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Josi Santos left Brazil behind for Panola.

Josiane Santos left the model's runway for the Panola College gym.

Beautiful weather, clear skies, and gorgeous skylines make up the place that she calls home.

Santos, first year Panola Volleyball star, moved to Texas from Sao Paulo, Brazil.  Before coming to the states, Santos worked as a model for four years.

"I became a model because it was always my dream to be a model," she says. "I stopped playing volleyball when I started modeling."

She worked for magazines, television, public events, fashion shows and basic photography, but modeling isn’t all she’s done. Volleyball is a popular sport in Brazil and Santos played until she started modeling. When she was 16, she was invited to play volleyball for George Mason University and the University of Houston. Because of her successful modeling career, she turned down both offers.

In 2010, Santos was ready to move to the U.S. Since she's been here, her English has improved greatly. 

"At first it was difficult because people were talking and I could not understand anything, but it was fun," Santos said. "People here are very helpful and helped a lot to improve my English. I tried to talk, even wrong, and people always corrected me, or completed the sentence when I tried to say something."

Santos has been here for seven months and says she still struggles with some verbs but she learns with time.

She said coming to the States gave her better academic opportunities and scholarship chances. Santos has a scholarship until 2014, and will transfer to a university next year. She intends to continue living here in the United States.