TEDxLUISS, an event organized by a group of LUISS students, will take place this Friday, May 22. The stage will host ideas and visions of the future as told by professors, businessmen and communicators as well as one LUISS student: Alessandro Abbate.
Alessandro won his place in TED history in April’s TEDxLUISS contest, edging out two other finalists: Gabriella Marceja and her ideas about web rights and the future of internet privacy, and Taranto native Edoardo Franco, and his plan to shine a new light on one of Italy's most beautiful forgotten city. Trapani-born Alessandro, who has been deaf since birth, will communicate from the Aula Magna to an audience who will follow the event from Viale Pola to demonstrate it is possible to dream with one sense less.
"I knew how important TED was before I heard about the LUISS event," says Alessandro. "TED is the future of the world, where intelligent men and women with thoughts that deserve to be heard can present their ideas to make our lives easier and to revolutionize the planet. Thanks to easily-accessible subtitles, I have been watching the various speeches on my smartphone, all the while dreaming to become a speaker after finishing my degree. However, my dream came true sooner than I had expected."
Alessandro is in his third year in Economics and Management and is writing his thesis on Accounting and Budgeting with Professor Salvatore Sarcone. "I study the harmonization of international accounting practices of the IASB (International Accounting Standards Board) and the fair value budgeting methodology of businesses and banks. I am interested in the connection between the worlds of business and finance, which is why I have already enrolled for the two-year Master's program in Banks and Financial Intermediaries."
Alessandro has participated in various LUISS events: "Last March I participated in the Model UN in Rome, winning the outstanding delegate award, as well as the Model UN in New York where the entire LUISS delegation was awarded. I owe a lot to this university for believing in my potential, the University Union for providing me with a sign language interpreter to attend lessons without missing a word or to feel at a disadvantage compared to my classmates."
This ambition and determination to overcome every obstacle is the same that motivated Alessandro to participate in the TEDxLUISS contest. "When I saw the TED flyers in the hallway, with the red X that took over our university and social networks, I felt a powerful urge to participate even without having a clear idea of what I could present.
After participating in two days of Public Speaking with Alberto Castelvecchi – another speaker presenting on May 22 — I built up the courage to make a video, convinced that in life you sometimes have to just take the initiative and hope for the best."
The video's concept received the most likes on the Official TEDxLUISS Facebook page before winning the final on the 6th of May at the LUISS Language Café. The idea came to him during a break in the computer science room. "Staring at the monitor and forcing myself to remember the sacrifices I had to make to learn to speak, I developed a wonderful idea for the final competition and my speech.
Alessandro's message is that everyone can dream, and that even a deaf person can live a life without limits: "The goal of my TEDxLUISS idea is to make everyone equal and competitive, destroying barriers and prejudices. Come see how!"
