Emily Riley Gomez is an Academic Year 2022-2023 undergraduate FLAS fellow studying Portuguese. Emily is majoring in Biology and is part of the Pre-Health and Pre-Med programs.

"I was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and lived there for 7 years before I left for London, Ontario, Canada. Once I moved to Canada, I never spoke Portuguese again and slowly forgot my native language. Ever since then I have felt detached from my country and from my culture which was very upsetting, so I decided to immerse myself in Portuguese when I began college. Ever since then I have gained so much appreciation for the language and Brazilian culture, and I am so excited to continue learning this beautiful language so that one day I can go home and speak to my friends and family fluently again.

I plan on becoming a pediatrician in the future and want to use the languages I learn to help immigrant children explain their symptoms comfortably and effectively in their native language."