Antonio's story

"That’s how I met one of my closest friends."

When I finished school, my friend and I spent the whole month travelling and that was one on the happiest times of my life. I especially loved Berlin, it’s a city that never sleeps, and I must return there one day. I come from Lisbon, which is such an active city, and I’m used to a lot of movement.

Next year I will be going on my Year Abroad to Tokyo. From the beginning I knew I wanted to go to Asia. I’ve been to China twice before, and it’s the place I feel that I need to explore more. There are some places in the world I definitely want to visit or go back to, and I’m pretty lucky to have friends travelling all over the world. During the Easter break I’m going to visit some friends in California, Virginia and New York.

I really enjoyed coming to Essex. I had no connections at the University; I wanted to get out of my shell and meet new people. During Freshers’ Week I didn’t know anyone, so it wasn’t that much of a party week, but I came down to the SU Bar, grabbed a drink and found someone to speak to. That’s how I met one of my closest friends.

I’m still not sure what I want to do after uni, but so far a rough sketch that I have is to work with an environmental NGO. I don’t have it clear yet, but I hope to get some work experience in the future that will help me choose my path. In high school I always wanted to study freshwater biology, but I was never good at sciences; philosophy was always something I liked. As a child I loved fishkeeping and I had other pets in my life. Now, at Essex, I’m the president of the Animal Protection Society. We lead the volunteering project, going to the cat rescue centre in Colchester every Saturday to help out with what we can. I think that working with an environmental NGO would be my way to contribute and give back to our planet.

My dad is a self-made man, but he’s in a completely different world to me. He’s a painter and a sculptor. I like his attitude in life; he doesn’t care about social status, he’s a very chilled individual. If I could have that sort of lifestyle, not in what he does, but how he portrays himself, I’d be pretty happy. I try to live day-by-day, not to plan too much ahead, and just have a relaxed approach to life.