During the second day of the Welcome Week, Técnico welcomed the new undergraduate students of Applied Mathematics and Computation, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, at Alameda Campus, and Computer Science and Engineering at Taguspark Campus.
At Taguspark campus, the students were welcomed by their mentors in the Main Building’s atrium, followed by a tour of the building to get to know where the different services are located, ending up at the Students’ Union Fair. Here, they learned about the various student initiatives developed by the Técnico community. The presentation session is scheduled for the afternoon, where students will meet the professors, the representatives of their study programme and the tutors (professors accompanying and helping students throughout their academic journey).
On both campi, all newcomers show enthusiasm for joining Técnico. At Taguspark campus, Lara, a Computer Science and Engineering student, says she chose Técnico “because of its excellence in teaching and prestige”. She is confident that she will have “good job offers”, as she thinks that Técnico will prepare her for the job market. “I want to try new things and I think that I will enjoy overcoming the challenges I will face at Técnico”, explains Gustavo, also a Computer Science and Engineering student.
At Alameda campus, the voices echoing through the Main Building reveal the new students’ desire to get to know their classmates. Miguel, a new student of Applied Mathematics and Computation, says “the people seem very nice. I think I’m going to have a lot of fun here.” Maria, Miguel’s classmate, attended the ULisboa summer school at Técnico last year and, from then on, she felt that it was “the right choice”. She heard all the time that “it’s a great school, with high graduate employability”. The student also highlighted “the welcome session is very well organised” and “mentors have been very helpful”.
Mentors play hangman on the blackboard of a classroom while they are waiting to meet the group of students they will be hosting and accompanying throughout the year. Marta is about to start her second year of Mechanical Engineering, and last year she attended the ‘mentor-mentee’ initiative as a mentee. “Being assigned a mentor helped us a lot find classrooms, use Fénix system… later on, we also asked for their help on study resources,” she says. Miguel is a second-year Electrical and Computer Engineering student and he adds “being a mentee has made it easier to adapt to university life – it is very important to have the support of someone who already knows the ‘tricks’ to make this process easier and who can clarify doubts”.
Many other Técnico students volunteer every year to help those arriving at university for the first time. For those students who are still looking for more information, the First Steps at Técnico webpage includes information about the Welcome Week and other important information about studying at the country’s largest Engineering school.
