„Model David Popovici”, about passions, ideals, psychology and social work in a one-of-a-kind interview. The sportsman, student at the UB Faculty of Sociology and Social Work

The start of the new academic year of 2024-2025 finds David Popovici on the set of Digi 24, invited by reporter Teodora Tompea to a discussion about ideals, life, with the intrinsic good and bad, on generosity, ambition and discipline. During the interview, David Popovici publicly announced the change he chose to make in what concerns the student life at the University of Bucharest: starting this fall, David will attend the courses of the UB Faculty of Sociology and Social Work.

Part of the first generation of performance scholarship beneficiaries of the University of Bucharest, David Popovici chose, in the July 2023 admission session, the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, having a passion in understanding and helping those around him: “I am happy that, in parallel to the academic activity, I will benefit of support in reaching new performances in the field that has brought me my greatest accomplishments, #swimming […] and, maybe the most important thing, I want to meet people with whom I can create strong, quality bonds.”

After the challenge of getting ready for admission and for the first year of university, David was faced with another challenge – preparing for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris -, and teaching staff, mentors and colleagues from the University of Bucharest gave him their unconditional support. The University of Bucharest constantly supported, either by messages published on unibuc.ro, or on the institution’s social network accounts, the participation of “the ordinary boy who swims fast” to national and international competitions.

At the University of Bucharest, as between friends: a place of interdisciplinarity and attention to students’ needs

Friday, August 2^nd 2024, students of the University of Bucharest attended the ceremony organized by the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee with the occasion of David’s Popovici return home, on Henri Coandă international airport in Bucharest. The students were accompanied by professor Magdalena Iordache-Platis, UB vice-rector for Students, quality management, sustainability and social responsibility.

With this occasion, the representatives of the University of Bucharest congratulated both David Popovici and Adrian Rădulescu, his coach, for the extraordinary results they achieved at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and for bringing home, to Romania, the Olympic gold.

Asked by Teodora Tompea about his desire to do good and extend his horizons in the area of social work, David said that “it’s a wish and a duty of each one of us to try to do as much good as possible. Where does this desire of mine to get involved come from? I don’t know, it seems like…I’m embarrassed of simply swimming, you know? I’m embarrassed to just swim, to win, although important, it’s important for me, for the child in me, I’m embarrassed to stick to doing just that.”

David Popovici, 100 m freestyle between psychology and social work

On the rigor behind success, on perseverance and the challenges of student life and that of a performance sportsman, David adds that “this year I’m trying again, having a more relaxed schedule, let’s say. And because I realized that I can learn a lot about psychology by myself, either by reading or just documenting, I have somehow chose to transfer to Social work”.

At the present time, David Popovici is Ambassador for Home and, next to the team from the Hope and Homes for Children Association, contributes to the fundraising initiated by the association for the construction of a “house as big as a Home destined for 12 children will special needs” coming from the last orphanage in sector 5 of the capital. For the same cause, David Popovici donated the equipment he wore at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

As a matter of fact, it’s not the first time David has chosen to donate his equipment and medals for charitable causes. The same thing happened in 2023, when David, Ambassador of Hope, supported the cause #SperanţaNuMoareDeCancer (#HopeDoesn’tDieOfCancer), launched by MedLife in support of children with cancer.

I want to learn better how I can help and get involved in this sort of causes. But it’s not just about me, it’s about the good I can do and where this good goes, this good that comes from every TV spectator, from each person who follows social media accounts and decides to click on the links and donate. How do I manage to combine this professional life with what I’m doing now? I don’t know, it’s definitely not easy, but it’s incomparable to the difficulties that those children are facing. So I consider that I don’t even have the right to complain that much, concluded the champion.

The full interview given by David Popovici to reporter Teodora Tompea of Digi 24 is available here.