Understanding is the first step, understanding everything is the challenge

"Physics is a discipline that changes the way you see
and also the way you think.
The mutation begins when you are young. 
We have to explain the reality that surrounds us quantitatively:
nature is described by exact models.
Understanding is the first step, understanding everything is the challenge [...]"
 

Have you ever wondered when you stopped answering the question ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ with a real answer that reflected your passions and satisfied your curiosity, and started giving an answer that would comfort someone else, rather than yourself? As children, most of us probably replied enthusiastically, without too much hesitation: ‘I want to be an astronaut!’, ‘I want to be a female footballer!’, ‘I dream of being an explorer!’. These were genuine answers, born of our wonder and desire to discover the world. We didn't worry about whether that dream was realistic, profitable or socially accepted. We simply believed it was possible.

Then, at a certain point, something changed. Perhaps a comment from an adult, a professor shaking his head, a worried parent suggesting we ‘choose something safer’, a peer or society itself, which taught us that some dreams are too big, too uncertain, too difficult. So, little by little, we began to filter our answers. We stopped saying what we really wanted and started saying what seemed more acceptable, convincing ourselves that success is measured in salaries and stability rather than in satisfaction, well-being and passion. And yet, the real question shouldn't just be ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’, but also ‘What makes you happy? What are you really passionate about?’.

These thoughts were the focus of the online role modelling meeting held on the afternoon of 1st April for a class of schoolgirls in the province of Sofala, Mozambique, together with Rossana Conte, a student of Physics and Astrophysics at the University of Florence and trainer at the Fondazione Mondo Digitale ETS. During the meeting, which was part of the Coding Girls in Mozambique project, Rossana shared her academic and personal journey, offering the young participants food for thought and encouragement to pursue their passions, without letting themselves be held back by prejudice or fear. One of the topics that emerged during the dialogue was that of prejudice, both from classmates and teachers: Rossana told how, during her academic career, for example, she had to face the prejudice that science subjects, especially physics, were not suitable for women. Finding herself as the only female student in a course with only male colleagues, with male professors, was not easy, but the conviction that studying could make her ‘happy and free’ helped her to continue; after all, knowledge is a tool for emancipation: studying means understanding the world around us better, developing critical thinking and having the chance to consciously and independently choose our own path.

‘I had the misfortune of being alone’, Rossana told the students, ‘but I would never have given up my desire to learn, and above all to learn about the invisible, which is in fact one of the principles on which all physics is based’. The inspiration that led Rossana to undertake a course of scientific study, in fact, came from the desire to understand what we cannot see: she was fascinated by physics and astrophysics, disciplines that study phenomena invisible to the naked eye, for this very reason.

The young Mozambican students asked our trainer many questions, intrigued by her passion for this multifaceted subject. And it was precisely this passion, combined with Rossana's overwhelming curiosity, that encouraged the students to share their experiences as young women with many desires to be and to become, but who are often held back by external influences, by expectations that block them and make them doubt that they ‘won't make it’, especially in fields considered difficult or not very traditional for women. Despite natural fears, also due to their young age, the students present showed that they are focused on the future and eager to build something meaningful through study and work, without giving up their passions and desire to learn.

Just enough time to close the Teams connection and here is Rossana's comment at the end of the meeting: ‘Today's experience with the girls from Mozambique was wonderful, I got to know girls of all ages with different passions and ambitions, but united by a strength that sets them apart. Each of them got involved and told their story, as I did with them, and I realise how strong and persevering they are. Each of them left me a piece of themselves that I will take with me with great joy. I'm sure that just as I have managed to find my way, they will do so with the same desire and ambition, as they have been able to pass on to me. It will certainly be an experience that I will carry in my heart, like each of their stories’.

And you, what do you want to be when you grow up? Let me rephrase the question: what are you passionate about? If we stopped for a moment to think about it, we would realise that the real answer is still inside us. Perhaps hidden under layers of fears, expectations and conditioning, but still there, waiting to be heard again.

Text by Elisabetta Gramatica, project officer