Planting Seeds

How the Hard Work of Today Shapes the World of Tomorrow

By Eduardo Sanin, FSU Florence Community Engagement Coordinator

Volunteering at FSU Florence has been a key component to the program because of its ability to contribute to our host society in Florence and to allow our students to work on issues they value and create a special form of exploring and learning the local culture through a different lens.

Fortunately for Florence and our FSU family, our students see volunteering as a quintessential form of community engagement, which is a personal practice to incorporate into their daily lives providing a full term commitment. This semester, our student volunteers would dedicate several hours of their week, every week, to partake in their new home community in one of the most sincere and positive ways of engagement: dedicating time and energy to help the less fortunate and those in need.

Unfortunately, this pact that our students assume and the journey they usually traverse was cut short this semester. The COVID-19 pandemic that caught the world claimed Italy as one of its earliest and most serious victims. Even before the semester was suspended, volunteers were kindly asked not to go to their respective centers due to the rise of the emergency level in the region. ‘’Volunteering at FSU was a dream,” Julianna Mileto, who had spent her semester teaching local children English at MyTata, said at the conclusion of her experience. “The company [I worked with] created such a strong community that I was so glad to have been a part of, and I’m heartbroken to have my time with them cut short.’’

Hers was a quite common sentiment amongst many students who had found a home and community in their respective centers. For our amazing volunteers the disappointment of not being able to participate in their placements and help their respective communities outweighed the fear of the unknown virus at first. This is indeed representative of the hearts and minds of FSU volunteers showing that their service was not a “moment” of giving, but instead a strong commitment to help and change. As a matter of fact many of our students expressed their desire to be able to come back and finish their experience.

Although coming back proved to be impossible as the semester in Florence was suspended, it still must be said that the Spring 2020 class showed constant commitment, empathy and maturity and became what we dearly call our ‘Corona Angels’. It was precisely due to these qualities of our students that the Spring 2020 semester was one of great investment and growth, showing much promise for the future. Since the first day of classes, students would not simply come into school to sign their names under an existing volunteer placement, but also ask me, their Community Engagement Coordinator, to find placements where their skills could best be used. Hence, this semester we had several trailblazers in new placements that have become stable partners moving forward.Particularly, the Pucci Theatre, MyTata Start-Up and the St. James Church Library were all partners we made along the way this semester due to the initiative and proactiveness of our volunteers, expanding the FSU Florence network in the process. More recently, organizations such as the Robert F. Kennedy House of Human Rights also agreed to partner with FSU volunteers given their reputation, beliefs and work ethic.

Simply put, our volunteer team this semester was so spectacular that they not only got things done in a caring and professional way during their time studying, but their determination and initiative unlocked partnerships and future relations for FSU and the students that will come after them.

Martin Luther King Jr. once stated that ‘’The ultimate measure of [a person] is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where they stand at times of challenge.’’ In these challenging times our students responded with solidarity, composure and optimism, doing what should be done in crisis— investing in a better tomorrow. In their case, this means a better tomorrow for the students to come and the Florentine civil society.

It gives us here at FSU Florence a light at the end of the tunnel and another instance where it is the students who teach us.