Young university male dressed in red, black and light blue, and young university women dressed in orange, green, yellow and pink, spread out by pavilion, among the tables in our main dining room; everybody energetic, vibrant, smiling, and eager. A new academic year was beginning.
Thirty-five weeks have passed since that opening dinner, bringing us to this Gala Dinner marking the end of the 2024–2025 academic year. Now, those same students—divided into affinity groups and dressed to the nines—gather to take group photos. A little more tired and nervous from the weight of their coursework, they pose for our photographer with their outfits, their friends, and a smile that we, the La Salle Bonanova Residence Entertainment Team, can't help but feel a little guilty about.
Between one rite of passage and the next, we've discovered that seemingly unrelated moments eventually make perfect sense. We've had thirty-five Sundays of forgotten cards at home, thirty-five Mondays of volunteering on the streets of Barcelona, and thirty-five Tuesdays filled with thrilling basketball games, music rehearsals, and unforgettable soccer tournaments—one played among the stars, and the other played by our stars, of course. We’ve also spent just as many evenings with popcorn, candy, and blankets—watching trivia shows, series, and movies. We’ve celebrated festive nights like Christmas, Carnival, and Halloween, and countless moments of fun playing in LIPA (for those who don’t know, that’s our beloved Pavilion League).
Not everything is learned at university. That’s why we’ve joined cooking workshops to make sushi and pizza, and tasted the culinary creations of our chef, David Subils, who occasionally took us on gastronomic journeys to Mallorca, Aragón, Ecuador, and Argentina—without ever needing to go to El Prat. Alongside this expansion of our horizons, we had the chance to learn with Master Marcos Cerveira, who opened up deep conversations about inequality, global tensions, and the sustainability of the world we live in.
Now the academic year is ending. As with any rite of passage, this moment marks a new beginning—one that starts with saying goodbye to those who have completed their studies or won’t be with us next year. We wish them a future full of happiness. To those returning, we wish you a well-earned summer break. We'll be waiting to welcome you back next year—together again to home in Barcelona.