SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS ADDRESS AMHS GENERAL SOCIETY MEETING
The two winners of the NIAF/AMHS scholarship for the 2016-2017 academic year addressed the AMHS General Society Meeting on January 29th. Salvatore Pitino and Nicholas Rao each took a turn at the podium to explain to AMHS members and guests the value they place on their ties to Italy as well as the importance of the scholarship to their continuing studies.
Mr. Pitino, a junior at George Mason University, spoke first. He began by noting that his major in Economics and minor in Italian Studies together allow him to pursue his academic interests and his love for Italian. He pointed out that his parents and grandparents were all born in Sicily, and that his first language was neither English nor Italian – but Sicilian. He heard a number of Sicilian dialects growing up, as his aunts and uncles were from different locations on Italy’s largest island. In fact, Mr. Pitino acknowledged that he felt some embarrassment growing up when he had to explain his attendance in ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes in school.
Although not the average heritage speaker of Italian, inasmuch as he heard exclusively various Sicilian dialects growing up, he knew enough of the national tongue by the time he got to college that he was able to test out of the beginning and intermediate levels of the language. Salvatore cited his desire to improve his knowledge of Italian as the main reason for adopting a minor in Italian studies.
His enthusiasm for this part of his program was evident as he spoke of his involvement in the Italian club on campus, as well as of his efforts, alongside those of his Italian professor, to bring a chapter of the national Italian academic honors society (Gamma Kappa Alpha) to his university campus. Salvatore recalled with admiration the extraordinary efforts that his maternal grandparents had made in working multiple jobs to put his mother through school.
He also expressed his gratitude to the Society for its support of his education, which he noted was substantially more expensive because of his outof-state status at George Mason University. He sees his AMHS scholarship as a continuation of the support that Italian-Americans have always lavished on younger members of the community. Nicholas Rao took the podium next. Mr. Rao is a junior at The Catholic University of America, where he double majors in Philosophy and Italian Studies. He explained that his Italian heritage runs through his father’s side of the family, which has roots in Sicily, Campania, and Basilicata.
He acknowledged his father’s influence in the choice of both of his areas of specialization – Philosophy and Italian. According to Mr. Rao, his father started a non-profit organization of Catholic intellectuals known as the Roman Forum. Every summer, the organization held a symposium on the shores of Lake Garda, Italy, where Catholic philosophers, historians, lawyers, and scientists would gather for two months to discuss Catholicism’s intellectual and cultural heritage. Nicholas tagged along every year, and he attributes his passion for philosophy, music, drama, art, and Italian culture to those summers in Italy.
Nicholas noted that the AMHS and the NIAF have enabled him to strengthen his links to the Italian-American community. In addition to his new association with the AMHS, he had the opportunity to cement his ties to NIAF through an internship, which allowed him to understand better the workings of our country’s umbrella Italian-American organization. Nicholas pointed out that he likes to seek connections among many disciplines, a trait that likely derives from his summers of multi-disciplined exposure in Italy. His college education provides him with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do just that, and he thanked the Society for its generous support of his educational goals.
He also thanked his father for deeply influencing nearly all aspects of his life – from his intellectual curiosity, through his love of music, drama, and literature, to his joys in the kitchen. Both Salvatore and Nicholas are outstanding students and extremely qualified and deserving scholarship recipients. Their accomplishments made a most favorable impression on AMHS members and guests, who also had praise for the work of AMHS Scholarship committee members – Peter Bell, Dick DiBuono, Lucio D’Andrea, Ray LaVerghetta, Romeo Sabatini, and Lourdes Tinajero – in selecting the awardees.