Throwback#2 – From High School to Bachelor

Hey guys,

In my last post of this series, I explained how during High School I was diagnosed with ADHD and Dyslexia and how the focus and training got me from being a bad student to an average-good one. I don’t know how the educational system is in other countries. Still, here in Portugal, once you reach the 9th grade, you have to choose between having economics classes, science classes, humanities classes, or art classes. Well, I selected economics classes, which I think may have helped a little bit more on the fact that I was having better grades because I was studying something that was a tiny bit what I wanted.

Either way, in 2015, I finished high school. And at that time, during that last high school year, I had to decide which bachelor I wanted to do. My first option was something related to events. Why? Well, since 2011, my mom started organising a series of events, which I think we’ve all heard about TEDx, but the TEDxLisboa. And from then on, every time she started planning another, I always told her I wanted to organise more and more and more. From what I’ve come to understand the process that the whole team went through while organising, recruiting and training speakers wasn’t that common. Because every week, the entire team would meet after dinner in our living room, the speakers would come every Sunday to our house to train and get feedback on their presentations. And I loved it!!!! To be completely honest, I loved the adrenaline and the nerves of the day of the event, that’s clearly the best part. Since then, I knew I wanted to organise events!

However, at that time, I had two problems. First, there weren’t any bachelor courses in Portugal about that subject. And going abroad to study didn’t really cross my mind. Second, I didn’t want to specialise that much in my bachelor. And because I’ve always wanted to have my own company, I knew I had to first learn the management basics. And maybe do a master’s degree in event management. But again, I didn’t want to do a bachelor’s only in management, that’s too broad.

After a few months of looking at possible courses, my mom suggested a course, that my cousin had done a few years before. In my last post, I told you guys how I love to organise things. So, my mom suggested doing a course in logistics. Therefore, I applied as my first option to an Industrial Management and Logistics degree in ISCTE Business School in Lisbon. But because I wasn’t a good student during all high school, my grade average wasn’t the best. So, I wasn’t accepted in the first round of selection, but in the second, I was accepted!!!!

Alice