“My student version deserves better.”

At 61 years old, actress Giovanna Goldfarb has decided to make peace with the “student version” of herself. This Sunday, she is one of 17,192 people aged 60 and over to register for the National High School Entrance Examination (ENEM). For young people, this test represents an anticipated step in the beginning of adulthood, but for those who have lived away from the classroom for decades, this test may represent the realization of a dream that will never die.

“My student version deserves better,” says the candidate, known for playing Zepha in the first version of the soap opera pantanalShe explained to the newspaper Globo in 1999 that she had set several goals: “To be an ace in history, geography, literature and English. To get an 800 on the essay. To get something right in mathematics and physics. To get something right in biology and chemistry. To get into the university of my choice.”

In the “rant corner,” volunteers provide emotional support to Enem candidates.

Giovanna enrolled in Unirio’s drama course in 1983, but was unable to complete it. There was a period when she suffered from drug addiction and a car accident, which caused her to miss classes. Forty years later, she’s standing in the classroom again. This time it’s a pre-university social exam.

“I haven’t studied in over 40 years. In the pre-study class I attend, it feels like a walking museum. We laugh a lot. It feels like we’re in the era of Pedro Álvarez Cabral!” he jokes.

“My geography teacher showed me a slide of a world-destroying villain. I asked, ‘Okay, but who is this?’ Everyone knew it was from Marvel, except for me.” The actress is part of the Women at School project, a partnership between the Ceciel Foundation and Rio State Women’s Secretariat, which encourages women from the age of 16 to return to formal education.