Living in Natal and taking a distance-learning course in Public Administration at the São Gonçalo do Amarante branch, without having to commute, this was the reality for Rebbeca Maia Balduino Santos, 37. But those who think that taking an EaD course is easier than graduating in person are mistaken. “In the beginning it was quite challenging, until I could understand the best time to manage my daily routine for the studies and understand my responsibilities as a student,” she comments as she recalls her academic path.

Distance Education at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) brings people closer to Higher Education. For Rebbeca Maia, EaD represented the opportunity to improve herself, and for professional and personal enrichment. In April 2022, she received the announcement of the academic laurel during her graduation ceremony: “I was surprised and very happy. It is the recognition of your effort, dedication, and your choices. When I started the course, I had been out of the academic world for about 6 years.

After concluding this important stage in her life, the bachelor in Public Administration projects her next challenges: “this year I intend to start a specialization in process, people, or business management”.

Opportunity in Costa Branca

In Costa Branca Potiguar, there is a center in Macau, where UFRN, in partnership with the Open University of Brazil Program, offers academic qualification opportunities. One of the beneficiaries of this initiative is Leoto Barbosa Sousa. Recently graduated in EaD Physics, he highlights that “distance higher education is the result of a public policy that I believe is essential for the contemporary world, so that the difficulties are suppressed by the advantages offered by the modality”.

A resident of Natal, Leoto Barbosa even started the distance learning Chemistry course, in 2007, but due to personal problems he had to give up the course. The second chance came with the possibility of studying Physics, in the same modality and at the same center. The interest in the area of Exact Sciences made Leoto fit quickly into the new course, so much so that he was awarded an academic laurel by UFRN.

“Being laureated is like having had the recognition of a job executed with all the zeal and commitment. So I spent many days researching to understand, in its entirety, the contents covered,” he celebrates when talking about the award. The graduation ceremony took place last month, but Leoto Barbosa does not want to rest, he is already studying the possibility of returning to the UFRN benches as a master’s degree student.

Bruno Cássio – Communication Advisor of SEDIS/UFRN.