On 10 June, the Aula Magna of the Barcelona Campus hosted the graduation ceremony of students from the Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology. Lecturer Maria Gámiz was in charge of welcoming the attendees and moderating the talk with patron Inma Puig and psychologist Gloria Balagué. Both speakers are renowned within the field of top-level sports and business psychology. They spoke about various topics such as their beginnings in the profession, the most important aspects to being a good psychologist, and what the current challenges of psychology are, among other themes.
In their speech, Puig and Balagué remembered the impatience they had to do internships after finishing their studies, seeing as “during our years in university, we did not see any patients,” explains Puig. At the same time, “the first contact with patients during my time as an intern marked my professional future, and made me specialise in sports,” added Balagué. Despite having different backgrounds, the two psychologists agreed on the importance of continually training because “you are never sufficiently prepared,” as Puig explains, as well as “seeking information in areas other than ours, broadening your vision, because the more prepared you are, the easier it is to help others with our profession,” Balagué says.
The two experts also reminded the recent graduates that to be a good professional it is essential “to know how to listen without judgement; to know how to set limits to better help someone; and to work on self-knowledge to know what affects you and impacts the people around you.” Finally, both Inma Puig and Gloria Balagué encouraged them to “not give up if they have a passion for something,” and “not be carried away by trends and to find the tools that each patient really needs to feel better.”
After the talk, Alumni & Careers director Frederic Van Dyck addressed the new Alumni community and reminded them that even though they would no longer be undergraduates, the university would continue to support them in their new career path. The graduation diplomas were then presented and the coordinators of the bachelor’s degree announced the winners of two special awards: the prize for the best academic record, which went to Mariona Orellana, and the prize for the student voted most likely to succeed as a therapist by his peers, which was collected by Marc Dapena.
Before ending the ceremony, there was time for speeches from the class representatives Lucía Enrique y Sonsoles Tintorero, who thanked the teachers and their families for their support and teaching during their academic years.
Dr Maria Fernández-Capo, director of the Bachelor’s Degree, gave the closing remarks. After an emotional video of the four years of the first graduating class of Psychology, Fernández-Capo addressed the new graduates and all the people who made it possible for the Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and the University Clinic Support to become a reality. In words filled with emotion and pride, the director reminded students that “you are here today to say yes to the challenge of changing the world” and encouraged them to “be agents of change for helping people”.
The ceremony ended with the traditional singing of the university hymn Gaudeamus Igitur.
