There is a vast world full of opportunities Beyond Medicine that makes us richer as young people, students and future professionals. In many areas of our culture and society, we are likely to be identified with groups, causes and homes. This is what Centro Universitário Padre António Vieira – Priest António Vieira University Centre (CUPAV) is: not merely a home or a group of people; it extends far beyond that. Run by the Jesuits, it is a university area for university people.

There is a group of animators to ensure that activities reach other people, and also to organize the area, or simply be there. I am part of that group Beyond Medicine. However, as I mentioned earlier, CUPAV is not just a group, and not just a group of animators. If the essence of being a CUPAV animator lies in the service and capacity to give, its role would be meaningless without the presence of the (many) university students who go there. It was in that capacity that I first got to CUPAV, just over 2 years ago.

Just over 2 years ago, I had no idea what CUPAV was, and I had never heard of it. However, on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon, the last before the Easter holiday, a friend took me to CUPAV. My first reaction was to ask “what is this”? The truth is that the mass held at the chapel, characterized by the involvement of students like us and much centred on students, was an occasion that struck me very positively, to the extent that I went back on the Wednesday after the holidays, the actual Wednesday on the eve of the Pilgrimages of the Centres. As a freshman in these wanderings, I was strongly advised to participate in the Pilgrimage that brought together university students associated with the various Jesuit centres spread through Porto, Braga, Coimbra and Lisbon to the Beira Alta region. It was undoubtedly one of the best experiences I have had so far.

Tentatively at first, and subsequently feeling more at ease, I began to meet other people who, like me, saw in CUPAV a place to be, and one that made us move away from everyday’s worries, or even share them. All this happened in between the Wednesday masses, the several Monthly Meetings to debate current affairs and the times I went there to study.

Since then, it is something that has got stuck in my life and without which I feel a lot poorer.
Luís Miguel Vieira de Lemos
Lisbon Medical Faculty Students’ Association (AEFML)
geral@aefml.ul