Born in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil 24 years ago, Karina is a native to South America, and is fluent in Portuguese. However, her birthplace of Campinas isn’t the only place Karina has called home. In 2014, just a few years before arriving in Marquette, Karina participated in an exchange program that landed her in Rockport, Texas. Here she attended Rockport High School and experienced the United States as a student for the first time. As a senior during her time at Rockport, she got to experience graduation at the end of her exchange program. While graduation in itself is a grand accomplishment, for Karina, graduating from an American highschool was especially meaningful. Later that year, after her graduation, Karina moved back home to Brazil. 

Dreaming of a change of pace and ready for the next new experience Karina didn’t stay in Brazil for long. In 2017, only 2 short years after returning to Campinas, Karina had the opportunity to play collegiate soccer at Florida National University in Miami, Florida. Receiving an offer as great as this was exciting for Karina, so without wasting much time, she accepted. She spent the first 2 years of her college career here, playing soccer and focusing on academics under the warm, sunny rays of southern Florida. A place that is more closely related to South America than it’s 47 other counterparts and more importantly, never sees all that much snow. 

And then, before you could say ‘nomadic’, Karina was in the midst of yet another life changing decision. When her girlfriend, Isabel, was recruited to play collegiate soccer. This time not in tropical Miami, Florida but in Marquette, Michigan at Northern Michigan University. As people say: life comes at you fast; and in Karina’s life that expression was never more literal. Fortunately for Karina, she’s adaptable and as her track record shows, she can find success anywhere she decides to go. Ready to begin their new chapter together, Karina and Isabel packed their bags, got on a plane and moved to the home of the Wildcats. Not long after their arrival Karina became a Wildcat herself and started another journey. This time not by moving across the globe but as a student and entrepreneur on the Southern Shores of Lake Superior in Michigan’s (very cold and snowy) Upper Peninsula.