THE WINNERS OF THE 2014 AMHS/NIAF SCHOLARSHIPS THANK OUR SOCIETY
Christina McGrath and Sophia Labas, the winners of the two AMHS/NIAF scholarships we awarded this year, recently sent letters thanking our Society and explaining the benefit the scholarships, $4,000 each, will provide them. Their letters, with accompanying photos, appear below for your information and enjoyment. Our Society can be proud for helping these two bright people to further their education into Italian language and culture.
Christina McGrath Dear Abruzzo and Molise Heritage Society, It is with great gratitude that I am writing to you today to thank you for your generous scholarship of $4,000. Even with the financial aid I receive from Georgetown, my family still faces a large financial burden, which your scholarship is significantly helping to alleviate. As I enter my senior year as an Italian and Art History major at Georgetown University, I am making serious provisions to continue with Italian after matriculation. In fact, I hope to enroll in a Ph.D program in Italian Studies directly after graduation and eventually teach at the college/university level.
Seeing as my maternal great-grandparents emigrated from Italy, I've always had a deep appreciation for the Italian American culture; this, combined with my curiosity for the Italian language (which was not taught to my mother), inspired me to take Italian classes in high school. When I arrived at Georgetown, I continued with Italian - it was always my favorite class, though I was initially afraid to commit to it as a major. Finally I realized that to deny my love for this language and culture would be to do myself a great disservice, so I declared it a major.
With the support and encouragement of various professors in the department, I began to reflect on how I could make my love for Italian an integral part of my future, and arrived at teaching. I want more than anything to share all that is beautiful about Italy with my fellow Americans, and when I think back to all of the incredible teachers and professors whose love of the Italian language and culture inspired me, I realize that teaching is my calling.
This goal brought me to Florence, where I completed a semester of full-immersion classes at the Università di Firenze, to apply for and receive a grant from the Georgetown University Italian Department to write a Senior Honors Thesis, and to the Vatican Library in Rome, where I did extensive research on the censorship of Giovanni Boccaccio's masterwork, The Decameron. I consider myself so lucky to have the support of people who are similarly passionate about Italian, people such as you. Please know that your scholarship is helping me pursue what I love, and is playing a significant role in transforming my aspirations into realities. Grazie tante. Sincerely, Christina McGrath
Dear Abruzzo and Molise Heritage Society, I would like to express my sincerest and utmost gratitude for the generous scholarship you have granted me. In my upcoming years at Boston University I plan to study Italian culture through its most beautiful channels: language and music. I am especially interested in classical voice, as opera is the perfect combination of my most favorite passions. Your scholarship will help me profoundly on this journey.
I have previously visited Italy twice and I want desperately to return! My favorite places from my travels have been the small cities of Lanciano and Assisi, and my most loved: Rome. I hope to study abroad there in my upcoming years. Thank you again for the generous scholarship and for aiding me in the pursuit of a higher education. Most sincerely, Sophia Labas Note to members: Full information about our AMHS Scholarship Program, which applies to students engaged in or intending to engage in Italian studies at the college level, including the requirements to be met by applicants and the method for applying for the two scholarships to be awarded in 2015, are shown on our Society’s web site at www.abruzzomoliseheritagesociety.org. The application period opens on January 1, 2015. The members of the Scholarship Committee are: Peter Bell, Ray Bernero, Ray LaVerghetta, Romeo Sabatini, Lourdes Tinajero and Richard DiBuono, Chair.