He only had a phase of discouragement at the beginning, faced with the amount of paperwork needed to undertake the challenge. But in that case, her mother Angela gave her the right push with a phrase from Nietzsche sent to her mobile phone: «Anyone who has a strong enough why can overcome any how».
And there’s no shortage of “why”. Michelle Sambaaspiring pianist and 4th grade student at the «Umberto Eco» music high school in Alessandria, who decided to take the final exam a year ahead of her classmates. It is the only one in the province to have requested access to the “merit” procedure, which provides stringent criteria for “skipping” a year: at least 8 in all subjects in the current year and no less than 7 in each discipline in the two previous ones. Conduct included.
This time too, “dea ex machina” was mother Franca, who learned of the opportunity in the summer of 2023 and spoke about it to Michelle in advance: she did not hold back when faced with the possibility of arriving at the conservatory more quickly. «We talked and I understood that it could be the right opportunity for me – says Samba, who lives in Bergamasco –: from then on I drew up a realistic plan to understand how to face my fourth year while also studying the fifth year subjects. It wasn’t easy, but I established the times and subjects and I launched myself.” Having collected the programs for the following year from the professors, she set off at a good pace, making the most of every free moment: weekends, long weekends, the Easter and Christmas holidays. In order not to miss anything, in May she took and passed the entrance exam to the Vivaldi Conservatory and also the one for the driving licence.
«Now that the exam is getting closer, there is a bit of anxiety – she confesses –, but I am determined. I believe this made the difference from the beginning, with the passion that has been my fuel since I was little.” Surrounded by a family where music has never been lacking, Michelle started with the violin and at the age of 7 she discovered the piano: from there, lessons with the maestro Luca Cavallo, the musical middle school in Nice with teacher Marina Dellepiane and the Eco high school, with teachers Daniele Guidobono and Marilù Arnaboldi, where he also studied percussion (which he would like to resume at the Conservatory). Her praise for her courage comes from the superintendent Laura Bergonzi, the principal Roberto Grenna and her classmates. But her dream of becoming a professional pianist was stronger than any fear: “I never doubted myself and perhaps the secret to making it was this.”
Alessandria, Saluzzo Plana becomes Eco high school: today 3 May the ceremony has been awaited for seven years
Daniele Prato
03 May 2023
