Dear Student Community,

This article is dedicated to all those undergraduate students who aspire to experience the academic world firsthand and challenge the conventional expectations tied to undergraduate education.

Laying the foundations

When I began my academic journey at the Faculty of Engineering, I was just like any other student: eager to learn, focused on passing exams, and very determined to build a solid foundation for my future. However, as I moved through the courses, I realised that simply completing assignments would not be enough for me. I was not happy with doing “just enough”. I wanted to explore more, contribute more! That said, during my second year, I decided to try something new. I undertook a 6-credit internal project intending to explore new possibilities and gain a deeper grasp of a topic that is increasingly relevant in today’s highly digitalised world. The focus was on the gap that exists between complex systems designed for specific domains and the ability of inexperienced end-users to interact with them effectively through simplified graphical user interfaces (GUIs).

From project to breakthrough

 What started as a standard internal project, “just” a 6-credit free-choice internal project, gradually evolved into something much greater. In my attempt to approach the project with deeper intention and originality, I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Janes, whose support became crucial in shaping the ideas I had in mind. Through countless discussions and refinements, my initial concept transformed into a research piece with a concrete scientific weight.

With the support and guidance of my professor, I developed the work into a formal paper, and what followed was not a lucky break, but the result of consistent effort, critical feedback, and iteration. After several months of work, the paper was submitted to SERA25, an international academic conference, and my great honour, it was accepted. As a consequence, I found myself preparing to present my research in the United States, on a stage shared by researchers and professionals from across the globe.

Standing in front of an international audience to discuss my work gave a strong sense of accomplishment, offering me the chance not only to share what I had worked on but also reaffirmed a lesson I had already begun to learn: achievements are not mandatorily driven by titles or seniority only, but by perseverance, curiosity, and the courage to act on your ambitions.

Final reflection: a call to dare beyond expectation

At first, it felt like a long shot, I am not going to lie… after all, I was just a second-year student, so what chance did I have among PhDs and seasoned researchers? To any student who feels limited by their current path, I want to say “your degree is not a finish line, but a platform”, if you’re willing to reach beyond what is expected, incredible opportunities can emerge in the most unexpected places, at the most expected time, just trust the process.