Paulo and Barbara Starick continue to dream big as they graduate from the Master of Arts in Digital Media and Global Communications program
When Barbara Starick packed her bags and left Brazil for Canada, she was chasing a master’s degree in a field she had always loved. What she didn’t fully anticipate was that her father would be coming too, not just to be close to family, but to sit beside her in class.
Paulo and Barbara Starick are graduated together on Thursday from the Master of Arts in Digital Media and Global Communications program at University of Niagara Falls Canada. Their path to the convocation stage winds through careers in policing and law, a home recording studio, a pregnancy and hospital stay, and the kind of unconditional family support that makes the impossible feel merely difficult.
The move to Canada began with Barbara. Drawn by the promise of safety and the pull of a program that felt tailor-made for her ambitions, she had spent years in Brazil working with media platforms and digital marketing. First, she built an Instagram following that exceeds 30,000 and later weaving media and marketing strategy into her work as a lawyer, helping to attract clients to her firm. A master’s in digital media, she said, was something she had dreamed of for a long time.
“I chose this program because I believed it was the most complete option for my professional and academic background,” she said.
Paulo’s arrival in the program was less premediated. He had retired in 2015 after a distinguished career that spanned military policing, public relations, managing a 911 emergency centre, and working as a filmmaker and photographer on the side. He pursued creative work in a home studio he’d built as a refuge from the pressures of the job. When Barbara moved to Canada to be closer to her sister Giovanna, Paulo and his wife followed to be near their grandchildren. Studying again was not part of the plan.
“I retired in 2015 and did not plan to study again,” said Paulo. “But they convinced me.”
A recommendation from friends already connected to UNF pointed the family toward the university. The DMGC program, Paulo reasoned, made sense. He had hands-on experience in video and music production, his wife held a marketing degree, and, as he puts it plainly, the other programs had too much mathematics. But when he read the course descriptions and found modules on the metaverse, virtual reality, and web design, something clicked.
“This excited me,” he said.
Still, walking back into a university after nearly 15 years away was daunting. His English was rusty. The pressures of exams and deadlines was a world away from retired life.
“I confess that I was scared in the beginning,” he admitted. It was Barbara who steadied him, explaining how moder student life worked and guiding him through the adjustment one step at a time. She had the digital fluency; he had the life experience. In the classroom, the usual dynamic quietly reversed itself.
“The roles changed,” Paulo said. “Barbara was stepping into a place she already knew. On the other hand, I was like a baby taking my first steps. She became the mother, and I was the child.”
Then, midway through the program, the stakes rose sharply. Barbara became pregnant and was seriously ill for much of her pregnancy, spending 15 days in hospital while assignment deadlines kept coming. Paulo, self-described as old-school and grade-conscious, stepped up. He took notes and explained missed material to keep them both on track. Baby Jolie arrived healthy and they both kept their standing.
“Working together, we won,” said Paulo, simply.
What the program gave each of them professionally was considerable. For Paulo, the great revelation was artificial intelligence. It was unfamiliar territory at first, and he struggled. But, by the end, it had become central to how he thinks about his work. Today, he is employed as a Marketing Coordinator, building a department from scratch and using data analytics tools he had never heard of before enrolling.
“Before, I had no clue about that,” he said. “Now I understand the whole process.”
For Barbara, the program deepened and formalized knowledge she had been accumulating intuitively for years. The legal and media worlds she had inhabited in Brazil turned out to be better preparation than she might have expected. Communication, she and her father both note, is the thread that runs through almost every field they’ve worked in.
The support that carried them through was never just the two of them. Paulo’s wife held the household together, cooking, caring for their grandson Ilon, and keeping Barbara supported through her pregnancy. Barbara’s husband Silas, a “symbol of self-control, calm and steady all the time,” in Paulo’s words, was a steadying presence throughout. Giovanna and her partner helped the family find their footing in Canada. It was, Paulo said, a team effort in every sense.
“I now understand the meaning of ‘we are stronger when we are together.’”
With Spring Convocation, both are looking forward rather than back. Barbara speaks of crossing the stage as the beginning of something, not the conclusion.
“My father and I still have a thousand plans together,” she said. “And with God’s blessings, which have always guided us, we believe many wonderful and challenging opportunities are still ahead of us.”
Paulo, at nearly 60, is already thinking about what comes next. He is settled in his new role and newly fluent in tools he once found intimidating. But his sights are set further out. He’s considering a PhD, he wants to teach, and he has a quiet ambition he’s willing to name out loud.
“My secret dream is to teach at the University of Niagara Falls Canada one day,” he said. “Who knows.”
Making Their Mark is a series of graduating student profiles celebrating the Class of 2026. Barbara and Paulo will be among the more than 900 graduands crossing the stage at UNF’s inaugural Convocation on May 21.
