American First Italian Always

1st SCHOLARSHIP WINNER – ALEXANDRIA PESEUX

 Galileo Galilei 

It took me quite a while to decide what to do my essay on because my Italian heritage is so strong that there were so many things I could have picked in any category that have influenced me throughout my life.  I could have chosen a ballet dancer or musician because I danced classically and grew up with a wonderful sense of music, or I could have chosen a city that I would love to be fortunate enough to visit one day.  And after I contemplated all of this, I decided to incorporate all of these into one person whose experiences and life had been somewhat similar to my own. 

Galileo Galilei was born at Pisa, and grew up under his musician father who told Galileo that he should have a medical career.  So when he grew older, like any good son, Galileo respected his father’s wish and pursued an education at the University of Pisa in the medical field.  However, after Galileo made observations regarding a pendulum’s movement and timing, he switched his profession to be able to study math and natural science. 

After switching studies, Galileo was able to make a number of discoveries including his “falling bodies” experiments were he was able to prove his theory that an object will fall with the same speed and acceleration regardless of its weight and size and will follow a slightly curved path.  He also was able to build himself a telescope and made many of the observations that we still accept today, some of these observations include the confirmation that the sun is the center of the solar system, the moon only is bright when light is reflected onto it, and the Milky Way was formed of “a multitude of stars.” 

Unfortunately, Galileo’s observations were so different from what the scientists and the rest of the people of that time believed that it was hard to accept him for serious.  He had already been forced to resign from the University of Pisa and took on another job at the University of Padua several years earlier, and after that he traveled from Padua to Florence to work for the Grand Duke Cosimo II de’ Medici.  While working for the Grand Duke, he started discovering new things like sun spots, and confirming other things like the discoveries made by Copernicus that the earth and planets revolve around the sun.  But the Church did not accept these views because they believed that the Bible supported the previous view of the planets and the sun revolving around the earth.  So when Galileo announced his support for Copernicus’ theory, controversy rose incredibly fast.  To try to prove his point, he even quoted the Bible for support.  When he was still shot down by the Church, he was sentenced to imprisonment for life, but then was permitted to retire to his home to quietly continue his studies. 

Galileo reflects me so much because I also grew up as a musician only with my mother in that role and not my father.  I was able to take singing lessons as a young girl as well as ballet, jazz, modern, and character dance lessons which influenced my musical taste even further.  My father is the scientist in my family and from the time I could talk I was quoting scientific formulas that he had drilled into my brothers and I, since then, I have always excelled in school in the language arts and especially in math and science. 

I also play sports and was the only female on my all boy high school baseball team my first two years of high school.  This is similar to Galileo’s being treated with contempt because I was treated less than equal for a time before the team and the coaches were able to accept me just as the Church and all residents of that time took a while to accept and understand that Galileo was correct in his theories and observations. 

Galileo Galilei has more than influenced my life as a scientist and being the son of a musician.  Galileo has been able to prove that sticking with your belief is one of the most important things and standing by them even more important.  I want to get a better education and I continue to push myself to do so because I believe that I can do it and I will stand by that belief no matter what happens throughout my life. 

2nd SCHOLARSHIP WINNER – STEVEN TUMINO

         As a child I was always proud to be an “Italian,” but only because my father was proud of this.  It wasn’t until the summer of 2006 that I realized why Italian people all over the world are so proud of their heritage.  In the summer of 2006 I took a trip to Italy with my family, stopping in Venice, Rome and Sicily, throughout the two weeks.  Through all of the magnificent sites, harmonious music, and exquisite cuisine, one experience sticks out in my mind: my visit to Ragusa, Sicily.  My experience in Ragusa showed my why so many Italian cherish their culture. 

After leaving Venice on our fourth day in Italy, my family and I flew down to the province of Sicily.  Upon arrival strangers greeted us at the gate.  These weren’t strangers, these were my cousins and through their elaborate “hellos” and plentiful hugs and kisses I quickly realized this.  I also realized that Italian people are not ordinary people, they are extraordinary.  I had never felt so much love and compassion from people I had never met before; my Sicilian cousins made me feel like I had known them for years and that I wasn’t on vacation in a foreign land, but that I was coming “home.”  After only a few minutes these “strange” people were my family. 

There is one major thing about Italy, that America is missing, its rich history.  One night my family visited a place called Ragusa Ibla.  From the moment I stepped foot in this ancient town I was at a loss for words.  The architecture was both beautiful and practical.  I wondered how something so beautiful could withstand years and years of torment from the people who lived there and the elements of the Earth.  The answer to this is ingenuity.  Twice this town had been devastated by terrible earthquakes, yet many of the people and buildings remain years later.  Through genius and zealousness the Italian people structure buildings that are artful and resilient.  Every morning I look to my nightstand and see a picture of this town built on a hill and I am reminded of the ingenuity and hard work of my ancestors. 

One morning we went out for breakfast at a café and sat down as a family.  After eating “una cornetta con crème, un brioche, e una granite” my cousins presented each of us with gifts to remind us of this trip, as if allowing us to stay in their home was not enough.  Their perpetual generosity was plentiful, whether they were giving up their home for my family to stay in or offering us more food at the dinner table. 

The last morning of our stay in Sicily was a somber one and after the emotional goodbyes I sat back in my plane seat and looked back on the week.  I had been enlightened.  I finally understood why Italians take so much pride in their heritage.  Three extraordinary characteristics make Italian people unique:  their compassion, ingenuity and generosity.  Now when someone asks me what nationality I am, I proudly respond, “I am an Italian-American.”

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