"Dear UC Moments", by Gilberto Pereira

Although I wasn't born in Coimbra, it is the city where I have lived the longest in my life. Half of this journey is linked to the University of Coimbra, so I would like my ashes to be scattered to the winds in the Mondego River.
I will always remember my dissatisfaction with a course that was very theoretical and not very practical, where the 'sebentas'* were still being passed around. However, the University of the Republics and the Students' Union (AAC) also shaped me and taught me life lessons that have marked me deeply. As a student, I put padlocks on the Porta Férrea to protest against tuition fees, something that would be unthinkable today.

After graduating, I thought I was free of both chemistry and university. After a few years, however, it was my knowledge of chemistry that led me back to the university. And it was here, in the Physics Museum, that I discovered a treasure that I have learned to preserve: the collection of 18th-century instruments. Over time, I also learned that it was not only the 18th and 19th centuries that were important.

The heritage of the 20th century, and even the 21st century, deserves the greatest care. It’s the little discoveries that sometimes brighten my work, when, faced with an unknown and uncatalogued object, I can identify its origin or the person who handled it 50 years ago. My aim is for this heritage—the memory of the spaces and their stories—to prevail over time.

I'm glad I didn't go to Lisbon to study, like my high school friends!

*^{'Sebentas' are large notebooks containing detailed and often dense summaries of lessons or readings, typically compiled by and shared between students. These materials were commonly relied upon in place of official textbooks or academic publications in the 19th and 20th centuries. They are still produced in digital form today.}

^{Published on 18.01.2024
Translation: Diana Taborda}