Mr. Andrew Russo granted us an amazing interview for this month’s edition! We invited
our Upper School Counselor and got to know more of who he is!
PP. What is your favorite thing about EARJ?
AR. The student population is really different from the other international schools I’ve worked
at. Most of the schools I’ve worked at were real international schools. In Denmark, at the
school I worked, there were students from 62 different nationalities. Here, most of our
students are Brazilian, which allows me to have a better understanding and contact with
the specific culture.
PP. If you could change one thing in our school, what would it be?
AR. I have to think of answers that are not going to get me into trouble! At the moment, I
wish I could have a magic wand that brought everyone back to campus, and made COVID
end. Besides that kind of answer, I wish that we had a more intense sports program. I am
a volleyball coach, and when I played ball at high school we would play every weekday,
and sometimes on Saturdays as well. I think that EARJ has a lot of skill, I know many
talented athletes, and I would like to see more of a balance between academics and
sports at EARJ.
PP. What’s your favorite thing about the students at EARJ?
AR. I think they are more open and friendly. It has a lot to do with the Brazilian culture.
People here are friendly, warm and open. I don’t mean to sound negative, but when I
lived in Denmark, I would meet someone outside of school, and it felt like they were not
taking new “friendship applications.” They were more closed off and not very open. Here
at EARJ, since day one, I met the kids in the gym and since then, they have been coming to
my office and being friendly and open.
PP. How has your experience in Rio been like for you?
AR. I have only been here for a year, I arrived at the end of 2019, and since then, with the
pandemic situation, I’d say this year has been weird. As of my experience with Rio, it’s
been a very positive one. As foreigners, when we intend to move to a place, we have
certain expectations and projections of what the place looks like. I had traveled around
South America before, but never had to Brazil, before moving here. I knew that Brazil was
different from many of the places in South America, but I expected some sort of Latin
culture. And my experience in Rio has been different and very positive!
What do you miss the most about your hometown?
Besides family and close friends, usually the food. I have been living outside of America
for 20 years, the thing that I miss is sometimes food. I come from New York, we are
famous for two things: pizza, and bagels. Ms. Boutilier has turned me on to a very good
pizza place, it’s in Ipanema, and it has delivery. It’s not New York good, but it’s pretty
good. But I haven’t found a place that has good bagels yet.
PP. What do you miss the most about your hometown?
AR. Besides family and close friends, usually the food. I have been living outside of America
for 20 years, the thing that I miss is sometimes food. I come from New York, we are
famous for two things: pizza, and bagels. Ms. Boutilier has turned me on to a very good
pizza place, it’s in Ipanema, and it has delivery. It’s not New York good, but it’s pretty
good. But I haven’t found a place that has good bagels yet.
PP. What was your favorite school subject when you were in high school?
AR. When I was in high school I took a class which was called “Marine Studies”, and I thought
that later in life I wanted to be an Ocean Biologist. That was a really cool class. Later, in
college, I was a Sociology major and took a class called “Deviant.” Deviants are the
people who don’t follow the norms. We would learn about serial killers, people who light
up buildings on fire, pedophiles, and not that it is great to learn about them, but it was
so different from every other class I have had before. It shows you that there are many
crazy people out there in the world, and it made me realize I was a pretty normal person.
I felt better about myself after I knew I wasn’t as crazy as the rest of those guys.
PP. What else in the world have you worked?
AR. I’ve had so many. I, as the Career Advisor, would say that teaching kids to try many
different opportunities as experiences is the best for them. I could tell you 10 out of 30
jobs I’ve had in life. Having this amount of experience helps you choose what’s best for
you in life. I was a bartender, a waiter, worked at a car wash, worked in construction, did
tile work, and never got to an office job until I was 20, when I moved to California.
PP. What does being a teacher at EARJ mean to you?
AR. It means being part of a family. Here, more than anywhere else I’ve worked, it’s a
tightened community. It is more of who we are as a group. Every time I begin a New
Student Orientation, the first thing I say to the students is “welcome to the EARJ family”.
PP. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
AR. I’ll be 51 at that time, and probably still working. I’m not sure I can say “I’ll definitely be
in America” or “I’ll definitely be in Brazil.” But my family is getting older, and they always
question me about when I’ll be back to NYC. And eventually I’ll have to be back. So, my
guess is that I’ll be back in NYC, working for an International School there.
PP. What message do you have for EARJ students?
AR. Especially now, things can sometimes seem difficult. The hill can sometimes feel deep.
But the light is always at the end of the tunnel. And to get to that light, we have a big
family around us to support. The teachers are always there, me, as a counselor, and a
very big supportive team. Sometimes it can feel difficult to keep a positive mindset, but
my hope is that we will be back in school for the next couple of months.
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