Francesco Alimena, ITALY: Every day I wake up to improve myself!

1. Hi Francesco, how are you? I would kindly ask you to introduce yourself to the Bellspiration readers?

Good morning Belma, and thank you for this interview. I'm fine thanks and you? I am currently in Germany in the city of Dresden to finish my fourth Erasmus. Soon, however, I will be forced to return to Rome to finish my master's studies.

It is my pleasure to introduce myself to the readers of Bellspiration, to whom I send a warm greeting. My name is Francesco Alimena, I am 23 years old and I live in Rome, Italy. I graduated with honors in 2019 in Interpreting and Translation from SSML Gregorio VII University in Rome. I am currently studying International Relations in English at the LUMSA University of Rome. I speak 5 languages: Italian, English, Spanish, German, and Russian thanks to my university studies and related Erasmus experiences. During my university career, I won 5 scholarships that allowed me to travel and study in Germany (Dresden, Bavaria) and Russia (St. Petersburg). 

The numerous events in which I participated during my studies determined in me the ambition to plan my future in the world of International Relations.

In general, I can say that I have a constant and inexhaustible enthusiasm when working in contexts characterized by continuous personal relationships in order to organize resources, promote projects and solve problems.

I cultivate various hobbies such as reading newspapers and books, sports such as football and tennis but also running. In my free time, especially at the end of a university exam session, I like to travel to discover new cities, new cultures and maybe establish new relationships.

2. You founded a new International Branch, in a big Italian organization, that is called Confassociazioni Young World, right? Can you tell us more about it? What is the purpose of it?

Yes exactly, I founded Confassociazioni Young World also thanks to the approval of Confassociazioni President Angelo Deiana and General Manager Adriana Apicella. Without their support, this would not have been possible and I would like to thank them further by sending them a warm greeting. 

To your question about what Confassociazioni Young World is, I would like to say that it is a global Branch within Confassociazioni, formed by young people of different nationalities to bring young Italians to the world and vice versa. Our aim is to foster cultural and professional exchange among the younger generation living on all continents.

I currently have students from 6 countries working with me, but I would like to take this opportunity to point out that other young people from different parts of the world are about to join us. Together with the Young World team, we are ready to give our contribution to the relaunch of the country system, more than convinced that networking together with other organizations will allow us to create new and interesting opportunities for young people today and in the near future. As our Confederation's motto says: without haste but without rest. This is the mentality of every single member of Young World.

3. What motivates you in life? What inspires you the most?

A really interesting question but complex to answer. Let's start with the first question, what motivates me in life. I think the most appropriate answer is to constantly try to improve myself, not only physically but also mentally. That is why my motto is: every day I wake up to improve myself. Improve yourself because there are so many things in life that you have to learn. From the most trivial to the most important. Let's say that I see myself as a big, incomplete puzzle. Every day my personal goal will be to add piece after piece with the aim of getting closer and closer to completing the puzzle. Obviously, I can make a mistake in inserting a piece, but if that happens I have to be able to figure out how to replace that piece and where to place it correctly. 

Just as you do when handling puzzle pieces, you have to do it in real life. Try and try again, make mistakes and figure out where you made the mistake. Only through motivation, perseverance, and commitment can a person improve. 

Turning to the second question, I can answer it by saying that I am most inspired by the people around me. Starting from the President of Confassociazioni, Angelo Deiana, to the General Manager, Adriana Apicella, to the President of Confassociazioni International, Gianni Lattanzio, and many other fantastic people with exceptional qualities that I have had the fortune and pleasure to meet during my career. I have mentioned three of them at this point, but there are many others that I will not mention here so as not to take up so much time. All these people have incredible qualities, qualities that I would like to acquire from them through observation or simply by working with them. Precisely for this reason, as I pointed out earlier, I have decided to plan my future in the world of International Relations.

Only in this way, through the exchange of opinions and constant relations with people, will I be able to improve myself and possibly become a role model for young people.

5. Do you have an inspiring message for young people all around the world?

Let's say I have two messages for young people all over the world. 

The first, dear young people, is to always remain strong in this time of instability. As one of my dear university professors said, the origin of everything is fear. I empathize in your shoes and I understand that for the younger generation the future, especially at work, represents fear, instability, or rather an unknown. My biggest piece of advice is to believe in yourself, in your qualities, and to try to take this fear and turn it into a stimulus. The stimulus to act and find solutions to every single problem. Motivation and perseverance will be two fundamental axes to fight this "fear" and to find the way for your future.

The second is more of advice than a message. As you will have understood, the strategic objective of Young World is to bring home best practices from other countries as well as to transfer our know-how abroad thanks to the cultural and relational comparison between young people who are the pillars of tomorrow.

This is why I would like to make an appeal: if you have ideas, projects, or simply want to exchange views on certain topics, you can contact us directly through our Confassociazioni Young World page. The invitation is open to all and we hope to see many of you there, but above all, as soon as health conditions allow, we hope to meet physically.