Mother and children, the same academic choice
Joana Adrião Rosa graduated with a degree in Business Management in 1998. Her eyes light up when she talks about her time at university.
Gonçalo and Joana, her children, are 20 and 22 years old, respectively. They are also students at Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics and are studying for the same degree as their mother.
One April afternoon, we joined this family to get to know them better and witness the pride they share — with one another and for the educational institution that brings them together.
Joana started out working in marketing, but life took a turn and she had three children in quick succession, which led her to rethink her career. She became an entrepreneur, launching her own clothing brand, and acknowledges that the work ethic and rigour she acquired at university have helped her in her life as an entrepreneur.
“Católica is a leading university, which prepares students for the job market in a very rigorous way,” she says. “Rigour, excellence and sound principles are qualities I see at Católica. I am immensely proud to see my children studying here,” she concludes.
Joana Adrião Rosa’s experiences, memories and friendships from her student days, which continue to this day, have become a source of inspiration for her children. Gonçalo and Joana emphasise that they have always heard their mother speak proudly of Católica, and so it was a very natural choice for both of them when they finished secondary school.
Her daughter Joana, currently in the first year of her Master’s in Management, specialising in “Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Impact”, readily agrees and adds: “Católica gives us many tools for the future. It is very rigorous, but it also provides us with a level of support that other universities do not offer.”
Gonçalo, a second-year undergraduate student, says that, inspired by his mother and sister, he chose this institution as his first choice.
With the possibility of taking part in the exchange programme in Thailand next academic year, he smiles, full of hope that it will happen, despite his mother’s fears.
When we ask these two siblings what they want to say to their mother on this very special day, they smile with visible affection and say: “Thank you, Mum, for being our inspiration and the strength of our character.”