The night of November 9th 2021 will stay forever in Tatiana Cardoso Delgado Kobaiashi’s memory: “a mixture of feelings, joy, for knowing that my effort has borne fruit beyond what I expected, and gratitude to God for having concluded one more stage”. During her class graduation ceremony, Tatiana Cardoso was awarded the academic laurel, in recognition of her excellent performance during the distance learning bachelor’s degree course in Public Administration at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN).

At 40 years of age, 12 of which have been dedicated to working at the Federal Institute of Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN), she sought the much-desired qualification. Born in the capital of Potiguar, Tatiana had, as a support base, the São Gonçalo do Amarante hub, in greater Natal. Reflecting on the main difficulties of the academic journey, she highlights: “for me, the main one was the lack of time. It was always a struggle to reconcile other areas of life, such as family and work, with the demands of the course.

Tatiana’s mother, now deceased, studied up to high school; her father completed only elementary school. Within this scenario, this achievement represents a personal victory as well as a victory for the whole family: “Studying Public Administration at UFRN was a watershed, because now I have the theoretical foundation that I needed, since the practical part, I already mastered. The next steps will be to apply for a master’s degree, focused on the public service area, and then go on to a doctorate.

Biological Sciences climbed the mountain

Born in Martins, mountainous region of the upper west of Potiguar, Wandson Geovanny Aquino da Silva was raised in the neighboring town of Serrinha dos Pintos, where he lives until today. Grandson of farmers, he was raised by his grandparents and mother: “I am the only graduate in my family nucleus”, he proudly celebrates. And he has another reason to celebrate: on the night of November 11, 2021, during his graduation ceremony, Wandson was nominated, by UFRN, as the best student in the Biological Sciences distance learning course.

According to Wandson Geovanny, in Distance Education “there is a need to develop autonomy, which we are not used to. To make it work, we need to make a commitment to ourselves, allying dedication, discipline, and focus, because we are the main people responsible for the process”. He commented that in Serrinha dos Pintos, there were no professional references, because he never had a science or biology teacher with training in the area. For this reason, he returned to his hometown, and at the Polo de Apoio Presencial de Martins he finished his degree.

“I studied in public schools my whole life, and I want to be there, that’s where I want to be the best educator I can be, for me, for my students, and for my community,” he says, looking forward to his professional future. In the academic field, the new Biological Sciences graduate has started a specialization course in Biology and Chemistry Teaching Methodology and is already dreaming of a place in a Master’s course.

Bruno Cássio – Communication Advisor of SEDIS/UFRN