Ghislain Brenda Trindade

What is your favorite campus tradition?
Drummer’s Circle in front of Main Building the night before football games

What is your favorite spot on campus?
The loft of Carole Sandner Hall

What is your best Notre Dame memory?
Realizing I had 15 pairs of winter socks, 4 beanies, 4 pairs of gloves and 4 scarves by peak winter of freshman year when I only had one scarf to start with.

What is your favorite Dining Hall Meal?
Eggs from South Dining Hall’s omelet bar, and s'mores bars with ice cream

What is your favorite thing about dorm life?
Being able to easily meet people from different places, all studying and doing different things, because they all live with you

What clubs/activities are you involved in?
Women in Math Club, Math Club, being an announcer at the WSND radio station, Actuarial Science Club, Irish For The Ronald McDonald House Club, being a multicultural commissioner in my dorm, McGlinn!

What made you choose Notre Dame?
The close-knit community, the academic rigour, their Applied Math program and the alumni network

What is your favorite part about being an international student at Notre Dame?
Meeting pretty much anybody, be they American or an international student, is definitely an experience because I get to learn about their life before ND and they love learning about mine!

How did you adjust to life on campus?
I made a group of amazing friends who helped me learn about life and culture here, and people just accept you and make you feel like you’re really home here under the Dome

How do you celebrate your culture/heritage at ND?
By talking to other students here about where I’m from and what home is like, and by telling people that the naans and falafels in the dining hall could be better

What advice do you have for international students?
Don’t be afraid to go out and talk to people! Students come to Notre Dame from all over the US just like international students come here from all over the world, so everyone has a different story of where they’re from and what brought them here. Just listening to all those stories makes you realize that you’re not alone here, you’re part of something bigger—the Notre Dame family.