HS History teacher, Ms. Marina Procópio, is the guest for our September edition interview. This is her 6th year teaching in EARJ Barra. Marina was born and raised in Brasília, and has been living in Rio with her husband Eduardo for a couple of years. She is happy to live near the beach, something she has always wanted, but she misses the food and parties in June from her hometown.
PP: Why did you choose to study history?
MP: I was in 5th grade and it was the first time we had an actual history teacher, since before that we only had social studies teachers, and this teacher was so smart, interesting and I loved her classes. That's when I decided where I wanted to be a history teacher too. There was also the influence of my mom, who was also a teacher (math and physics).
PP: What is your favourite topic to teach your students?
MP: I really love teaching about wars, because I think that it's exciting. It helps us understand human suffering, which I know sounds really bad, but I think it's interesting, there is a lot of action, excitement and battles. Plus, it is much more fun to teach something when the students also enjoy it. Lately I have been teaching Global politics, which is really exciting too. Global politics is a new subject that is not really politics, but it is very interesting.
PP: If you had a time machine, where/when would you travel to?
MP: I would rather not live in the past, as it was really dangerous. But I would love to visit ancient Egypt, because it was probably beautiful and interesting, I would be mesmerized! We know a lot about ancient Egypt, nevertheless we have no idea of how language sounds or how women’s dresses really worked and others.
PP: Have you ever worked with anything else besides teaching?
MP: I have worked as a school coordinator. Also when I was very young, I worked in an archive to help organize the archives.
PP: Do you plan on having kids?
MP: I would love to have kids. Two, maybe a boy and a girl. I think that is a next step for me and my husband, but we are waiting for covid to be over, because I am a little bit scared of running into risks.
PP: Do you own any pets?
MP: Yes I do, I have two cats, and one of them is a kitten. So cute!
PP: If you had 3 wishes, what would you ask for?
MP: For personal wishes: 1- I have a back problem, which is called scoliosis. Unfortunately, there is no surgery for this, therefore I would love to get this fixed. 2- I would love to have a happy family and never get divorced. 3- I would wish for my mom to live 100 more years, because I love her, and I think it would be really tragic if she passed away.
For world wishes, I would love to see the United Nations work better, because I think they are so important for our world. But it's not as efficient as we hope it could be, so I would appreciate seeing it working better. Also, I would wish for us to find a solution for climate change, something that we can get working fast. Because all the solutions depend a lot on politics and it might never happen.
PP: What is your favorite story?
MP: My favorite book is The Island Under the Sea, by an author called Isabel Allende, she’s chilean. It’s a beautiful story. It's a historical novel about a woman who was enslaved in Haiti during the revolution. My favorite movie, it’s from Studio Ghibli. There is this movie that I watched as a kid and I love it to this day, it’s called Kiki’s Delivery Service. I identify with Kiki, if I were to be a character from a movie I would be Kiki.
PP: What was your favorite trip?
MP: On my honeymoon, I visited a lot of Japanese gardens. I really like gardens. There was this garden that was right outside of a museum and I almost didn’t go because I was tired from going up and down the stairs. It was eight floors, and it was a very hot day. I was tired. We had already bought the tickets for the garden so we decided to go, and it was so beautiful. It was probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. There were a lot of little lagoons, blue trees, bridges and they had cats too! I had the best time, but then I tripped and opened my knee. I was bleeding. Then a random guy stopped and gave me a band-aid and told me to be careful. Even with the accident, I had the best time.
PP: What makes you cry?
MP: A lot of things. I’ll just imagine a certain circumstance and I'll start sobbing. I cry very easily.
PP: Has Mr Fernando ever scared you?
MP: No, he’s very polite with me. I know he scares the students but he is very polite with me.
PP: If you could have any superhero power, what power would you have and why?
MP: I would like to be able to read people’s minds. I think it’s a dangerous power to have, but if there could be the ability to switch it on and off, it would be nice.
PP: How is MUN going?
MP: It's going great! I’m just a bit concerned with the decrease in the number of delegates, but I really like the new kids who joined. I’m really happy they joined. We’re preparing ourselves for a conference next weekend. I’m excited because this year I'm helping organize a national conference called BRAMUN. It’s my favorite conference too. It will take place at this beach, some students are going to be online, but others are going to travel to the resort. It’s all included and the food is great. We have so much fun. It’s almost a dream come true! I’ve been going to these conferences for almost 10 years, and it’s my first time organizing it. I'm very happy.
PP: Say the first thing that comes to your mind:
MP: Love - My husband
Students - My friends
Food- Pizza
Actor - Orlando Bloom
Music - MPB
Money - I’m very bad with money
Avengers - Overrated
Disney - It has been better
Mr Fernando - Great guy
PP: What message would you like to share with EARJ students?
MP: Life is too short, so make sure that school doesn't make you nervous or sad. When you're older you are going to look back and think of these as nice days because you were with your friends. So try to enjoy school if you can.
"I would love to have a happy family and never get divorced, and I would wish for my mom to live 100 more years, because I love her!"'
Marina and Eduardo in front of the Osaka Castle, in Japan. Photo: Marina Procópio
Marina and Eduardo's wedding. Photo: Marina Procópio
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