My family is composed of my single mother and me. She came to the US from Italy in 1997 leaving all her family behind. My mom has made a lot of sacrifices to raise me in a wonderful, loving, home environment where I have been able to grow into the person I am today. Her courage, dedication and positive attitude have helped her to overcome many difficult moments. I am inspired by her enthusiasm for life, her optimism in the face of difficulties, and from her I have learned that determination and courage are necessary ingredients for success. When I was in middle school, I read the biography of Amelia Earhart and used to think that she must have looked like my mom. Also, I am very fortunate to be the son of an immigrant because my life has been shaped by a multicultural perspective of the world. My mom has taken me to Italy many times and has raised me fully bilingual and bicultural. This has given me a unique opportunity to learn how to relate with different ways of living and thinking and has enhanced my ability to interact with people. As a family of two, my mom and I have always prioritized the opportunity to eat dinner together since I was little. Dinner has always been a special moment in my family life; it is the time we talk about our day, how we feel, we discuss problems and accomplishments in an open, loving, and animated way. I cherish these moments, and I know I can find my anchor by sitting down with my mom and sharing food with her. During my first year of college as a student living on campus, I have missed our evening dinner and chat very much. My mom is also supportive of my choices and decisions (well, most of them) and has always been able to guide me in the right direction by teaching me to examine the pros and cons and the alternatives (she is a scientist). I see how hard she works to support me and our family, and she also helps her mom who is older and lives in Italy by herself. I respect her and love her, and I try to do my best to be the son she deserves. I know that her positivity and optimism have shaped my attitude towards difficulties in life, because I see myself more and more often as someone who can react to negative events in a positive manner. My mom has taught me that it is more important to learn from a mistake than wallow in its consequences. For example, when my grade for a test in college was not what I wanted, I told myself to view it as an opportunity to do better rather than recriminate on why I did poorly. My mom has instilled in me the potential to turn things around, and she has also taught me that professional satisfaction derives from knowing you have done your job with integrity and competence. She is the only source of support for my education and receiving a Diane, Janice and Rosalia Scholarship would be a tremendous help for her to continue covering my college tuition.

My mom is a single mother. She came to the US from Italy in 1997, leaving all her family behind. I am fortunate to be the son of an immigrant because my life has been shaped by a multicultural perspective of the world. I have traveled to Italy since I was a newborn and I have been exposed to Italian culture throughout my life. This has given me a unique opportunity to learn how to relate with different ways of living and thinking, and has enhanced my ability to interact with people. My mom has raised me in a multicultural environment, and I am not only fluent in Italian, but also in Spanish (thanks to my romance language background). My mother is a truly outstanding person; she has made a lot of sacrifices to raise me in a wonderful, loving, home environment where I have been able to grow into the person I am today. Her courage, dedication and positive attitude have helped her to overcome many difficult moments. I am inspired by her enthusiasm for life, her optimism in the face of difficulties, and from her I have learned that determination and courage are necessary ingredients for success. A few years ago, I read the biography of Amelia Earhart and used to think that she must have looked like my mom. A special moment that is part of my family life is dinner time; my mom and I always prioritize it because that is the time we talk about our day, how we feel, we discuss problems and accomplishments in an open, loving, and animated way. I cherish these moments; I know I can find my anchor in sitting down with my mom and sharing food with her. We have a very open and sincere interaction, and we can discuss almost any topic with honesty and trust. Many of my friends think I am fortunate to have such interaction with my mother, where I can truly be myself and express my thoughts, my doubts as well as my moments of happiness. Don’t make mistakes, she is also strict and she expects a lot from me, as any parent does, and we have our disagreements but, since I can remember, she has not ever let anger or disappointment change the way I see her. I have never doubted her love and understanding for me as a child. I will be off to college soon, and while I long for the experience of living by myself, I find it hard to imagine how my daily life will be without seeing my mom. Fortunately, I will stay in my city, Boston, so I am sure there will be plenty of chances to see her. I know that we will find our balance soon, and that our interaction will only grow while I transition from a teenager into a young man.

My family is composed of my single mother and me. She came to the US from Italy in 1997 leaving all her family behind. As a single mom, she made a lot of sacrifices to raise me in a wonderful, loving, home environment where I have been able to grow into the person I am today. Her courage, dedication and positive attitude have helped her to overcome many difficult moments. I am inspired by her enthusiasm for life, her optimism in the face of difficulties, and from her I have learned that determination and courage are necessary ingredients for success. A special moment that is part of my family life is dinner time; my mom and I always prioritize it because that is the time we talk about our day, how we feel, we discuss problems and accomplishments in an open, loving, and animated way. I cherish these moments, I know I can find my anchor in sitting down with my mom and sharing food with her. A few years ago, I read the biography of Amelia Earhart and used to think that she must have looked like my mom. I am fortunate to be the son of an immigrant because my life has been shaped by a multicultural perspective of the world. I have traveled to Italy since I was a newborn and I have been exposed to Italian culture throughout my life. This has given me a unique opportunity to learn how to relate with different ways of living and thinking, and has enhanced my ability to interact with people. A special moment that is part of my family life is dinner time; my mom and I always prioritize it because that is the time we talk about our day, how we feel, we discuss problems and accomplishments in an open, loving, and animated way. I cherish these moments, I know I can find my anchor in sitting down with my mom and sharing food with her. As a child of a single mother’s family, the only source of support for my college studies is my mom’s job. Although the college I will be attending for studying Mechanical Engineering (I wand to become a Logistics Engineer) has given us financial aid, a significant gap remains between what we can contribute for my studies and the tuition we need to cover. Receiving a Curtis Holloway Memorial scholarship would be a tremendous help for ensuring that I can fulfill my dream

I am passionate about photography. I took photo classes in school since ninth grade, up to AP Photo as a senior. I love photography because it gives me the opportunity to express my view of the world and tell stories nobody else would see in the same way. Through photography, I like to explore expressions of human nature through portraits, the geometry of my urban environment, and the poetry of nature. I have been able to apply my passion for photography to everyday life since the summer of 2020 when, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I got my first job at Walgreens as a customer service associate. In reality, I was a cashier most of the time, interacting with hundreds of people during my 8-hour shifts. Some customers acknowledged my existence as a person but most just saw me as The Cashier. It was the first time I experienced being so grossly overlooked as a person; without a name tag, nobody would have even known my name. This gave me firsthand experience of the anonymity that permeates many of today’s jobs and made me more appreciative of the people whose jobs remain unacknowledged. I asked myself how we can, as a collective, render people’s jobs more gratifying by simply recognizing them as individuals. Through this realization, I was inspired to create my portfolio of pictures "People At Work". This work is a deep reflection of my own feelings and desire to give an identity to the faces that we encounter on a daily basis, but don’t have the time or the inclination to acknowledge as integral to making everyday life function. In this portfolio I wanted to celebrate their identities, and so I began by carrying my camera everywhere. Each time I go out, I try to photograph two to three people. I started with people who were most easily forgettable: construction workers or delivery people, who you see once on your street and possibly never again. I was surprised that my project to celebrate their identity did not draw the same enthusiasm; many people are simply shy, and sometimes employers impose restrictions on employees’ images. So, I started to take pictures of workers in shops and offices, ultimately expanding my project's scope to anybody performing a job at the moment I take their picture. Although not everybody agreed to share their names, my purpose remains focused on capturing the human aspect of people who, every morning, go to work. I feel that my creative expression has been amplified through this deep introspection and I will continue to explore People At Work wherever I go. My passion for photography has also provided me with a small source of income. As a teenager interested in music, I realize that a good quality music video is a powerful tool to promote artists, but can be costly. Together with a friend, in 2019 we started a photo/video production business, making affordable music videos for high school student musicians. We also worked with an established Cambridge musician, with a local basketball trainer making sports training videos, produced a promotional video for The Possible Project (an entrepreneurship program available to high school students that I participated in for 3 years) and a documentary project with the Moore Youth Center in Cambridge. I like to experiment with new ideas to obtain unique results for my projects, and I invest most of my gains in new tools and accessories. I hope that my hobby will possibly help me to support my life as a college student.

I was about 2 1/2 years old when my mom discovered that I was allergic to eggs. She is a scientist so she made a few observations: after eating a hard-boiled egg, I threw up violently, got an itchy mouth and was really agitated for the next hour or so. The allergologist confirmed it, my egg spot test was bigger than the histamine control. Egg allergy is not the worst, like peanuts, but it is really annoying for a little kid. Egg whites are in EVERY cake, most snacks, and in many foods one wouldn't think of. I was the kid who could not eat cake, who had carrots, cucumber and cereal bars as a snack at school (sometimes a piece of chocolate, to compensate the lack of "something good"). I remember how difficult it was to be that kid, and how much I hated the little vegan cookies my mom used to send for me.Then, one day I ate shrimp at a friend's house and suddenly I almost could not breathe, dull waves of pain in my chest. I was 9 years old. My mom gave me allergy medicine and slowly I felt better, but that was scary. I had developed an allergy to shellfish; goodbye lovely lobster sandwiches, a dish that I just recently tried for the first time. The good news was that my egg allergy was subsiding, and the dessert world just expanded for me. I think the traditional food industry should consider the alarming increase rate of food allergies and explore different sources of ingredients like eggs, nuts or dairy. I also have read that children living on a farm are less at risk of developing allergies because they are exposed to many sensitizing substances since very little. So maybe people living in urban environments could consider spending more time in the nature with their young children, or getting a pet just before the child is born. I wish I could have a dog - I am also allergic to dogs AND cats. When I was little, I longed for a dog, I would have settled for a "dry dolphin", but I had to get by with a parakeet... As I learned, the allergy agent is a mite that lives on the fur of the animals, rather than the hair itself. My eyes get red and itchy, and I start to wheeze a bit still today, despite I have outgrown my severe egg allergy because my immune system has become more stable. My goals for the future are to become a Logistics Engineer and to enroll in the Air Force. I have always been fascinated about what goes on in the industry world between production and distribution. I started building my computer when I was 15 years old, but could not finish it for a while because the graphics card I wanted was out of stock everywhere. That event consolidated my desire to explore how to identify, prevent and resolve bottlenecks along the supply chain in a timely manner on a global level by pursuing a career in system operations and logistics. I have studied hard in high school and I have been admitted to Boston University, where I plan to major in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Systems Engineering. While completing my university degree, I am joining the Air Force ROTC program and will serve in the Air Force for at least 4 years after graduating, where I will ideally work on adapting the Service's logistics for the ever-changing future.

My favorite hobby is photography. I begun this hobby when I was 11 years old and a family friend gave me a small digital camera for Christmas. I started to take pictures of everything around me and then settled on taking pictures of parked cars to learn about the different model and types. Soon after I became interested in flowers, and was always going to gardens to capture the beauty and the colors of all flowers. Once that got a bit boring, I moved on to landscapes and places but I realized the limitations of my little camera. In the meantime, I got my first smartphone with a camera and so I started using that for my photography hobby. In time, I upgraded both my camera and my phone and continued to nurture my photography as a hobby and an academic interest through photo classes at my high school. As a senior, I am currently ending my AP Photo classes and took the AP exam. I have won Scholastic Art and Writing awards for my pictures. I love photography, both practicing it and learning about it.

During the summer of 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I got my first job at Walgreens as a customer service associate. In reality, I was a cashier most of the time, and interacted with hundreds of people during my 8-hour shifts. While some customers acknowledged my existence as a person, most just saw me as The Cashier. Although my role was important, it was the first time I experienced being so grossly overlooked—without a name tag, nobody would have even known my name at all. This gave me the firsthand experience of the anonymity that permeates many of today’s jobs and made me more appreciative of the people whose jobs remain unacknowledged. I asked myself how we can, as a collective, render people’s jobs more gratifying by simply recognizing them as individuals. Through this realization, I was inspired to create my portfolio of pictures "People At Work". This work is a deep reflection of my own feelings and desire to give an identity to the faces that we encounter on a daily basis, but don’t have the time or the inclination to acknowledge as integral to making everyday life function. In this portfolio I wanted to celebrate their identities, and so I began by carrying my camera everywhere. Each time I go out, I try to photograph two to three people. I started with people who were most easily forgettable: construction workers or delivery people, who you see once on your street and possibly never again. I was surprised that my project to celebrate their identity did not draw the same enthusiasm; I also learned that many employers impose restrictions on employees’ images, and many people are simply shy. So I mustered my courage and started to take pictures of workers in shops and offices, ultimately expanding the scope of my project to anybody who is performing a job at the moment I take their picture. Although not everybody agreed to share their names and many people remain anonymous in my portfolio, my purpose remains focused on capturing the human aspect of people who, every morning, go to work. I feel that my creative expression has been amplified through this deep introspection and I will continue to explore People At Work wherever I go