Spartan Daily Vol. 160 No. 1

SJSU appoints diversity officer

By Rainier de Fort-Menares NEWS EDITOR

Bryant will also continue in her role as director of Black/African American equity which she assumed in December 2020.

“It has been a great opportunity to get to know the campus, campus partners, community partners in the two years I’ve been in the role,” Bryant said. “Stepping into this role allows me to make sure that important conversations are not being left out of the cabinet or the president’s office.”

Bryant, who received her doctorate degree in conflict analysis and resolution, said her love for transformative and restorative justice led her to working in student conduct.

Bryant worked in student conduct at the University of Mississippi, Texas A&M University-Commerce and California State University Long Beach.

During her tenure at Long Beach State, the restorative justice program, Welcoming Accountable Voices in Education, was created.

Bryant said restorative justice is when someone causes harm and wants to repair the harm they

City counts houseless residents

By Nathan canilao EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Newly elected San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has already started to address the issue of houselessness in San Jose. Mahan, who will be inaugurated on Feb. 1, joined in tandem with People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) to hold the Point in Time Count early Tuesday morning.

The Point in Time Count is an official count of sheltered and unsheltered people who are experiencing houselessness in Santa Clara County according to the county website. PATH along with Mahan and San Jose City Councilmember Omar Torres, took count of the homelessness encampment along the Guadalupe Creek near Little Italy.

“We can’t develop common sense solutions to homelessness if we don’t understand the scope of the issue which is why it’s so important that we are out here today, counting very specifically how many people are out here,” Mahan said. “And then following up to understand who’s here, why they’re here, what kinds of support they need.”

The group of a dozen volunteers went up and down the creek, counting tents and people who were visible along the path. They then marked the areas and tallied them to get a better idea of those who lived there.

According to Mahan, the count is important because it helps the city know the scope of the overall issue of houselessness in San Jose.

The county website outlines the data on the number of sheltered and unsheltered houseless residents. This data is then used for federal funding allocations as well as national estimates of houseless people.

These numbers often help decide policy for city planning boards as well as federal departments such as housing and education according to the county website.

“These census counts are extremely important because it tells us if we are doing the right thing in making sure that our own houseless community is housed,” Torres said.

The issue of houselessness has increased since the heavy rain storms hit San Jose earlier this month. On Jan. 4, Mahan declared evacuation orders for any unhoused residents living near bodies of water in San Jose.

“As you know, with the recent storms, we

had emergency evacuation orders to move people out of our creeks and waterways across the city,” Mahan said. “And rather than simply send people from our evacuation centers right back into our streets and creeks, we opened up about 100 placements in our emergency and from housing sites.”

He said the storms also could have impacted the count itself as many unhoused residents have moved away from their original living space along the river either into city run shelters or near areas that were more dry.

Mahan said he hopes that the count from

today will provide a good baseline for the rest of the data the city hopes to collect.

Some residents along the creek liked that the mayor was present in the count, but hoped that his actions would translate into solid policy down the line.

“I think it’s good that he’s down here … I just hope he follows through the rest of his term,” said Ramon Aguilar, a San Jose resident who lives along the creek.

Aguilar said the city was able to house him in a hotel for a few nights during the storm, but he was back on the streets when the storm cleared.

He said he hopes that the mayor’s efforts will land him more permanent housing in the near future since he has been on the housing list for the past three years.

“I just want the city to get us housing because it’s the best way for me to get out of the streets,” Aguilar said. “It’s hard to not be in the streets doing drugs and stuff when you don’t have a place to stay.”

NATHAN CANILAO | SPARTAN DAILY

Mayor Matt Mahan speaks to the press before count of houseless residents of the Guadalupe Creek encampment Monday morning.

Patience Bryant, director of Black/African American equity, was appointed Interim Deputy Diversity Officer for the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at San Jose State last week.

NATHAN CANILAO | SPARTAN DAILY

Patience Bryant speaks at the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at San Jose State on Jan 17. Bryant is director of Bl ack/ African American equity and was appointed as interim Deputy Diversity Officer for the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusio n.

caused.

“[Restorative justice] is a community involvement. So if you are harmed by me, that means that I will have to listen to you,” Bryant said. “We will say, ‘What do you need to fix this? What do you need for repair?’ ”

Bryant said working as a Black woman in restorative justice has helped her understand why people do the things they do.

“Knowing why someone did something helps us say, ‘How we can educate the person so it doesn’t happen again,’ ” Bryant said. “That’s part of the research I love, restorative justice it restores, it fixes, part of restorative justice is repairing.”

Travis Tamasese, deputy chief of staff at SJSU, worked with Bryant at Long Beach State.

Tamasese said at the time, he worked as chief of staff in the

Division of Student Affairs at Long Beach State, he was in charge of hiring someone as the director of student conduct and ethical development.

“She had already, even at that point, had done a lot of work around bringing restorative justice to the student conduct process,” Tamasese said. “One of the things that really stood out about her was that her education and her work experience really blended well together when we’re thinking about restorative justice, serving students and particularly with a focus on student identity groups, like students of color.”

Tamasese said Bryant created a division-wide department equity audit process that allowed department’s to look at all of their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

He said he is excited to see what Bryant will bring to the campus.

“She brings such a great skill set and knowledge base to really serve our campus, and also not

just our campus but our campus community as well,” Tamasese said.

Bryant said she wants students, faculty and staff to see the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as a resource for consultations and education.

She said their office requires

while people kind of thought of us only for faculty staff, but we’re here for students as well and we want to make sure students know where we exist.”

Kathleen Wong, the former SJSU chief diversity officer who hired Bryant, said when she was

it was important for whoever we hired to really have a very strong equity framework and a very strong understanding of systemic issues.”

She said Bryant has spent two years as a member of the Professional Standards Committee, one of the working committees of the Academic Senate. Wong said she, along with other members of upper administration, advocated for Bryant to take the interim position after Wong left.

“She has credibility in a lot of different parts of the university,” Wong said. “I think people welcome her leadership because of her credibility and the hard work that she’s put in.”

every manager on campus to do microaggression training. The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion has onboarding programs for students and faculty.

“As a continued goal we want people to see us as a resource,” Bryant said. “So we know for a

looking at the top candidates, she could see the potential in what Bryant could bring to the campus.

“I would say that in her role as a student conduct officer she worked directly with a lot of students sometimes during their most difficult times,” Wong said. “So

Former Pres. Perez looks back on tenure

By Carolyn Brown PRODUCTION EDITOR

Editor’s note: some answers have been edited for clarity and grammar.

Steve Perez was appointed Interim President of San Jose State on January 3, 2022. He previously served as provost and vice president of Academic Affairs and professor of economics at California State University, Sacramento. Perez stepped down from his role as interim president on January 16, 2023 following the appointment of Cynthia Teniente-Matson as the new president of San Jose State.

What are some of the actions and policies that you’re most proud of from your tenure?

I was exceptionally fortunate to be able to have the opportunity to work there. Mostly because the people there are so fantastic. I loved interacting with the students. I loved working with our staff and our faculty that are so dedicated to our students’ success and doing great things that I was very, very fortunate to be able to do that. I was proud to be a part of that community. I was proud that, I think, I hope that I left it with a feeling that I cared and that a sense of community that maybe I added to that somewhat. I think that’s what I’m most proud of I’m what I’m most proud of is we graduated over 10,000 people while I was there, and that takes a lot of work on a lot of people’s part, not the least of which is our unbelievably talented students, but that made me feel really good.

You took over as interim president during COVID-19. What was that like and how do you think it affected you doing your job?

The challenges we faced during the pandemic. I came to be the interim president after I was serving as the provost at Sacramento State. And the pandemic as a global pandemic was also happening there. So we had very similar challenges. So it wasn’t the fact of me coming in as interim president. We were all facing these challenges together and trying to decide how to best support each other and support our community. What was different was I was trying to meet everybody. And that was very hard to do.

So we started the first three weeks almost exclusively virtual in January. That spring semester, I did some “get to know you” open forums, but those were on Zoom. So out of abundance of caution, I couldn’t interact with as many people as I would have liked to right off the bat and so made the transition different than it would have been otherwise. And in some ways a little more challenging but the challenges of the pandemic were ones that I was experiencing as well as everybody else prior to that too.

How did you work to establish a community and what’s the importance of building that community and that connection with students on campus?

Well, it makes the job a lot more fun, that we’re, honestly anyone who’s working in university, we’re there to be able to support our students’ success, and to be able to be fortunate enough to go out, and watch it, and see it and interact with our students to enable that. It’s an honor and a privilege. And so I enjoyed going to – I went to as many things as I possibly could. I saw sporting events, I saw plays,

I saw musical performances. I’m trying to remember what it was but early in my time there was an art installation over in the parking lot. And I can’t remember what the details were. But it was fascinating, seeing what our students were doing. And so I enjoyed it very much and that’s why I did it. And I think it’s important for students to know that we’re proud of them, we’re proud to be able to work with them. And we’re appreciative of the opportunity to be able to do it.

You took on the role while the university was going through a scandal. What was your plan of dealing with that, especially after the former president Mary Papazian resigned?

I just tried to do the best job I could. And that meant trying to help everybody support each other and support our students as well as we possibly could. That’s really the only way I know how to do my job is to try to figure out how we can best influence each other.

Could you give a few examples of how you did that?

Well, I had lots of open forums to meet people. I was around. I tried to be as approachable as I possibly could. I tried to be honest and transparent where I could be, which was everywhere I could possibly be.

How do you feel about the changes made to the athletics program during your tenure?

I was really proud of what they were able to do in athletics. Our student athletes are tremendous individuals. They reflect the student body at San Jose State perfectly: hardworking, resilient, dedicated, driven, want to be excellent, want to do great work

in the classroom and on the field. They reflect what we have as our students, which are tremendous individuals. So there was a great deal of success in athletics over the last year and I was proud to be able to watch it and whatever role I played. I was happy to do so.

You’ve helped to champion racial justice and equity at San Jose State, why is that important to you?

It’s important to me individually because it’s morally important for our society. But professionally, when we talk about a university, we want people to come and learn. We want people to come and feel free to be their true selves. And that means we need to be able to break down barriers and make sure people understand and know that they’re welcome and that they’re appreciated. And that their viewpoints and their presence is something that we strive to ... appreciate in all of its forms. So at universities, we have a very special role and opportunity to try to help shape a society the way we want it to be. I want to live in one here where people can feel free to . . . free to be their true selves and know that they’re welcome and appreciate it.

What are you looking forward to in your new role as interim provost and vice president to academic affairs at Chico State?

I’ve been here a week now – short week because we had Monday off, but I’ve been here a week and I’ve got to meet a lot of people. I like interacting with people. I like working at a university. I like working with students, faculty, and staff, to do great things. So I’m looking forward to meeting the people here, seeing what role I can do,

how I can help shape what’s going on here and how we can do things better.

What advice would you give to Teniente-Matson in her new role?

I don’t know that I’m in a position to give her advice. She’s a tremendously intelligent and accomplished person already. She knows what she needs to do. So what I would say are things that she already knows: our students are great, work with them, work for their success, work with our faculty and our staff (who) are tremendously talented and dedicated to make all that happen. She knows that already. She’s just got to have a very great career, and I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next.

What do you hope your legacy will be at San Jose State?

You know, I don’t know that I’ve ever wanted much of a legacy. (It’s) not about me. I didn’t serve as interim president – I don’t serve now as Interim Provost – (for) myself. We talk to administrators, faculty, staff, we work to try to promote the mission of the university. And so you asked me, I think it might have been the first question I can’t remember but early on, what am I most proud of? As I said, we graduated over 10,000 students. It’s a tremendous accomplishment for those individuals and for the university. If I had any part in that and making that happen, I’ll be proud about that.

Follow Rainier de Fort-Menares on Twitter @demenares

ALESSIO CAVALCA | SPARTAN DAILY ARCHIVES

Then Interim President Steve Perez speaks in front of the Olympic Black Power Statue at San Jose State at the 54th anniversary of Tommie Smith and John Carlos’s 1968 Olympic protest on Oct. 13, 2022. Perez left SJSU on Jan. 16.

Knowing why someone did something helps us say, ‘How we can educate the person so it doesn’t happen again,’

Patience Bryant Interim Deputy Diversity Officer Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

By Nathan Canilao EXECUTIVE EDITOR

After going 34 days straight without a win, the San Jose State women’s basketball team notched a convincing 77-59 win over Utah State University on Saturday at home at Provident Credit Union Event Center.

Freshman guard Sabrina Ma scored a team-high 21 points while shooting 5 for 8 from behind the three-point line. Senior guard Jada Holland had an all-around game, recording 12 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

“I just think they wanted to win,” said SJSU head coach April Phillips. “They came out and really stuck to the game plan.”

The Spartans got off to a good start as they took a 10-point lead at the end of the first quarter. SJSU forced eight turnovers and knocked down four 3-pointers to take a 24-10 lead.

A 10-0 run by the Spartans early in the second quarter shifted the momentum of the game and forced Utah State to call a timeout and regroup.

At halftime, the Spartans held a 38-25 lead.

SJSU continued their momentum into the third quarter when Holland found sophomore guard Sidney Richards under the basket.

Richards was able to finish through a Utah State defender for a bucket and a foul. The SJSU crowd cheered loudly as Richards was able to extend the Spartan lead to 21.

The Spartans were able to widen the point gap to 31 in the third quarter and looked to cruise to an easy victory in the fourth.

Utah State came all the way back to cut the deficit to 11 with just over three minutes left in the game.

Phillips was visibly angry at her players during the Utah State’s fourth quarter run and told the team during timeouts that they needed to refocus.

“I think part of immaturity is when you’re up that much, then you want to start doing something different,” Phillips said. “And I was like ‘no, stop

it.’ And thankfully, this time we were up enough to withstand that moment.”

The Spartans eventually closed out the Aggies late in the fourth quarter in part because of Ma’s play on both ends of the floor.

SJSU was able to get high defensive production from everyone on the floor. They recorded a season-high 17 steals in the win.

“I think [defense] was

obviously a part of the game plan, but it’s also just kind of who we want to be and what our identity needs to be,” Phillips said.

The Spartans won their first conference game under Phillips and snapped a 15-game losing streak. Ma said she was happy to get her first conference win as a freshman.

“It feels really good,” Ma said. “I’ve been wanting this for so long. We’ve been wanting this

for so long as a team and to finally get it now, I think we’re in a good spot.”

Up next, the Spartans will have another home game and face the University of Nevada, Reno (7-12, 4-4 MW) at 6 p.m. Thursday.

NATHAN CANILAO | SPARTAN DAILY

SJSU point guard Sidney Richards looks to pass the ball to a teammate on a fast break during the Spartans’ win over Utah State.

Follow Nathan Canilao on Twitter @nathancanilao

Ice Spice, everything nice

By Vanessa Tran A&E EDITOR

Upon listening to Ice Spice’s extended play, “Like..?,” I couldn’t help but feel inspired to find out how far I can push myself to embrace my individuality and confidence without compromising my authenticity.

The Bronx rapper’s first EP released on Friday is a masterpiece that offers a twist on drill rap – a subgenre of hip-hop music that originated in Chicago, according to a Aug. 17, 2022 article by Vulture magazine, a website that covers the entertainment industry.

Although drill rap commonly includes riotous lyrics, “Like..?” does a fantastic job at keeping the same slow-tempos and synthetic snares similar to the popular 2020 drill song, “Suburban, Pt. 2,” by 22Gz, a Brooklyn rapper who made a name for himself in the drill scene in 2010, according to AllMusic, an American online music database.

The EP includes six songs, three of which were previously released in 2022. “In Ha Mood,” “Bikini Bottom” and “Munch (Feelin’ U)” went viral on TikTok when creators started making dances to the songs.

Spice was able to maintain the prominent East Coast drill sound throughout the EP while adding her own feminine flare and lessening the emphasis on violence.

The second song “Princess Diana,” caught my attention at first glance because of her renowned status and the amount of charity work she contributed.

Spice relates her sky-rocketing career to Princess Diana’s popularity, emphasizing how she’s respected and well known in the Bronx.

The lyrics say, “Nowadays I be duckin’ them cameras/ And they hype that I’m up on them banners/ Callin’ my phone, but they know I don’t answer/ In the hood, I’m like Princess Diana.”

This track is my favorite because Spice embodies how envious people can be when someone’s confidence and independence intimidates them.

The lyrics, “Like, grrah, keep it a stack, bitches move wock ‘cause they know I got bands/ They be chattin’ I don’t give a damn and I’m still gettin’ money I know who I am,” reminds listeners to stay true to themselves despite how much haters can gossip.

“Gangsta Boo” featuring Lil Tjay, is another favorite of mine because it samples the popular 2004 R&B song, “I Need a Girl, Pt. 2,” by P. Diddy.

I was definitely flustered listening to the first few seconds of the song – I quickly recognized the rework of the R&B classic, but I was amazed at how well the added 808s and Spice’s adlibs fit with it.

In “Gangsta Boo,” Spice talks about how she chose her partner over other love

interests because she noticed how notable they are despite the obstacles they faced, promising them that being together will guarantee success.

It is easy to envision how invested the rapper is in her relationship in the lyrics. She raps “I’ma help you get back at the opps, they cannot come with me/ Spinnin’ their blocks/ And I swear that you be on my mind, yeah, I’m lit but/ For you I make time.”

Her loyalty to her partner is evident because of how willing she is to get revenge on their enemies, planning to outsmart them.

In the fourth song “Actin A Smoochie,” Spice expresses how she is uninterested in anyone who only wants her for pleasure.

Her confidence can be heard throughout the song,

stating how she’s not afraid to speak her mind when someone wrongs her.

Spice’s condescending and angry tone exhibits how she’s not willing to tolerate a partner that doesn’t give her what she wants.

The lyrics, “Gimme a tissue/ Why would I miss you when you was the issue?/ Don’t wear the shoe if the shoe doesn’t fit you/ Only around me when it’s beneficial,” suggest that she doesn’t need anyone that can’t take accountability.

“Like..?” proves that Spice is on the path to becoming a prominent figure in the rap industry.

Her sound, lyrics and overall message is one that empowers women to work towards excellence and to surround themselves with

individuals who do the same.

She’s innovating the traditional drill rap sound by providing a powerful and much-needed representation for women in the genre.

Spice’s ability to infuse her own style and perspective into a traditionally maledominated genre is truly remarkable, and is a testament to her talent and creativity as an artist.

If she continues to push the boundaries and challenge the status quo of drill rap, there is no doubt that she will soon become a pop star.

Nia Long showcases full package in “Missing”

By Nathan Canilao EXECUTIVE EDITOR

The 2023 slate of movies is loaded with everything from new Marvel releases to highlyanticipated horror flicks.

The newly released “Missing” might be one of the best movies of the year.

A classic thriller provides the audience with suspense, anxiousness and surprises.

Nick Johnson’s “Missing” hits all those chords.

“Missing,” which was released in theaters on Friday, stars actresses Nia Long as Grace and Storm Reid as June, a mother-daughter duo. The pair’s relationship strains after June’s father dies early in her childhood from cancer.

The film jumps a few years forward to when June is in high school and Grace is dating someone new. After Grace and her new boyfriend, Kevin, who is played by Ken Leung, go missing after a vacation to Columbia, June takes matters into her own hands to find her mother from her laptop in Los Angeles.

“Missing” puts the mind through a complete rollercoaster of emotions. One minute the viewer thinks they figured out what happened to Grace and the next they are back at square one.

The various twists and turns are what makes “Missing” so compelling. It seemed like every

minute there was a different clue that changed my theory of what happened to Grace.

The film is a follow-up to Johnson’s 2018 movie “Searching” which uses the same filming techniques and follows the search of a missing San Jose teen whose father tries to uncover her location.

A strength of the movie was how it was shot. Similar to “Searching,” the film is shot entirely through the lens of a laptop camera.

June routinely uses social

media apps to find clues of Grace’s disappearance, something about watching her click through different tabs and apps on her MacBook was somewhat soothing.

The overall arc and personality of June’s character was one of my favorite aspects of the movie.

She is a Gen Z, woman of color who could care less about what anyone thought of her or the way the outer world perceives her. June is focused on one thing and one thing only: finding her mom.

As a lifelong Long fan, I was very impressed by her portrayal of Grace in this film. Though she only gets a fraction of screen time, she leaves a profound impression on the audience.

As the movie unravels, we see who Grace really is and why she raised June the way she did. Long does an incredible job portraying herself as a total enigmainigma throughout the movie.

Reid and Long’s chemistry was a big reason why the movie drew me in. June and Grace’s relationship

was definitely complicated, but their connection felt genuine.

They went through ups and downs and tussled over June’s typical rebellious teen actions.

The overall theme of not taking those that care for you for granted is often overplayed, but “Missing” gave its own unique twist that I thought was interesting.

I would be lying if I said I didn’t call my own mother after I walked out of the theater.

The only thing “Missing” was that there were definitely some plot holes that I had questions about after the movie ended.

Some scenes made sense and others I was still stuck on.

But overall, I was able to tune out those errors because the movie kept me engaged until the very end.

“Missing” encapsulates everything one could want out of a thriller. Drama, twists, turns and betrayal are just some of the characteristics that make this movie great.

Johnson has now created a string of thrillers that are bonafide boxoffice hits. It will be interesting to see what is next for this series and for Johnson’s career going forward.

Follow Nathan Canilao on Twitter @nathancanilao

Follow the Spartan Daily on Twitter @Spartandaily

ILLUSTRATION BY MYENN RAHNOMA

GRAPHIC BY CAROLYN BROWN

imagined the U.S. as the place where you could wake up, take a walk to the beach, stop by a Starbucks and drink a Frappuccino next to Leonardo DiCaprio just to start your day.

Of course, I was wrong. There is a huge difference between Italian and American work ethics.

of 20 days of paid vacation, according to a Jan. 11, 2020 article by The Local, an English language Italian magazine.

I still remember when my parents used to schedule their vacations during the summer just

than two jobs to face the expensive standard of living of the U.S.

More than 7.7 million Americans worked two or more jobs, according to a Nov. 5, 2022 article by The Guardian.

In contrast, the employment rate in Italy

compared to Italians’ sedentary mindset.

In addition, it is not rare for young people in the U.S. to leave their parent’s house right after high school. Many teenagers leave their

at their best levels, it generates a situation where 30-year-old people still live with their parents.

The result is that both these countries lack balance.

During winter break, I went to Italy to visit my family for a few weeks, and, as always when I go back to my hometown, people asked lots of questions about the United States.

They want to know how life is in America, what it is for a young guy to live in the center of capitalism and, of course, if the U.S. is the real “paradise” where anybody can realize the American Dream.

There were no easy answers to those questions.

I quickly learned that Italy and the U.S. are two different realities, almost two different worlds. Both have pros and cons.

Before moving to America six years ago, I

After living for a while in both countries, I can tell that many American people live for work while many Italian people work for living.

When I moved to the U.S., one of the things that shocked me most was the lack of annual paid time off.

In 2021, more than one-third of private industry workers received 10 to 14 days of paid vacation after one year service, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Even if these numbers do not impress the American workers who are used to them, in Italy and a majority of European countries, a worker has a minimum

to go to the beach with my brother and I.

Those were not luxurious vacations, but nice moments to enjoy with my family. Since we moved to the United States in 2016, we’ve barely made it to Lake Tahoe for three days.

In addition, it’s not a surprise to hear that Americans work more

is one of the lowest in Europe, reaching just 60.5%, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics.

People in Italy tend to find a job and stick with it until their retirement.

Although this work ethic does not permit significant career advancements, it permits an Italian adult to have a stable life.

parents’ house to study in a specific university or, in general, to be more independent.

I still remember when an 18-year-old person I attended community college with told me he was living by himself with his girlfriend.

I was impressed because the situation in Italy is the complete opposite.

The United States seems like a perfect engine where jobs are the fuel to society. This translates into good opportunities for young people, but at the same time, I have this constant feeling that people are still missing a lot.

On the other hand, Italy offers the opportunity to have more free time to enjoy family life, but the job opportunities are extremely poor and not rewarding.

Living my life between these two different countries is a great learning opportunity, but at the same time, it is also easier to focus on the negative aspects of these two societies and the limits that both countries have.

do not necessarily reflect the views of the Spartan Daily, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication or SJSU. The Spartan Daily is a public forum.

It is true that Italian people have a more “settled life” when compared to the intense American working schedules, but it is also important to look at the other side of the coin. People in the U.S. start to be independent earlier when compared with Italians.

I can tell that Americans have a more dynamic and propositive mentality

More specifically, in Italy in 2019, 67% of people aged between 18 and 34 years old lived with their parents, according to a 2021 research published by Statista.

In other words, people in Italy tend to leave their parents’ house when they are financially stable, and in a country where economics and employment are not

I believe Americans should take something from Italians and vice versa. Let’s say, a cultural exchange.

Italians should understand that goals are only reachable through hard work and that “settling” is not always the best solution while Americans should take time to stop from their impressive work schedule and just enjoy what life can offer.

ILLUSTRATION BY CAROLYN BROWN

Follow The Spartan Daily on Twitter @SpartanDaily

The United States seems like a perfect engine where jobs are the fuel to society. This translates into good opportunities for young people, but at the same time, I have this constant feeling that people are still missing a lot.

Alessio Cavalca MANAGING EDITOR