First stage: Madrid, Spain
After a lot of planning, mountains of ideas and a lot of work, in July 2016 we began in Madrid the first stage of the #RutaNSQE and our first 360° Route experience.
The tour began in the Avenida Alfonso XIII area. We wanted to go out to personally get to know universities and educational centers, talk with those who were part of them, ask for information and discover what they offered from the inside.
The idea was to go beyond an address, a website or a list of degrees. We wanted someone thinking about where to study to be able to get to know an institution better even before visiting it in person.
The 360° photographs were one of the tools we used to achieve this, along with the location of the institutions on the map and all the information we were gathering along the way.
We visited UDIT, which at that time was ESNE Escuela Universitaria de Diseño, Innovación y TecnologÃa
Our first stop was ESNE Escuela Universitaria de Diseño, Innovación y TecnologÃa, an institution we now know as UDIT, Universidad de Diseño, Innovación y TecnologÃa.
We went to its campus on Avenida Alfonso XIII, where they welcomed us and informed us about different programs related to design and technology, where they welcomed us and informed us about their degrees, such as Video Game Design and Development, Multimedia and Graphic Design, Fashion Design, Interior Design and Product Design, we took some 360 photos and left with the promise to return.
In addition to gathering information, we took some of the first 360° photographs of the #RutaNSQE there.
It was precisely one of the things we wanted to try out during the Route: allowing someone to observe the surroundings of a university, get to know its spaces better and get closer to the institution even if they were far away.
ESERP Business School
During the visit they informed us about different programs related to Business Administration, Business Management, Tourism and Advertising.
We also learned about studies in Criminology and Law that were part of their offering in Madrid at that time.
As in the rest of the Route, we took advantage of the visit to collect materials and first-hand learn about the information received by a person interested in studying there.
Universidad Nebrija
The next stop was Universidad Nebrija.
We were assisted at the then Centro Universitario San Rafael-Nebrija, in Paseo de la Habana, where we received information about different studies related to Health Sciences.
In particular, we were able to learn more about the Nursing and Physiotherapy programs taught there at that time.
Each of these visits allowed us to confirm something that would later be very important for NSQE: the difference between reading about an institution and being physically there, asking for information, seeing the place and talking to the people who are part of it.
Escuela Profesional Javeriana
We also visited Escuela Profesional Javeriana, located at Calle Alberto Aguilera 8, Madrid.
There we learned about different Vocational Training options and collected information about studies such as Pharmacy and Parapharmacy, International Trade and training linked to the nursing field, among others.
The visit was another opportunity to personally get to know a different type of institution and to continue broadening the perspective of #RutaNSQE beyond traditional universities.
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Universidad Pontificia Comillas
To finish that day we went to Universidad Pontificia Comillas, located at Calle Alberto Aguilera 23, very close to Escuela Profesional Javeriana.
The Universidad Pontificia Comillas already had a long history and a wide academic offering at that time.
During our visit we gathered information about different studies, from engineering areas to qualifications such as Psychology.
Once again, the goal was the same: to get closer in person, to get to know the institution and to better understand the information and possibilities that someone thinking about studying there would find.
After a long tour we brought that first day in Madrid to an end.
We had visited universities, schools and educational centers that were very different from each other, gathered information, learned about part of their academic offerings and started experimenting with a different way of showing the institutions.
But Madrid was only the beginning.
Over time, the #RutaNSQE continued on different dates and took us to educational institutions in Spain, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Chile and Germany.
In each place the experience was different.
We met with teachers, specialists, managers and deans. We took part in guided tours, walked through classrooms, laboratories and other spaces, learned about projects, shared a class and often returned with brochures, programs and materials that helped us get to know each institution better.
That first 360° Route in Madrid was the start of a very important stage for NoSeQueEstudiar.
A stage in which we decided that, to talk about universities, we first wanted to go in, tour them and meet the people behind them.