Introducing myself! I am Benedetta, I’m 21 years old, I’m from Pescara but after I finished high school I moved to Padua to start my three-year degree of Political Science International Relations and Human Rights, which I recently completed with a thesis on the borders of Oulx and Ventimiglia, written thanks in part to camps with ASCS. I have a brother and two sisters, my favorite food is ice cream, I like to travel and explore as many places as possible and meet new people but at the same time I think I am an introverted person who needs to recharge in solitude.

The first time with ASCS was in September two years ago with a camp in Oulx. That week I think was instrumental in my personal formation and also in the choices I made later. I had left with no expectations and maybe even a little unaware. It allowed me to get in touch with so many stories and also with myself. As if a part of me that had not yet been cultivated came out, connecting to a part of the world that was hitherto unknown. A key piece of this camp was also the group with whom I shared these moments and with whom, to this day, when we meet again, we see ourselves in what we experienced, remembering it together. Later, in March of this year, I was in Ventimiglia as a changemaker, a different “role” that both allowed me to get to know the border and showed me another part of the camps: caring with small actions for people. Coming back, each time I always feel a strong anger and a great sense of helplessness, which are mixed, however, with a need to tell about all the realities we were coming into contact with every day and always with one basic certainty: things must be changed. The means that presented itself somewhat by chance when I returned from Ventimiglia to try in a small way to tell what people are silently living every day was to write an article for Scomodo, which allowed me to denounce and express without filters what is happening. The last stop (for now) was the camp in Puglia, between Foggia and Borgo Mezzanone, which added another piece to my training, and made me realize how much, acting on people, giving them “space to affect,” can really make a difference. From here I think my motto has kind of become “think global, act local.” I am surprised every time by the fullness that I always bring back and the positive confusion that prompts me to question myself. I envision ASCS as a large puzzle under construction. In which there is total freedom of expression, it allows you to bring back into your daily life what you see, in the way you feel is most your own, and to go beyond your limits without you realizing it, and that I think is unique and important.

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