The campaign “Study at Gandia Beach: Promoting Gandia as a University City” takes the talent of the Gandia campus beyond the classroom.
Students from the Gandia campus of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) traveled to Madrid to participate in the awards ceremony for the 11th edition of the eMove International Festival. The experience was part of the “Study on Gandia Beach” campaign, organized by the campus and funded by the City Council. This initiative aims to strengthen Gandia’s reputation as a university town and showcase everything the campus has to offer prospective students.
On this occasion, participation in the festival highlighted that, in addition to offering an outstanding academic program, the Gandia campus is also a place where artistic and audiovisual talent plays a leading role.
“With this campaign, we want to reach out to students from other autonomous communities and also from around the world, showing them that Gandia is an excellent place to study, live, and pursue personal and professional goals,” explained José Marín-Roig, associate director of the Chairs in Business, Employment, and Entrepreneurship at the UPV’s Gandia campus.
At eMove, a competition dedicated to the audiovisual arts in schools and universities, six students from the group Polimono, part of the program Spontaneous Generation UPV, had the opportunity to showcase some of the artwork they had created.
“The artistic spirit of the Gandia campus is unique, creative, and full of opportunities and people with a lot of initiative and ideas,” noted Ariadne Sánchez, an actress in “Dead Poets Society.” For her part, Emma Martínez, also a member of the cast, emphasizes what Polímono means to her: “In addition to giving me the opportunity to meet wonderful people whom I will cherish forever in my heart, it has introduced me to a whole new world—that of acting and theater—which has really helped me open up and become more outgoing.”
For Eduardo Trujillo, director of the play “Puñales por la Espalda”—which will premiere soon on campus—the experience was enriching: “What I’ll take away from eMove is the experience of doing theater with my classmates and the opportunity to perform at the Calderón Theater, as well as the warm welcome I received from the organizers.”
During the festival gala, the students performed a scene from “Dead Poets Society,” which was very well received by the audience. The performance also included some references and cameos from Spanish films, such as Torrente.
The day also held a few surprises: the students had the chance to meet Santiago Segura, a guest at the festival!
The experience also served to highlight the atmosphere on campus. According to Eduardo: “The Gandia campus is a welcoming place where you can grow academically and personally, both in the scientific and artistic fields.”
This is precisely one of the ideas the “Study on Gandia Beach” campaign aims to convey. In the words of José Marín-Roig: “The campaign stems from a desire to strengthen Gandia’s reputation as a university city and to show prospective students everything our campus and its surroundings have to offer. We offer a high-quality academic program, modern facilities, and a privileged setting by the sea, but Gandia also has a very important competitive advantage: a cost of living and housing that is particularly competitive compared to other university cities.”
And, without a doubt, this marked the launch of an initiative that, in addition to raising the profile of the Gandia campus of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, has helped highlight its artistic and creative side—and which, for the six participating students, has become an unforgettable experience.