Currently enjoying her extended stay here in the country after winning the Miss Earth crown in 2004, Brazilian beauty and Star Magic talent Priscilla Meirelles has also decided to continue her medical studies here. The 25-year-old beauty queen is currently enrolled as a fulltime nursing student at the Global City Innovative College in Fort Bonifacio. “I’m actually in first year, but since I used to study medicine back home, I transferred to this school and they credited a lot of my subjects. Classes have been good. It’s been very busy (laughs). It’s hard but you know, studying is something that I enjoy doing,” she shares.

The 5’10” stunner shares that although she enjoys the limelight, she has always wanted to be in the medical field. “This was always a dream that I grew up with. I always dreamt of becoming a doctor, taking care of people and things like that. You know, I was always frustrated with the fact that I was not able to finish medical school. And I was so near already. I just had two or three years left to graduate. It just makes me feel good at the fact that I’m doing something with my life. For me, I grew up believing that to graduate is something really important. I chose to continue here and switch to Nursing since Filipino nurses are known to be some of the best nurses in the world,” she adds.

After her romance with John Estrada became public, Priscilla says she has gotten used to the media, but shares that there are no issues between her and her boyfriend’s family. “Our cultures aren’t very far apart because Filipino and Brazilian cultures are very similar. They’re both family-oriented and a catholic country. It’s my first time to be in this kind of relationship. But I really like to go for it so I’d do anything to make it work out. And of course, he’s also a dad so his kids are the most important things in his life,” she admits.

Priscilla shares the secret to their year-and-a-half-old relationship. “We laugh a lot. You know I try to look at the positive side of everything that happens, good and bad. I try to keep up the good mood and good humor. I like him definitely because of his sense of humor. Because we’re very different, but at the same time we also have a lot of similarities. And he has a pretty busy life also. It’s normal that every couple encounters a lot of problems. Of course we also argue because were different. But it’s a must that somebody should know when they should give up during a fight,” she confides.

Priscilla, who last went to Brazil last June, is also excited to have her family come for a month-long visit in November. “My family hasn’t met John, but he has already met my brother who was here last year. My brother pretty much already gave some information about my boyfriend to my mom and my dad (laughs). They’re okay about him because for them, what matters is that I’m happy and they know I’m very happy. So they’re very supportive of everything. And they’re very excited to meet John. And John’s also excited to meet them. So hopefully things go well (laughs).”

When asked if they have already made any altar plans, Priscilla answers matter-of-factly, ”Well, it’s normal that when you’re in love with someone, of course you have intentions that the relationship can move towards the next step. Me and John just talk sometimes about things like that. We’ve just been dating so it’s kind of early to say something about that. We’ve been together a year and eight months already I think. I don’t really keep count (laughs),” she confesses.

With regards to her career, the Brazilian model is also thankful to have such a wonderful boyfriend. “He’s very supportive. Aside from being a boyfriend, he’s also my friend, so he knows that when I go for something, I really go for it. He knows that I’m very focused on whatever I want so he supports me as much as he can,” she says.

On her days off, Priscilla says that watching movies is one the things she just loves to do to unwind. “I love to go to the cinema. I’m very eclectic. But if I can choose a film, for sure I’d pick comedy. I love to laugh. I think it’s really good thing to do when I’m too stressed. But the only Filipino movie I’ve watched so far is John’s movie, Caregiver (laughs). I’m not able to understand everything so it was a little bit frustrating especially when everybody’s laughing and I’m the only one who cannot enjoy it,” she recalls.

They’re also food lovers who love to try out new cuisine. “It’s funny because we both cook. But most of the time, we just go out to eat because we don’t really have the time to cook. We love Japanese food. But I’m really easy when it comes to food. I like everything. Just recently, I learned to appreciate Filipino food. It’s the most unhealthy food I’ve ever liked, crispy pata (laughs),” she reluctantly admits.

Priscilla makes sure though that she keeps in shape. “I’ve always been a very active person. I’m very athletic and have always had a lot of sports growing up. My favorite sport was basketball. But then later on I was always at the gym although lately I haven’t had time to work out, but I try to whenever I can to always exercise,” she concludes.

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