cards, Deborah Gonçalves and her father accepted Michelle Obama’s invitation to the first Kids’ State Dinner and gazed out the White House window at the spectators below.

Gonçalves seems like the typical King’s student with a PPE major and history minor. After hearing her reminisce over the presidential election between McCain and Obama at age eight, applying for the Kids’ State Dinner after hearing about it on the local news, and attending the National Youth Leadership Forum at age 16, Gonçalves is not so typical.

Right down the street from the 9/11 Memorial, Gonçalves lives next to a little Chinese noodle cafe and across from the ongoing clamor of construction. Upon entering her apartment, Gonçalves sits atop her bed, surrounded by highlighters, notebooks, and paper. With midterms week coming to a close, she mentioned she was currently in the process of booking a later flight back from Spring Break to New York City. She began sharing her story over the fuzzy jazz of American Airlines’ on-hold music.

Gonçalves shared how her parents, Afonso and Gerusa Pereira Gonçalves, moved from Brazil to the U.S with only $400. They settled in Florida to join a church in connection with their church back in Brazil. Eight months later things fell through with their home church and they found themselves stuck in the states. Then, 9/11 struck, entangling her parents in new immigration policies; adding to the disarray, her mom began to feel sharp stomach pains. Doctors first attributed her mother’s symptoms to a parasite until five months later when they discovered it was a baby.

“I was born into chaos,” Gonçalves said. “I am chaos.”

With the constant trips to the immigration office with her dad, the impact of DACA on families in her community, and the conversations she found herself in the middle of, acting as a translator, it was revealed to Gonçalves the disconnect between what was being passed in government and the people it affected. Seeing new immigration policies go through, seeing people get deported, she would never choose to be an immigration lawyer. However, growing up saturated in the lives of those around her, she expressed her drive to become active in public policy or local government. As a first-generation college student at home and in her church, it’s her family and community's support that raised her up, and now she carries the responsibility to persist for what’s right.

“We’re building off the foundation of people previous to us,” she said. “If I stop, I'm not honoring everything that came before me.”

From left to right, Deborah Gonçalves, MichelIe Obama and Afonso Gonçalves stand in the White House for the first Kids’ State Dinner. I Photo courtesy of Deborah Gonçalves

One Thursday morning, in the days leading up to College Decision Day, she was crying. A denial letter from George Washington University filled the laptop screen. Tuesday she received a note from Harvard—deferred. Friday she deposited for her fall semester. No time to wait to hear from Harvard; she was going to King’s.

In a city of around 8 million people, at a school of about 500 students, she fell in love with King’s. From the start of her Freshman year, August 2018, professors welcomed her political and historical nerdiness and encouraged her to spill it out on paper. With essays such as The Politics of Greek Tragedy and Constitutionalism in the Book of Joshua, she did just that.

As she tackles her goals, Gonçalves leaves behind a trail of inspired friends and family. Catherine Blanco, a fellow student and close friend to Gonçalves, expressed that she wishes to one day have the humility and servitude of Gonçalves.

A young boy’s mother from the Gonçalves’ church in Florida shared that since she left to study at The King’s College, he seized his school books and stopped laying around.

“If Deborah did it, I can,” he told his mother.

Within moments she was grinning. Then she was sharing an opinion. Next, she was laughing at herself. Her personality leads any conversation. Gonçalves mentioned that she’ll graduate from King’s without having one female professor and only one of color. However, she remains optimistic and likes to find ways to serve and lead at the institution she loves. For Gonçalves, it’s not all about winning or achieving, it’s about people and pursuing what’s right.

“We’re made of relationships … People are my motivation … Our culture is so obsessed with status, but local makes just as much of a difference,” she said. “As one of my professors always says, ‘You don’t have to be great to be good. Strive to be good.’ … So you can find me one day chilling in my local government.”

Deborah Gonçalves: Chaos Meets Purpose