More than 550 Master's graduates graduated from the Portuguese Catholic University in Porto in the 2022/23 academic year. "Today is just the beginning of the journey you've been preparing for," said Margarida Mano, vice-rector of UCP, during the blessing and diploma ceremony, a unique moment of celebration and recognition for all the new masters.
"We convey to our students the vision that everyone can make a difference," said Isabel Braga da Cruz, pro-rector of UCP's Porto Regional Center. "A good professional is, above all, a good citizen!" she said, explaining that UCP wants its students "to be active in multiple dimensions, such as ethics, solidarity and sustainability."
Miguel Mesquita, who has a degree in Sound and Image and a master's in Cinema from the School of Arts, represented all the new graduates in a speech marked by emotion and gratitude for the six years he spent at Católica. "What the University gave me was a preparatory perspective of what adult life is like, with all that it entails, both rewarding and difficult," he also said. Miguel Mesquita highlighted the "strong sense of community", "the close relationship with the professors", "the friendships" and "the many initiatives promoted in associative life".
"I'm one more among the other students, one more with his own history, his own experiences and memories, one more who has occupied this house, put it to use and extracted something from it, and in doing so perhaps left his mark. That's what this Católica is made of: the sum of what each person lives here and leaves here," he concluded.
The diploma award ceremony took place on November 24 and the Ilídio Pinho Auditorium was packed with students, family and friends. Also present were the professors and directors of the faculties of the Catholic University in Porto: the School of Arts, the Faculty of Health Sciences and Nursing - Porto, the Faculty of Education and Psychology, the School of Biotechnology, the Faculty of Theology, the Porto School of the Faculty of Law and the Católica Porto Business School.
During the ceremony, in addition to the awarding of the master's degrees, there was also the presentation of merit prizes from the faculties and partner institutions: Caixa Geral de Depósitos Prize - School of the Arts - awarded to Inês Isabel Correia de Melo Russell Pinto, Professor João Baptista Machado Prize, Faculty of Health Sciences and Nursing - Porto Prize, Cerejeira Namora Prize, Marinho Falcão, in Tax Law, Garrigues Prize, Rainha Santa Isabel Prize, Caixa Geral de Depósitos Prize - Católica Porto Business School and Caixa Geral de Depósitos Prize - Porto School of the Faculty of Law.
