Living Her Educational Dreams

March 2026

Luana Freitas followed a nontraditional path to Ensign College. She grew up in Brazil and started her educational journey by earning a law degree in her home country and then enrolling in BYU–Pathway Worldwide and earning a certificate through BYU–Idaho.

Later, while working as a nanny in France, Freitas decided it was time to live her ultimate dream of attending college in the United States. After crunching the numbers, she realized that this might be possible if she attended Ensign College. Throughout the appli­cation process, says Freitas, “many miracles happened. Lots of things happened that I had absolutely no con­trol over that led me to Ensign. Everything just worked out, and I felt like I should be here at Ensign.” Following these impressions, she took a leap of faith and headed to Utah.

The moment Freitas started attending Ensign College, she knew that the school would be perfect for her. She says, “I feel like Ensign got me out of my shell. At my previous university, I studied law, but I was not actively involved in my university. I would show up to class and then leave. But Ensign really took me out of my shell because now I’m more involved in the decisions and how things go. If I have an idea, I now speak up. It is pushing me out of my comfort zone.”

This feeling that she belongs and can make a differ­ence has renewed Freitas’s love for the learning process. She is currently studying business management, and after she graduates in winter 2027, she hopes to use her law degree from Brazil and her business management degree from Ensign College to work in business law. Freitas says that one of the best things about studying at Ensign College is that she is able to use what she is learn­ing in the classroom in her job at the school’s registration office. “It’s really nice to have that chance to apply right away the things that I’m learning,” she says.

Scholarships have made a difference for Freitas throughout her time at Ensign College. She says, “I am very grateful for them because the scholarships allow me to be self-reliant. The scholarships that I have cover most of my tuition, so that helps me a lot. I got married five months ago, and my husband is also a student. Neither of us is working full-time, but we still have to pay rent and have a living. Because of the scholarships, we are able to pay all the bills.” This is affecting not only her life but also her husband’s life and future generations.

Freitas continues, “Ensign is already very affordable compared to other schools. But even so, it’s still hard. For an international student, especially, with conversion rates, it’s almost impossible to afford school in the US. So even affordable options are difficult. But I also know that there are students from the US that don’t come from very fortunate backgrounds. For a student, receiving a scholarship makes a huge difference.”