TRIAWC
TRiangle Italian American Women's Club
2009 Scholarship winner - Stephanie Hughes
Scholarship questionnaire
1. What is your objective in life as you see it now?
My ultimate objective is to have both a career and family that I love and the ability to enjoy life. At this point in time, I am interested in the medical field, either Pharmacy or Dentistry, possibly Orthodontics. Along with having an interesting career, I would like to have a family. As an Italian, I have grown up learning about the importance of family and the feeling of being connected to others.
2. Describe any accomplishment that makes you feel proud.
I am really proud of my swimming career. I could tell you about the Green Hope High School records that I hold, or that I made the East Carolina Swim team, but that’s not what I am the most proud of. It’s the lessons that I’ve learned through the past 10 years of swim practices and meets: Dream big, work hard and never give up. Swimming has taught me to dream big, setting goals and accomplishing them. Ten years of morning and afternoon practices has taught me the value of hard work. I’ve had numerous obstacles along the way, including injuries, developing asthma and years when I just couldn’t seem to find a way to swim fast, in spite of these, I’ve learned to never give up. If there’s something that you want in life, keep trying and trying again. Eventually you’ll succeed, if not, you’ve learned a lot about yourself along the way.
Stephanie Hughes' essay
I am very proud to be one quarter Italian; my grandfather
immigrated from Camposilvano, Italy. When I was younger, I
never really gave much thought to my nationality. I knew that my grandparents spoke with accents, but my parents didn’t, I ate some things that others didn’t and that I didn’t have many relatives on my
mother’s side of the family. It wasn’t until my mother wanted me and my brother to understand where we came from and the sacrifices that were made for us, that I began to understand my heritage better.
I was twelve years old and my grandparents were getting ready to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. My mother planned a trip for our family and my grandparents to go to Italy, where my grandfather was born. We all flew into Venice and after spending a day sightseeing, we drove up into the mountains to a small town, Camposilvano. There was a sign reading population eighty. Eighty! There were nearly that many kids in my PE class!
We had to park outside of a stone archway; the car wouldn’t fit through it, and walked up a cobble stone street to the house where my grandfather was born. His brother now lives in it and attached to it is another house where my grandfather’s other brother’s family lives. The house was made of a stucco type material; the rooms were small and dark. We ate polenta, gnocchi, and pasta; they even gave me some wine! We listened to traditional music that grandpa loved and walked up and down the mountain.
Grandpa shared many memories of how he grew up there. Camposilvano was a bustling city of 200 back then, but they were all very poor. Grandpa was drafted into the Italian Army, was captured by the Americans and was a prisoner of war in an American camp in Northern Africa. Grandpa said that the American soldiers treated him better than when he was in the Italian Army! Grandpa tried to find
work after the war was over. There was no work in Italy, so he found short term jobs in France and Switzerland, that’s where he met my grandmother. With no long term job possibilities, grandpa decided he wanted to move to the United States to find a way to make a better life for the family he wanted to have. He moved to the US without knowing English, with no job, only hope. He worked very hard to learn English, get his driver’s license and become a citizen. I never realized what a hard life my grandpa had and how he worked so hard for us.
My grandpa’s story is not unique. There were may Italians who immigrated to the US for similar reasons. Reflecting back on my grandpa’s life, I can truly say that I am proud to be Italian. They are hard working, dedicated to their families and yet fun loving people, who wouldn’t want to have that heritage?
Not wanting to lose my Italian ties, the Internet has allowed me to stay in touch with my cousins who still live in Camposilvano. We also continue to carry on many traditions that my grandfather brought with him. Every Christmas we make Pizzelle cookies and go to church at midnight. Whenever we all get together, we eat polenta and always clink our glasses together and say “salute”. The traditions, family stories and values helped to keep our family connected and has helped to shape me into the person that I’ve grown up to be. I will be forever grateful to my grandfather for giving this to us.