{"id":6255,"date":"2026-08-06T05:37:57","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T05:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6255"},"modified":"2026-08-06T05:37:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T05:37:57","slug":"wendys-worker-thalles-desouza-accepted-into-yale-university-after-bosses-helped-fund-his-college-dreams-changed-my-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6255","title":{"rendered":"Wendy’s worker Thalles DeSouza accepted into Yale University after bosses helped fund his college dreams: ‘Changed my life’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

He\u2019s a true Winner.<\/p>\n

A Wendy\u2019s manager, who fled to the United States after he survived a shooting inside his own home and was pushed by his bosses to attend college, is heading to Yale on a full scholarship.<\/p>\n

Read more Son of judge overseeing gang rape cases of slain LSU student Madison Brooks is a convicted serial rapist: reports<\/a><\/p>\n

Thalles Winner DeSouza credited the two owners of Wendy\u2019s locations in Cape Cod for investing in his education despite his telling them he wanted to escape the fast-food industry for better pay.<\/p>\n

\u201cFour years ago, while I was working as a manager at Wendy\u2019s and finishing high school, Mr. Usama El-Sehrawey and the late Mr. Ernest Smily awarded me a scholarship to attend\u00a0Cape Cod Community College,\u201d DeSouza wrote on Facebook on July 28. <\/p>\n

DeSouza landed his gig at Wendy\u2019s as a teenager and was quickly promoted to shift manager when he was a junior in high school.<\/p>\n

A year later, DeSouza wanted to change jobs and head into construction for better pay so he could start saving up for school. <\/p>\n

DeSouza\u2019s bosses, who owns all seven Wendy\u2019s on Cape Cod and Plymouth, came up with a better idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told me that he would like to go and work in construction because there is more money in construction than Wendy\u2019s,\u201d El-Sehrawey told TODAY.com. \u201cI said, \u2018If you stay at Wendy\u2019s, I will make sure you go to college.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time, I had no idea how much that opportunity would change my life,\u201d DeSouza said.<\/p>\n

El-Sehrawey and Smily began setting aside extra money for every hour DeSouza worked at the restaurant, eventually collecting enough to pay for three years of tuition at Cape Cod Community College.<\/p>\n

While he attended the local school, DeSouza started a religious club on campus, earned straight As and served as the student body president for two years.<\/p>\n

DeSouza transferred to Bunker Hill Community College for a year before he applied to Yale University, which accepts roughly 2% of transfer students each year, according to the Yale Daily News.<\/p>\n

Read more Perez Hilton\u2019s family says he\u2019s \u2018able to communicate\u2019 in new update after \u2018suicide attempt\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

DeSouza was accepted into Yale in May, celebrating with his family in a joyful moment captured on video.<\/p>\n

Raised by a single mother of four, DeSouza grew up in the crime-ridden Vila Kennedy favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, until he was 13, when he came to the US not knowing any English.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2016, after being almost killed by a shooting inside my own home while I was sleeping, my mother decided to leave everything behind and come to the United States,\u201d DeSouza said.<\/p>\n

The community, which was designated an autonomous neighborhood in 2017, is terrorized by the Comando Vermelho gang that controls the drug trade in several favelas including Vila Kennedy, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

A decade later, he was accepted into \u201cone of the most prestigious universities in the world\u201d with a full scholarship valued at over $194,500, or over 1 million Brazilian reais.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to reward him for being situated against the difficult odds,\u201d El-Sehrawey said. \u201cMoving here to America, trying to learn the language and at the same time study. He\u2019s done a lot of unbelievable stuff. A lot of young people have opportunities to do the same, and they would not take the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The incoming Bulldog credited his bosses for believing in him and giving him the chance to succeed while working at the fast-food chain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, Mr. Usama, the late Mr. Ernest Smily, Terry Smily, and the entire Smily family, for believing in me. Your generosity opened a door that changed my life, and I will always be grateful,\u201d DeSouza said alongside a photo of himself with El-Sehrawey and Smily\u2019s son, Terry, holding up Yale t-shirts in front of a Wendy\u2019s sign.<\/p>\n

DeSouza says he will be majoring in political science with a minor in human rights as he plans to be on the pre-law track to become a lawyer. <\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes all it takes is one person who believes in you. I\u2019m living proof of that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Read more Mamdani relentlessly booed at NYPD Staten Island event, as he flees stage after less than 1 minute<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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