This Friday ended Verão na ULisboa, an initiative of Universidade de Lisboa that aims to provide Basic and Secondary school students with the opportunity to know and experience the academic life in the several schools.
This week was addressed to secondary students who will attend 10th, 11th and 12th years, and was a success once again: at Alameda campus the students had the opportunity to participate in a set of activities involving Biomedical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Engineering Physics, titled “Projeta o teu Futuro no Técnico #Sou Engenheiro” and in Taguspark campus the students developed activities related to Information and Communication Technologies, titled “Dos Carros Inteligentes aos Videojogos: Vem Viver a Tecnologia”.
For Inês and Matilde, both aged 14, this is not the first time. “I think Verão na ULisboa gives us the opportunity to experience the academic spirit and shows us what our future might be”, explains Inês. “Choosing Técnico to spend a week was not difficult – all my family studied here and I would like to do the same, as a way to honour them. After last year, I realised that this is what I like and I wanted to find out exactly what I want to do.”
Matilde became aware of Verão da ULisboa through her friend and colleague. “I didn’t’ know this initiative existed, but Inês told me about it and I decided to come. Técnico was an obvious choice because I really want to study Aerospace engineering. I love the outer space and rockets, it’s an area that has always fascinated me”. Thus, it’s not surprising that her favourite activity had been to build and launch a rocket on Friday afternoon at Alameda campus.
According to these two students, one of the greatest advantages of this initiative is the participation of students from Técnico. “We feel a lot more comfortable with them than with professors” says Matilde, and Inês adds: “Besides that, they are closer to us and we can ask them everything”.
A suggestion for improving? “I think that Verão na ULisboa should last two weeks for secondary students. Many people are not quite sure about what to choose – for example, I like Engineering but I also like Economics, and I would like to spend one week here at Técnico and another week at ISEG”, says Inês. Matilde agrees, but she would do it otherwise: “I think I would spend the two weeks here at Técnico”. If all goes well, both of them will be here in 2017.
More information about Verão na ULisboa can be found in the website of Universidade de Lisboa. The first week was addressed to 3rd cycle students and you can know more about that week here. The activities are organised by NAPE – Student Support Unit.
