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CLIP ALUMNI NEWSLETTER – SUMMER 2012
Issue #2
21
NEWSLETTER
2 nd ISSUE | AUGUST 2012
SUMMER EDITION
THE SEASON OF OPPORTUNITIES: TRAVELLING, INTERNSHIPING, …, AND NETWORKING!
IN THIS ISSUE
Join us on LinkedIn!
Because nowadays it is of the utmost
importance to make a healthy and constant
investment on your network, we would like
to invite you to join us on LinkedIn. This is
one of the most important tools you might
come
across
regarding
professional
networking, so you better start sooner than
later! Since we have such a diverse range of
Alumni, we might as well take use of this
platform to keep connected!
Networking Tips:
Networking is a word that in the present time
is a part of everyone’s professional and
personal life. For this reason, we decided to
sensitize the CLIP Alumni network for this
practice and share some tips on how to
potentiate your own networking skills:
What’s your objective?
This is an essential point for any aspect of
your life: know what you want. You need to
know what you want to achieve, so you can
figure out who can help you accomplish
those objectives.
range of people – different ages,
nationalities, lifestyles, activities, beliefs, etc.
Feed your Network
You need to envisage your network as your
beloved pet. You need to cherish it so it can
grow healthy and ‘love you back’! If you don’t
take care of it, you might find yourself
needing it and not having any response. It
has to be a constant care over time. Also, be
careful with what information you feed into
your network!
Dr.Cabral Interview
This year, CLIP had the privilege of welcoming Dr.
Rúben Cabral at the Commencement. This was a very
special occasion since it had been a longed opportunity
that wasn’t possible until this year. We decided to take
advantage of this special visit and make an also special
interview!
Page3
Serve others
The added value of a network is information
exchange. For an exchange to take place
there must be reciprocity, so make sure this
happens. Contribute with your knowledge
and ideas and make yourself a useful asset
for your network, so they will want to keep
you around.
Keep your door open
Keep your network dynamic enough, so you
can keep learning with different people.
Aim for diversity
For you to gain access to more and
diversified information, it’s important that
you manage to ally yourself with a diverse
Join us on LinkedIn!
Invite friends that might not know about CLIP Alumni!
Meet 2012 Grads
(If you cannot press the button, search us:
CLIP Alumni – Associação de Antigos Alunos do Colégio Luso
Internacional do Porto)
Page 5
CLIP ALUMNI NEWSLETTER – SUMMER 2012 | Issue #2
2
REMEMBERING
CLIP’s Angels at a Christmas Celebration
Division 3 Girls at March Festival 2003
Class of 2005 Gathering
João Riem
Melody Houssiaux
Current Location: Porto, PT
Graduation Year: 1999
Age : 31
Current Location: Dublin, IRL
Graduation Year: 2003
Age : 27
After graduating from CLIP in 1999, João
went to De Montfort University, in Leicester,
UK, to complete his degree in Business
Studies. In the middle of his degree, he took
a one year working placement at Controlo de
Gestão at Mota-Engil Group, in Portugal. His
degree dissertation was in "Urban Park
Management". After graduating, João
returned to Portugal and founded, together
with his parents, Planeta das Árvores. He
also completed a post graduate course in
Urban Arboriculture in Universidade Técnica
de Lisboa, becoming one of the very few
people that do risk tree assessment in
Portugal. He is an active member and
founder of Árvores de Portugal, association
that protects ancient trees and forests
throughout the country. In 2004, João joined
Riem - Contabilidade e Representações as a
general manager, position he occupies
today. In early 2011, together with his
fiancée, he founded a real estate company Cidade Veterana, which specializes in
accommodating students from abroad. In
the middle of so much work, he still has time
to be an external promoter of Banco Espirito
Santo. In his little free time, João created a
web site that promotes football matches
and football leagues, with more than 140
members, many of them CLIP alumni
students. He still loves FC Porto, he is still a
Star Wars fan, he still listens to Prodigy and
still rides his old motorbikes.
Melody left CLIP in 1997 to move to
Barcelona and then Paris with her family.
After graduating in Paris (2003) she went to
study Combined Social Sciences at the
University of Durham. At this point she
decided to try something new before
entering the world of “real work”, so she
applied for the European Voluntary Service
(EVS). Melody was accepted to work as a
volunteer for 9 months in Italy, with the
Office of Youth and Sports Services of the
town of Trento. This was an excellent
opportunity to learn a new language, to
develop new skills and to take some time to
think about what she wanted to do with her
life. As part of this project, Melody worked
with children and organized several big
events across the town of Trento. When her
EVS came to an end Melody was not ready
to leave Trento, so she set out to find a job
and that is how she ended up working in the
import/export sector. Soon Melody realized
that was not the job for her and she moved
back to Paris where she was hired to work at
the Consular Section of the Argentinean
Embassy in France. Although Melody really
enjoyed her work at the Embassy she
decided, for personal reasons, to move to
Dublin, where she quickly found a new job at
the French Embassy in Ireland! This is where
Melody currently is and she really enjoys it.
She soon hopes to try and pass the French
Foreign Ministry exams to become a
diplomat and continue traveling the world,
unless life brings up other exciting
opportunities in the mean time!
He gets married next September.
e-mail: [email protected]
e-mail: [email protected]
CLIP ALUMNI NEWSLETTER – SUMMER 2012
Issue #2
21
Dr. Rúben de Freitas Cabral
First Headmaster & CEO of CLIP
Q: On Tuesday (19th), you were back at
CLIP for this year's commencement. How
do you feel when you look at what you
created 21 years ago?
A: I felt happy, proud and very hopeful. It was
not a nostalgic moment but a look into the
future. As human beings we are forever
people of tomorrow and it is highly rewarding
to see our contributions develop and flourish.
Q: For those who don't know, how did the
idea of CLIP surge in the first place?
A: CLIP happened because some involved
citizens of Porto believed that the future of
their community depended on a highly
educated and capable citizenry. There was
also the realization that the ever-present
phenomenon of globalization was functioning
at increasing speeds, and that the English
language had become its language and the
language of science. Education was felt to be
crucial.
There were already good educational projects
in the city, but they were linked to the
systems of different countries: Portugal,
Germany, France and Great Britain. There
was no truly international school, since many
admission´s policies discriminated to a
certain degree against Portuguese students.
One of the premises of CLIP was an
admission’s policy open to any and all
students who wanted to study there.
CLIP had a difficult beginning. There were
some false starts but it eventually succeeded.
Q: Were you always sure that CLIP's
educational proposition would prosper in
Portugal?
A: I don’t think that there are fundamental
differences among people. We basically
aspire to be happy, able and healthy. We have
also come to a deeper understanding of how
small and integrated our world really is. The
basic ideas behind CLIP’s educational
proposition are: (a) Recognition that we all
can and do learn, albeit in diverse forms and
to varying degrees; (b) realization that purely
nationalistic and monolinguistic systems of
instruction were and continue to be
inadequate to life; a firm belief that learning
and self-development are intrinsically linked
(one could even say that life is learning) and
that hands-on, experiential and experimental
ways of understanding and changing the
world are crucial for our emergence as
world are crucial for our emergence as
historical human beings.
Q: Based on the experience you have
acquired over the years, what, if anything,
would you have done differently at CLIP?
A: Our actions are influence by the conditions
that we face in time and place. Thus, we
respond to our community’s needs and
aspirations according to our understanding of
situations and capacity to act. I look at what
we did (for we seldom decide in isolation)
with the conscious awareness that we did our
best. Granted, that other people might have
done it differently.
SPECIAL INTERVIEW
This year, CLIP had the privilege of welcoming Dr.
Rúben Cabral at the Commencement. This was a
very special occasion since it had been a longed
opportunity that wasn’t possible until this year. We
decided to take advantage of this special visit and
make an also special interview!
Q: What's the most vivid memory you have
of times at CLIP?
A: The most gratifying moments are linked
to the development of the sense of
community at CLIP. It didn’t take long to
experience the care, love and responsibility
that we all felt for each other. A vivid
memory? Well, I am still emotional when I
recall the moment I entered the old assembly
room (CLIP at the time had around 30
students) and saw all students, K-F8, sitting
on the floor with the little ones perching,
climbing or sitting on the laps of the older
students. It is one of the most graphic images
of a loving community.
Q: After leaving CLIP, what did you do?
A: I went on to develop a university in Macau.
Everything could not have been more
different and yet the principles were the
same. The Institute that existed was very
small – around one hundred students – and
the resident staff less than ten people. We
had to invent a university that would make
sense and be a catalyst for development in
that Region in the future. It had also to be
self-sustainable. That was accomplished and
after eight years the University of Saint
Joseph had around sixty programs of study,
almost two thousand students and a
decidedly positive economic and financial
operation.
Q: Taking into account all the experiences
you have had, what is unique at CLIP that
you didn't find anywhere else?
A: We are not different from each other as
human beings, for what defines us is our
uniqueness. The uniqueness of CLIP resided
____
in the extraordinary confluence of efforts of
students, teachers, administrators and
community. This was sometimes frustrating
but in hindsight highly rewarding and
stimulating.
Q: What do you think of the CLIP Alumni
project? Do you think that in present times
we should stick together and network now
more than ever?
A: In present times more than ever because
we have added responsibilities thrown upon
us by technological developments. We can
do incomparably more than in times past.
CLIP Alumni must, however, be understood
as a sub-system of much larger ones. Each
one of you became part of other subsystems
at university, work and society. This web of
relationships will enrich your lives to a degree
of complexity and reward hard to fathom.
Q: You gave quite the motivating speech at
Commencement. Unfortunately many
Alumni couldn't be present. What advises
could you give to the 'leaders of
tomorrow'?
A: Don’t sleep!
Q: For the future, what are your plans?
A: I don’t have plans for they are seldom
realized but I have projects. I want to
continue to be useful and an active
participant in community life.
CLIP ALUMNI NEWSLETTER – SUMMER 2012 | Issue #2
Martim Bettencourt
Current Location: Porto, PT
Graduation Year: 2007
Age : 23
Ana Oliveira
After Form 9, Ana went to Soares dos Reis, a
specialized artistic school in Porto, where
she graduated in 2004. She then moved to
Barcelona to study Fashion Design at ESDI
for a year and came back to Portugal to
complete her Undergraduation at ESAD.
During that time she participated in contests
like Triumph Contest Inspiration Award
(obtaining 2nd national prize) and
Modtíssimo, a fair that promotes young
Portuguese talents (that gave her the 2nd
prize too, and on the following edition a
stand to present a small collection). Ana’s
first job was at Fun Farrow, where she
designed kids garments licensed by Astérix
and also created a teenager brand named
Octopus. Over a year after, she moved on to
an export garment factory in Barcelos,
_______
with the Sevens team. Since practices
and training camps are all in Lisbon, it’s
a real challenge to attend classes when
the international season starts. This has
been his best rugby season, having
recovered from the injuries that have
prevented him to play at full in the last
couple of years. He was picked for the
Portuguese Sevens team and played in
the IRB Sevens Circuit in Hong Kong,
Tokyo, London and Glasgow. He also
“visited” Moscow, Lyon and Odense for
the European circuit where Portugal got
a prestigious second place, right behind
England. He states it has been a dream
to travel all these places and play rugby!
e-mail: [email protected]
Irmãos Rodrigues, as she was hired to start
their design department, and collaborate on
brands focused on the English Market. In
2011, she received a proposal to work for an
export factory in Bangladesh. It was a huge
change, but Ana took a chance and is
currently working there at Beximco, the
biggest export factory of the country,
focusing on the Spanish Market, mainly
Inditex group.
e-mail: [email protected]
REMEMBERING
Current Location: Dhaka, BGD
Graduation Year: 2004
Age : 26
After CLIP Martim entered Law school
in Faculdade de Direito da Universidade
do Porto. Differently to most of his
classmates he decided to stay in Porto
mostly because of his Rugby. He started
with 12 years old and it has been a very
important part of his life ever since.
This, allied to the fact that he didn’t
(and still doesn’t) have any academic
passion, and with the investment
needed from his parents to send him
studying abroad it just wasn’t worth it.
He’s been trying to balance the
academic part of his life with rugby and
it hasn’t been an easy ride! Mostly
because of his commitments with the
Portuguese National Team, first with
the u19’s and u21’s and most recently
________
4
CLIP’s First Jazz Band!
Musical Cats
CLIP ALUMNI NEWSLETTER – SUMMER 2012 | Issue #2
5
Then…
Class of 2002 Graduated 10 Years Ago!
Class (front to back, left to right): Catherine Lopes, Bárbara
Graça, Natacha Almeida, Luísa Mota, Lucy Burnett, Lara
Santos, Noel de Moura, Joel Grahber, Ricardo Rocha,
Gonçalo Silva, Tiago Gonçalves, Jorge Santos, João Pereira,
Cameron Malone, Kristian Svendsen, Nadine Serrão, Joana
Serra, Joana Granja.
It seems like it was yesterday we saw this class leaving CLIP.
Nevertheless, 10 years have passed. We wish they are all
living life at its fullest and keeping in touch with each other.
Thinking about a 10 year gathering? Send us photos!!
Now!
Class of 2012 Fresh new Alumni
We interviewed Jocelino Rodrigues and Vicky
Paes de Faria (Class Representatives) to get
to know more about the Class of 2012:
Q: What was the phrase you most heard
from teachers?
A: Throught-out the years, it was "I can't wait
until the day where I won't have to teach you
anymore!", however, by the end of this year,
it changed to a melancholic "I'm going to
miss you so much!"
Q: What is the most hilarious moment you
lived together?
A: Looking at all our parents trip on their own
two feet during the Founder's Ball dance
rehearsals! (in all fairness, we all did.)
Q: What was the best kept secret of the
class?
A: That we were all world-class actors, but
only found out about it during the Forum
_____
Play.
Q: If you had to choose one word to
describe your class, what would it be?
A: It would have to be a word that
encompasses "promising", "talented" and,
"bright". So, with this in mind, I'd have to
choose "auspicious".
CLIP ALUMNI NEWSLETTER – SUMMER 2012 | Issue #2
6
NEWSBOARD!
CLIP & Alumni
Events
In-Service @ CLIP
Alumni
Work in Institutions
Guidance
Some Alumni students collaborated in this
year’s edition of the in-service. During the inservice Gonçalo Almeida, Filipa Ribeiro,
Frederico Barroso and Pedro Coutinho went
in to talk about their experience as CLIP
students and what it takes to be a successful
student: how to achieve at your best in
exams, at University, and how to make
______
important
choices in life. Frederico Barroso
also helped presenting The Duke of
Edinburgh’s Award. The idea of the in-service
is to present to Form 10 students what will be
expected of them in Forms 11 and 12.
US Library
CLIP Students in institutions
CLIP & Alumni
CLIP has been incentivizing its students to
work at external institutions in order to
broaden their horizons and start making a
difference in the real world from a tender
age. Some students from Form 11 have
already been 3 weeks with APPACDM,
working with ‘Down Syndrome’ individuals.
Form 10, with the help of some Alumni
(Frederico Barroso, Patrick O’Neill and Rui
Casimiro) are doing an amazing job with the
US Library. Results are fantastic!
ALUMNIBOARD!
Marta Magalhães
Congratulations to Marta who
had a baby girl, Maria.
BABIES &
MARRIAGES!
Alumni
Parents, Husbands and Wives
Gabriela Mota
Congratulations to Gabriela who,
in June, had her first baby, Maria
Benedita.
GO FOR IT!
Alumni
Accomplishments
Gustavo Gonçalves
Congratulations for
Academic Achievement
Gustavo recently completed two PostGraduation courses – Gestão Imobiliária and
Gestão e Liderança. In October he will be going
to Belo Horizonte (Brazil) to work in the real
estate sector.
Mafalda Côrte-Real
Congratulations for
INOV Contacto
Out of 1500 applicants, Mafalda was
accepted in the INOV Contacto program.
She was sent to Miami (USA) to intern at
the portuguese company Bi-Silque,
producer of office supplies and appliances.
Mafalda will be in Miami untill November.
CLASS AMBASSADORS!
We would like to kindly invite volunteers to help us keep our Newsletter as interesting and
streamlined as possible! Ideally, we would count with one ambassador per graduation class
that could help us gathering photos and keep on top of events!______________________
Are you up for it?
Call:
CLIP ALUMNI
[email protected]
Chief Editor: João Pedro Príncipe | Invaluable help: Mariana Neves