The Summer University of Adeje opened a new edition yesterday at the Convent with a reflection on happiness. The annual event, in which the Adeje City Council and the University of La Laguna offer a varied academic programme, began with a conference by the educational psychologist Mar Romera, focused on the management of emotions. «The key to success is evolution, change, and that begins with the person, it is not done from the outside». With this premise, Mar Romera opened her presentation. “Change from within begins in the person, in the brain. We have always thought that the reason for what happened to us was outside, but it is not like that, “said the expert.
The mayor of Adeje, José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga, highlighted at the opening ceremony that he had brought the university to the municipality. He pointed out that training “is always needed, even in times of economic boom, when tourism and construction have knocked on the door of many young people, who were tempted to enter the world of work without having the relevant preparation.” “This fact made it clear that the presence of the university in the south of the island had to be constant,” continued the mayor, “first with the Summer University of Adeje, then with its own postgraduate programs and the program for people over 50 , to finally lead to the South Campus».
The rector of the University of La Laguna (ULL), Rosa Aguilar, recalled for her part that “in turbulent times, politics and academia cannot hesitate and must try to offer solutions.” In the opinion of the rector, “we are witnessing a time in which, probably in an interested way, some sectors try to sow doubts about the effectiveness of both institutions and education.” For this reason, she maintained that Adeje is “a good example of what training can do for people.” “Historically, the university has been one of the ways that people have been able to improve their lives, since through training they have been able to access good jobs and not only that, but it has also helped them to develop as consistent people, critical and concerned about their environment, whether social or natural”, he stressed.
In the inaugural conference, Mar Romera explained that “uncertainty is an emotional state that depends on fear, which paralyzes our actions.” The speaker wondered “if we really are as bad as we think or as they make us see”, while she considered it pertinent “to differentiate pleasure, an ephemeral feeling that generates addiction, from happiness, more solid and full”. “Emotional excellence is trained, like a muscle, you can’t always have young people in joy and security and then ask them to adapt to critical moments,” she argued. And that is why she considered that you have to know how to face sadness, guilt or fear, for example.
“We have to accommodate all emotions, in such a way that emotion decides, and reason justifies”, he pointed. “It is never motivated by an extrinsic element, and that is why we break many of the promises we make to ourselves, because they are not really ours.” Mar Romera stressed that “happiness is achieved when we are consistent between what we think, what we say and what we do, and for that we need to choose our own emotions.”
