Our Society, as many of you know, awards a scholarship every year to two outstanding students. The two $4000 scholarships are awarded based on both academic achievement and interest in Italian language and culture. The AMHS has been recognizing talented students in this way since 2003. From 2007 through 2019 we partnered with the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF), which administered the program for us and provided matching funds for one of the scholarships. Starting this year, however, the AMHS began operating on its own again. Now we both manage the program independently and raise all of the funds required to underwrite the two scholarships. The AMHS Scholarship Committee (Lucio D’Andrea, Peter Bell, Ray LaVerghetta, Romeo Sabatini and Lourdes Tinajero) evaluated this year’s applicants over the month of April and selected the winners in early May. Now that we have wrapped up all of the administrative preliminaries, we are pleased to introduce to our members the winners of the scholarships for the 2020-2021 academic year.

They are Alexa Conti and Abigail Cuviello. Ms. Conti is from Fairfax, Virginia, and is a rising senior at the College of William and Mary. The areas of her academic focus are International Relations and Italian Studies. Her Italian roots are, on her father’s side, in Abruzzo, while her maternal Italian roots are in Sicily. Ms. Cuviello is from Annapolis, Maryland. She will begin her college career this fall as a freshman at the University of Vermont, where she will study animal science with a pre-veterinary concentration, while also continuing her studies in Italian. Ms. Cuviello’s Italian background traces to Abruzzo. Both winners will be honorary members of the Society for the calendar year 2021. Each has also been invited to attend one of our General Society meetings (once they resume in person), at which time they will personally introduce themselves to the Society and tell us a little about their studies, interests, and plans as well as their relationship to Italy. We have already received a thank you letter from each winner, which we re-print below:

Dear Abruzzo and Molise Heritage Society,

I am sincerely honored to have been selected as a recipient of the 2020 Abruzzo and Molise Heritage Society scholarship in the amount of $4000. Thanks to this generous contribution, I am able to continue my studies at the College of William & Mary as well as the Umbra Institute in Perugia, Italy, where I anticipate studying abroad this fall. This scholarship not only supports my academic pursuits, but enhances my ever-growing appreciation of Italian culture, language, and history. I will be entering my senior year at William & Mary in earnest, and ultimately, concluding with Bachelor of Arts degrees in International Relations and Italian Studies. Due to the small Italian language department at my university (and consequently an absence of an Italian Studies major), I have dedicated the second half of my college career to self-designing an Italian major with a concentration on the Italian American experience.

With this scholarship, I will be able to take classes and conduct research in Perugia that will help me achieve my academic goals. There, it is my hope to refine my language skills, understand self and others through food, and learn about intercultural communication. I have always boasted of my Italian heritage, as I am a second-generation Italian American; the paternal side of my family hails from the Province of Teramo in Abruzzo while my maternal side resides in Sicily. I have had multiple opportunities to travel to Italy and had such great experiences. I enjoy sharing with others these fond memories that will remain with me forever. In this way, I like to see myself as a sort of an ambassador preserving the Italian heritage in modern society, especially through this unprecedented time. As I look towards the future, I do not anticipate dulling the shine of my Italian pride in my professional career path. Traveling, interacting with other people, and helping to improve the world are some things I hope to achieve as I strive to become a Foreign Service Officer.

It is with the encouragement from great cultural organizations such as the Abruzzo and Molise Heritage Society that I am confident in succeeding as a young Italian American professional. It is an absolute honor to be recognized by the Abruzzo and Molise Heritage Society, and I look forward to my future endeavors with the organization and all that the Italian culture has to offer.

Grazie mille e buona salute

, Alexa Conti

Dear members of The Abruzzo Molise Heritage Society:

My name is Abigail Cuviello and I am one of the recipients of the AMHS scholarship for the 2020-2021 academic year. I am sincerely honored to have been awarded this scholarship based on my academic achievements throughout my high school experience as well as my dedication to learning the Italian language. I would like to thank the AMHS community for helping to support my future endeavors in higher education.

Throughout my time in high school, I took Italian language courses as well as a class trip to Italy, in which I visited my Italian relatives who live in Vasto, Abruzzo. These relatives are distant cousins who my grandfather and I found while researching our heritage and ancestry and they have become very close to us. My journey in discovering my Italian heritage and meeting my cousins is what pushed me to apply for this scholarship and join the Abruzzo Molise Heritage Society, as I am eager to learn more.

This fall I will be attending the University of Vermont as a freshman and will be majoring in animal science with a pre-veterinary concentration. I also hope to continue to take Italian courses throughout my time at the University in order to improve my speaking abilities and continue to stay connected with my Italian relatives. By awarding me this scholarship, AMHS will help me to buy textbooks as well as other necessary materials, which I will need to be successful throughout college.

I greatly appreciate this help, and I am grateful to have your support.

Grazie,

Abigail Cuviello

SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS Alexa Conti & Abigail Cuviello

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

VENAFRO