CHAPTER 6

Take It Easy

By now you’ve probably realized that in our story anyone can become anything. A student becomes a teacher, a mentor, a mother… A universe of multiple possibilities just waiting to happen.

As a student, Manuel left our school eager to show everything he had learned. Eager to change the world. Like most are when they go. But soon the world showed him that change requires time, space and commitment. Change requires patience too.

Without even noticing, years pass by, and he suddenly found himself back to the very beginning, but where there once was a student, now there’s a mentor. Manuel’s best advice to graduates? Take it easy… you’ll change the world, one day at a time.

CHAPTER 5

“So, Are You Done, Yet?”

Ah, the story of Joana… one of my favorites, actually.

Joana, coming from a small town in Portugal, wanted to do big things; to achieve big things.

After 5 years at our school, her professors – reluctantly one might say – saw her leave to work for a big consulting firm.

A year goes by and her phone rings. It’s an old friend. A Professor. “So, are you done yet? Are you ready to embrace what really matters?”

In that moment, the future unfolded. Nova SBE Venture Lab was born and the rest, as well as our next chapter, is history.

CHAPTER 4

“Why Not?”

This could be just the story of a young boy from Cologne with big dreams, but you will soon find out that it is much more than that.

Luck would have it that on his first day at our school, Julian would be sitting on the first row of a presentation at the Discovery Week, and hear: “Usually, we don’t associate business people with creativity.“

“Well, why not?” – thought Julian.

Since then, Julian has created the Nova Creative Hub, a club dedicated to helping others explore their creativity. He has also volunteered at Nova SBE’s Venture Lab. Can you guess who else was there with him?

CHAPTER 3

“Dá Fogo À Peça!”

Let me tell you about Professor José Pinheiro. I have a feeling you will never forget him.

José has been at our school since the very beginning. In fact, his story is our story – year after year welcoming a new generation of young people eager to learn.

Thousands of bright minds – with anxious faces trying to understand the p-value – have sat in front of him and prepared for their future.

Even if you don’t remember anything about Statistics (and I’m not judging), who can forget his slightly pyromaniac catch phrase “Give fire to the piece”?

Can you guess who else in our story sat right there in his classroom?

CHAPTER 2

The School. The Daughter. The Legacy.

The young heroine. What would be of our story if we didn’t have one?

Like a ripple effect when you throw a stone into a pond, a little over 2 years ago, Inês, unknowingly, became the result of a series of moments that happened long before her. A legacy.

On her shoulders she carries the weight of being the 4^th woman in her family to attend our school. And much like her mother, 30 years ago, she’ll also go through two campuses: Campolide and Carcavelos.

Growing up with stories of her mum and aunt, and later on watching her sister follow their steps, it’s still surprising that all four share so many of the same stories you will hear about next.

INTRO

Our Memories Build the Future

The story I am about to tell you is one of great change so make sure you try to keep up, as details, much like life itself, can become complex.

This story started 40 years ago and, if I had to pick one decisive moment, the creation of Nova School of Business & Economics on November 11^th 1977 at 9:37 a.m. was the moment everything changed. Would the future of our story and the people in it be any different if the school was founded on any other day?

CHAPTER 1

The School. The Mother. The Future.

In every story, there is always a figure that is the author’s tell of how the future will unfold. To imagine our journey without such a person would be not to tell this story at all.

The year was 1983 and Cristina was a wide-eyed 18-year-old.

I could romanticize and tell you that she had an easy ride as a student at our school, but she didn’t. Much like you. Or me. But I digress…

Cristina first started classes at the Campo Grande Campus, and it was only in her last semester that Campolide became a reality. This minor, unimportant, almost trivial detail made her the first of four women in her family to set foot at the Campolide Campus.

That wide-eyed 18-year-old became the pillar of what unfolded next.