The “Salon of Professions”

Nizza Monferrato (Italy). On 9 November 2024, the corridors of the classrooms of O. L. Grace School in Nizza Monferrato (AT), of Mary Help of Christians Province (IPI), were filled with special ‘pupils’. About 45 professionals from the city and neighboring towns were invited to meet at the school. The French teacher organized a singular “Salon” to offer students the possibility of choosing well for their future, a unique opportunity of orientation through the knowledge of different people and professions.

Each of the professionals kept a very visible sign on their desk with their identity and competence: from the mayor to the bank manager, from the baker to the fire brigade, from the agronomist to the entrepreneur, from the physiotherapist to the photographer, from the teacher to the journalist… A multiprofessional variety of great quality, valued by students of the state Secondary Schools of 1^st and 2^nd year who went to interview professionals, to deepen the meaning of their work, and the training path to reach that profession.

The questions were abundant and, passing through the corridors, they could be heard. “But how did you become mayor?” “How do you prepare to become a receptionist, work consultant or telecommunications technician?”  “What satisfactions or difficulties do you encounter in your work as a wine steward?”.

With competence and the ability to adapt to the young public, the professionals answered their questions, happy to be able to present their profession with the challenges and opportunities they offer.

It was a mixture of diversity and at the same time of harmonies, with differences in identity, skills, performance, training, and at the same time, a common thread that united all: passion for the choice made and the meaning it embodies for the good of people and utility in society. It is in fact passion that gives wings, that opens to hope, supports in fatigue, and frees from selfish calculations or indifference.

Each profession has its own beauty and social utility. But everything is supported by love and, if this is strong, then we open ourselves to innovation, encounter, dialogue, collaboration, and the desire to always start again grows and with new determination. Each of the professionals was happy to be able to value their talents and to know that today’s boys and girls are questioning and confronting themselves to discover their life project, that which will help them express the best part of themselves for the good of others.

The baker, who has been awarded several times for excellent recipes between tradition and innovation, and who since 2013 has also entered as a protagonist in a novel, revealed his secret by communicating simple rules that give effectiveness to his work and make it reliable. 1^st Few words, but the right ones. 2^nd Never fool yourself into thinking you did a really perfect job. 3^rd Try to improve every day; never be complacent. 4^th Hard work and quality research. 5^th Hospitality and good reception of customers.

“Only in this way do the traditions really live, because the goal is not to conserve, but to continue on the path of true passion” he affirmed.

At 12.30, the “Salon of professions” closed its doors and everyone was happy to have forged new relationships, enriched with new knowledge, and perhaps new dreams to be nurtured and fulfilled, not alone, but together!

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