A mega smile and the doors wide open to the business world. This is Sara Aloisio, but if she has always had a smile, she has earned the rest with her teeth. It’s really true what they say: “All you want is on the other side of fear.” Sara experienced it first-hand after saying a ‘no’ that soon became a ‘yes’.
Another Life
Sara’s story begins in Monterotondo where she plays volleyball as a center while attending the last year of high school. “Jesica Umansky introduced me to the idea of scholarships in America for sports students, where they could attend college and play at the same time. I was overcome with fear and instinctively said no!” Evidently, however, America was in Sara’s destiny because Jesica’s words slowly worked inside her: “The idea kept whirling through my head and in March I changed my mind, I said ‘yes’ to her. My fear was to leave my companions but then I realized that in any case our paths would have diverged, that another life would have begun and so I said to myself: ‘why not?’.
A Matter of Survival
Sara’s other life begins on the other side of the ocean, with another family, another language, other studies, another team. First stop: Kansas. “I was so happy with the experience I was about to face that the immediate desire was to go to New York. But my parents took me apart right away! In fact, I was completely unfamiliar with English and the Big Apple was going to devour me. Better a quiet university in the countryside. And here I am in Kansas at the Junior College in Pratt Community College. I was a guest of a lovely family with mom, dad and three children, more or less the same age as me; With them I really had an immediate full immersion in the language. Initially, I expressed myself mainly with gestures, then when you are surrounded 24 hours a day by people who only speak English you inevitably learn it, and I must say that the survival instinct also played its part. Precisely because of language problems, the first semester I didn’t follow the lessons much, but then I threw myself headlong into studying, also because I had to reach a sufficient level of credits. In the end, I managed to finish my first two years on time; Who would have thought!” Sara, however, seems to have taken a liking to it and, after the experience at Pratt Community College, she decides to change her scenery.
Volleyball? Fundamental
English is now Sara’s domain, and she wastes no time and decides to continue her business studies at California State University in Bakersfield, changing teams and colleges again. “Volleyball helped me a lot the first two years, it was a very important vector to learn the language and meet new people. Initially, I had the translator, then it came naturally. Among other things, the satisfaction was double because when I arrived, the Kansas college won the 1st Division championship for the first time in its history! We had a mega party! Then I arrived in Bakersfield and continued to play, always at a very high pace. Wake up before dawn, at 5 a.m. the daily 3 hours of training began, then an hour of weights and then resumed an afternoon session. Absurd! In America, everything works differently than in Italy: the technical level is high but everything is much more spectacular.” In addition to the high levels of play, what is striking is the consideration of sport in America.
Sportsmen are VIPs
Sport is at the forefront of children’s education, who are given the opportunity to play and study at the same time, with subsidized programs. “The sports student is considered a kind of VIP and the professors respect him. Playing games around the various states, we often spent entire weekends away and the opportunities to study were few; That’s why the teachers made us special programs, they didn’t create problems in case of absence, in short, we were a bit recommended!” Sportlinx360 was also crucial for Sara’s second stop, California State University in Bakersfield, where there were so many opportunities for fun. “I was near Los Angeles and I leave you to imagine where and how we spent the weekends, between Santa Monica and Santa Barbara, paradisiacal beaches, and then an unforgettable birthday in Las Vegas!” And that’s not all, because for her last year of studies Sara decided to change colleges again and here too she did not skimp.
Last stop: Florida
Requested by various U.S. college coaches and supported by her guardian angel Jesica, Sara even chooses to fly to Lynn University, Boca Raton, Florida. “It was here that I graduated in June 2014 with a degree in International Business Management. It was an intense year but by then I had figured out how to move. I had also made peace with food, which was not an easy matter in the early days. Initially, when I lived with a family, it went quite smoothly because my adoptive mom cooked healthy and light. But when I went to live in college, things went downhill: it’s all so loaded with calories that you gain weight without realizing it! Everywhere there is jam and peanut butter! American girls may be used to it but we won’t, it’s impossible to eat as much as they do! In short, if you want to keep fit, in addition to training, the only solution is to eat lots of vegetables.” You know, outside of Italy one of the first things she misses is food as well as the affection of loved ones, but Sara has also had her friends close to her in the USA. “A lot of people have come to visit me in the various cities I’ve been to, but it’s really impressive how many people I’ve met along the way. Now I have friends of all nationalities and it’s nice to know that in every part of the world there is someone waiting for you.”
Now the fun begins
After graduating from college, Sara enrolled in Opt, Optional Practical Training, and worked for a year in an American company that imported ceramics from Italy, gaining her first important work experience. But now the fun begins. For Sara now a small stop at home, in Italy, but in her future there is London: “I won a scholarship to do a master’s degree in marketing at the college of Nottingham and play volleyball at the same time. Of course, it won’t be easy since I’ve been out of action for a year, but after everything I’ve done over the years, I’m no longer afraid of anything.”
Where there is a will, there is a way to do it
He broke down the language barrier, crossed the entire United States, met people from all over the world. Nothing scares Sara anymore, who has all the doors of her future wide open: “I like the path I have taken, I have understood that marketing is my world and now I feel that I really have all the cards to do anything. I’m open to any possibility and ready for any adventure!”
