Drawing on her experience in Coimbra, Matilde Abreu reflects on what it really means to “graduate”: not just acquiring academic knowledge, but fully living one’s university years. From long hours in the library to late nights out, from academic traditions to friendships that last a lifetime, she describes a world where real learning happens both inside and beyond the classroom.

Matilde stresses that academic success shouldn’t come at the expense of the experiences that shape student life. These are the moments that define who we become and prepare us for the world beyond university, far more than grades, exams or textbooks ever could.

In this video, she poses a central question: what is the value of an exemplary academic record if we carry no memories from it? Matilde invites us to see university life as a unique chapter, made up as much of study as of stories. A degree without lived experience is, ultimately, an empty diploma.