“I EXPECT AN ENCOUNTER”

01-10-2007 - Traces, n. 9

THE FRESHMAN

by Michelle Riconscente

Just three months ago, he was wrestling with his high-school graduation exams. Today, he is enrolled in the university. Gabriele is 18 and took the science track through high school, but now he’s enrolled in humanities at the Milan State University. From science to humanities? “Yes, I developed a passion for literature in the third year of high school, and it was a surprise. A lot of the credit goes to Dante but, last year when we studied the twentieth century, it was fantastic.” He confesses to loving Pasolini and Montale, and aspires to teach. “In high school, I had a professor who made me love the things I studied. In teaching, you have great scope to develop this passion and convey it to others.” And now at the university, what do you expect? “I haven’t started yet... But I expect a place where I am called to new responsibilities, from organizing my plan of studies to study itself.” Since the end of August, Gabriele has been attending the State University. He helps with the CL welcoming commitee and meets people. “People are incredibly varied, from the thirty-year-old who wants to pick up the thread again after abandoning his studies, to the young guy who has no idea which faculty to choose. The constant is that there are a lot of people on their own. And if you try and help them, they respond immediately, they attach themselves to you.”
The lessons haven’t begun yet, but if a professor asked you, “What do you expect of my course?” what would you answer? “I’d ask him to confirm the grandeur I saw in literature. To look for something more. Above all, he should probe below the surface.”
Gabriele was struck by the story of some older friends: last year, at the request of a teacher, they gave a number of lectures exploring specific topics in depth. He was also excited about the “Dante Experiments,” encounters organized by students with the professors taking part enthusiastically. “In high school, a teacher told me: ‘You might be disappointed with the university, starting with the syllabus, if your teacher wants to cover 300 years of literature in 40 hours of teaching.’ It could happen. But my expectation is that a teacher will enable me to really feel what he presents, that the teachers will communicate themselves, and that there’ll space for me to develop my own critical approach.” (P.P.)