Read the full article below
The continuous commitment of Aretè & Cocchi Technology towards young people and the support of values for an open, intercultural and comprehensive world never fail to bring its results.
In the following interview Gianmarco Nosiglia, winner of the Aretè & Cocchi Technology 2019/2020 scholarship, talks about his adventure in the United States.
“My adventure in the United States between school and basketball”
Nosiglia won a scholarship to Connecticut and plays for the Chieftains, his high school team. “3-hour training and then I study – I feel lucky”.
Teens always on their cell phones, unable to get out of their virtual shell and look for experiences outside their comfort zone? No way. If you want a testimony of how the members of Generation Z are not all “home and social media”, ask Gianmarco Nosiglia.
A fourth year student at Quadri high school and a player at Nuovo L’Argine, the newly turned 18-year-old has realized his dream of living an adventure in the United States, winning a scholarship offered by the Bolognese company Aretè & Cocchi. Nosiglia undertook an exchange with the Intercultura project and landed in Connecticut. He left in August and will attend Conard High School, a public school in West Hartford, until the end of June.
This is not just a typical day, as the person concerned tells us.
“The alarm clock is set for 6:00 a.m. to go to school on the classic American movie bus. Classes last from 7.30 am to 2.15 pm and afterwards, six times a week, I have training that lasts up to three hours. I have dinner around 6.30 p.m. and then it’s time to study; but I never miss the chance to take part in pasta parties with my classmates”.
If in the field of education the differences with the motherland are marked (“Here – he explains – it’s the students who choose the subjects to follow, grades are mainly based on homework and there are many more hours in the laboratory”), the transition to the American basketball court has turned out to be less complex than expected: a versatile player, Nosiglia has immediately secured a place in the quintet of the institute’s team and with the Chieftains, which is its nickname, he is carving out some great satisfaction.
“We are in Division III and currently we have 10 wins and 5 losses. The goal is to win the state category title. I’ve found a very high level of competitiveness and I like the strong sense of belonging to one’s school that unites players and the public.”
His talents also led him to enter the school selection of cross-country running in the autumn (“In the United States the range of activities that can be practiced is much wider than here”).
His passion for hoops is a constant in his life: “I’ve been playing basketball,” he says, “since the first grade, and it’s something in my blood that makes me feel alive. I can’t think of a moment when I won’t be able to play it anymore.” With Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant (“Here again the emotion was enormous, I myself could not hold back the tears” he confesses) as points of inspiration and with his favorite player, Paul George, “for his effectiveness on both sides”, Nosiglia has no doubt in assessing this path: “I feel lucky to have such a priceless experience and, if I am able to make the most of it, it can give me a lot in terms of future prospects.
IL GIORNALE DI VICENZA
Thursday 13th February 2020