My name is Margarida Almeida and I am the Dual Diploma Program Director at Colégio Campo de Flores, in Almada, near Lisbon.
I am a rookie at the art of teaching, as this is my first year doing so. Being a teacher is part of my life, is in my blood, as my grandparents founded the school where I now teach and where my father is also a director.
Although it might sound strange, I graduated in Fine Arts and was always very reluctant to the idea of teaching. I thought I didn’t have what it takes… However, everything changed when my father challenged me to be a Dual Diploma Program Director and an arts teacher.
It was very nerve-racking to say the least, but as I got to know our students and the Academica staff, everything became easier. The webinars were just the perfect way to understand new ways of doing things, with loads of tools to help us teachers.
I fell in love with the contents and subjects that our students learn in the Dual Diploma Program and the independence and the boost of self-esteem that it gives them. It has been a delight to watch our students not only broaden their horizon through the contents that they learn and the people they get the chance to meet (through the live sessions, for example), but also, to be part of something big that they will treasure forever in their lives.
For last, but not least, I am truly grateful to my father and Ms. Maria Campos for introducing me to Academica, to get to know such an innovative way of learning and to always letting me solve every problem through creativity.