The sparkle in the eyes and the smile of a new generation of students set the tone for the beginning of another academic year at Unicamp. With the theme “Autonomy in defense of science, science in defense of life”, Calourada 2023 welcomes female students and undergraduate students arriving at the university. The program consists of cultural and reception activities, in which students can learn about Unicamp's structure and begin to familiarize themselves with academic life. The events take place on the Barão Geraldo campus, in Campinas, and at the Faculties of Applied Sciences (FCA) and Technology (FT), in Limeira. New entrants from the Piracicaba School of Dentistry (FOP) participate in the reception in Campinas.
The reception day began at 9 am, at the Multidisciplinary Gymnasium (GMU), with the distribution of the Ticket Kit, consisting of a t-shirt, a mug and an ecological bag. In addition to receiving guidance on the program, the occasion served to break the ice between the freshmen, who met course mates and made their first friends. This was the case of freshmen Emily Pereira, Laís Tabossi and Estela Dias, entering the Pharmacy course. “We just met!” says Emily. A resident of Campinas, she has high expectations for university life. "I want to participate in projects, do scientific initiation. I don't know if I'll be able to do everything I want to do (laughs)." Estela also wants to take advantage of everything the university can offer for her education. “I always wanted to work with molecular biology, and pharmacy is very prominent in this area”, comments the young woman from São Paulo.
Gustavo Colucci is also excited to start his university life. This is the first time that the young man from São Paulo has left his parents' house. Freshman in Agricultural Engineering, he reveals that he also signed up for other courses, but Unicamp's excellence made him choose Campinas. “Unicamp has one of the best agricultural engineering courses in the country and is the second best university in Brazil. I loved the campus, it's very organized, and the atmosphere is really cool. I thought: this is where I want to come."
The second best university in the country, Unicamp attracts students from near and far. Igor Stein came from Paraná for Course 51 and is already thinking about pursuing Physics. For him, the structure of the campus was one of the biggest factors that influenced his choice. He says he had never been to Campinas, but spent hours exploring the university on Google Street View. “It’s the first time I’ve come in person, I’ve already walked around the campus four times. It’s incredible!” Josué Vasques comes from further away, from the city of Benjamin Constant, in Amazonas. Entering the Indigenous Entrance Exam and a freshman in Economics, coming to Unicamp is a big change in his life. “I'm meeting a lot of people, I have high expectations", says Josué, from the Ticuna ethnic group.
Among the freshmen, veteran students took advantage of the morning to integrate their new colleagues into the dynamics of the courses. Erin Ohashi is one of those veterans. The student, who is now starting her second year of the Biology course, says that being well received by the students was important for her to feel part of a community. “I arrived in Campinas and didn’t know anyone, but I was very welcomed. Therefore, I want to pass this on to my freshmen too, we want to perpetuate this tradition of care", says the veteran, who prepared with her colleagues a whole week of special activities for the freshmen.
Welcome and care
The reception continued at 9:30 am, at Teatro de Arena, with a welcome given by rector Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles and a presentation by pro-rectors and members of Unicamp's central administration. In greeting the students, Meirelles recalled his own experience as a student at the University in 1976. "Every year, we have the joy of welcoming new young people who give life to the university, people who bring new energy to our community", he highlighted.
Throughout the presentation, the rector also highlighted the importance of administrative autonomy and the defense of democracy for the university's prominence in Brazilian science, being responsible for 8% of national scientific production, in addition to the excellence of its undergraduate and postgraduate courses. -graduation. “The ideas of autonomy and democracy are traditions of university life not only here, but around the world. We do this by preserving democracy and promoting inclusion.”
The welcome continued with the presentation of the deans of Undergraduate Studies and Extension and Culture, Ivan Toro and Fernando Coelho, the executive director of Human Rights, Silvia Santiago, and the deputy chief of staff, Adriana Nunes Ferreira. They spoke about the care for the well-being of students and Unicamp's objectives in offering comprehensive, human and civic education. “We want to encourage reflection on students’ political actions. What is my place in the world and how can I transform it?”, highlighted Adriana Ferreira.
Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Ivan Toro also shared his memory of, one day, being a freshman at Unicamp. "I entered Unicamp as a student in 1976 and, at that time, I also had a reception with the then rector, Professor Zeferino Vaz, founder of the University. I would never have imagined that, years later, I would be welcoming a new generation of students. Now, you are part of my story”, commented Ivan, who highlighted the freedom of students to build their futures through university.
Silvia Santiago went in the same direction and highlighted the role of the university in building a fair and democratic society, which involves transversality in the defense of human rights. "The university places us in the world in a different way, it broadens our view of society's issues. Our aim is to train competent citizens who will transform the world out there."
Fernando Coelho recalled that the 2023 entrants form the first group of students who will have part of their curriculum dedicated to university extension activities, fulfilling the Unicamp extension curricularization project. He explained the role of projects in bringing university knowledge to society and promoting exchanges and learning with it. "I'm sure you will have very interesting human experiences, which will add to your professional activity," he said.
The Calourada 2023 program continues throughout the day with activities on the campuses in Campinas and Limeira.
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