Through almost 30 years, hundreds of Casper’s students have received a warm greet and a helping hand every time they run desperate to the Student Services’ Office, overwhelmed with the college’s bureaucracy. Behind the glassed-desk, you can find the petit-and-ever-smiley Dalva Maria de Sousa, ready to give some life-saving tips that will be remembered during your entire course.
Casper’s Student Services was born in 1968 in São Paulo. She first started working at Fundação Cásper Líbero in May of 1987 as a secretary. Since then, she has married, become a mother, witnessed dozens of changes through the college’s hallways and become one of the most darling figures around.
Known for her humor, Dalva believes that keeping good vibes is the most important thing not only when facing hard times, but also through the challenges of daily life. Asked about her favorite work activities, it’s not a surprise to hear that what she likes the most is to assist well the public and talk to everybody. It seems that the only way to piss her off “is being rude and mistreat others”, as she revealed.
But, during all these years, the friendships she has made are way more numerous than the ones she dislikes. She can’t avoid smiling when talking about the day when a student showed up with a baby layette set for Lucas, her first born, in 1995, one of the most cherished memories of all. After that, she also gave birth to Danilo, who is 16 now.
Another pleasure for her is to keep in touch with ex-students. “One of these days I just met a student who graduated more than 15 years ago. We’re Facebook friends now”, she said.
And if you think that she’s done after all of her hard work during the day, you’re totally mistaken. After 5 p.m. she hurries home to look after her family in the neighborhood of Campo Limpo, extreme south of São Paulo. In the next day, you’re going to find her smiley and helpful on time in the office at 7:30 a.m.
This huge Harry Potter fan, that loves to travel to Hogwarts every time the magical adventures are showing on TV, still finds time to dream of a better future. “Well, I’d like the world to be better, things are so difficult nowadays. I hope that they could find the cure to dengue and it’s similar diseases, as zika and chikungunya fever. And I wish I could win the lottery and finally be rich!”.