PAPS - Portuguese American Post-Graduate Society

To be or not to be an immigrant in the US
 
What brought you to the USA?
What brought me to the US was a world-class teaching institution such as MIT that offered a very unique MBA program, combining traditional management classes lectured by top-notch professors with hands-on learning experiences such as the $50k business competition or the Global Entrepreneurship Lab. What I took with me when I came back was a lot more than what brought me in: in a few words (and lacking any better explanation), it was a lifetime experience. Name the three most valuable lessons you have learned in this country (at work or not).
More than what I’ve learned (most things can technically be found in text books and are available worldwide), I’d like to mention the one single experience that have changed me the most: a truly multinational, multi-ethnic and multi-religious environment has taught me that diversity may not be easy to deal with, but it does provide a lot more fun to what we do and what we achieve. You were President of the Executive Committee of PAPS in 2003. Did you like the experience? What was the most difficult task you had to accomplish?
The experience of leading the Executive Committee of PAPS in 2003 was both challenging and rewarding, and has to be considered in the perspective of someone who has joined PAPS during my first year in the US and have been involved and committed ever since: together with many PAPS members, I have helped organize the last 5 editions of the annual PAPS forum, have launched the current website, have formalized the legal existence of PAPS and have been involved in most activities that PAPS had had in Portugal. For me, PAPS has been a venue to meet new people, make friends and spend good times - I think that if PAPS could do this for all the Portuguese students in the US, it would fulfill its mission. When did you go back to Portugal? What made you take the decision of returning to Portugal?
I never thought seriously about staying in the US (not to say that the idea never came to my mind): I had an agreement with my employer to come back to Portugal when I finished my studies and that’s what I did. Since then, I already found my way back to the US with a 1-year rotational program, which allowed me to add a professional experience in the country. My life is now well established in Portugal and I’m not considering any major moves in the near future. What conditions (other than salary) did you have in the USA that you do not have in Portugal?
My relatively short professional experience in the US gave me the impression that, as a consultant, one was working with larger and more significant projects (when significance is measured in terms of budget or impact dollars). As a consultant, travel is a lot more intense than in Portugal, total hours may be a little shorter. Other than that, a consultant’s life is not that different in Boston and in Lisbon. What do you think Portugal is still better at?
Having studied in the US and experienced life in that country, I think that coming back to Portugal may be a great option for those who are willing to fight for what they believe in and make this a better place to live. We are privileged with the opportunity to make a difference (in opposition to being an undifferentiated piece of the system). What would you like to see changed in the Portuguese educational system?
I’d like Portugal to develop and maintain world-class teaching and research institutions that can attract the best and brightest professors and students. As far as I understand, partnerships such as the one established with MIT may be a leap forward in this direction.

The daily life in the US