Venice, Sunday. At Sant'Elena a wooden bridge twelve meters long with sixteen steps in all divides any boy or girl from the adventure that will last a lifetime: the Military School "Francesco Morosini". Once you walk those few meters, magically you remain bewitched! For
always! From the 1961 the wooden bridge gives the same effect to all those who have entered the Morosini.
The inclement weather between gusts of wind and pouring rain leaves no respite: it almost seems to want to test the aspiring students. The strong wind coming from the sea mixes with the typical salty smell of the Venice Lagoon and the air you breathe already has the scent of adventure.
Through the bridge. The visit begins to understand why the bridge witches the aspiring students: at the end of the avenue, students can already be seen defying the rain and passing from one block to the other; on the right there are the tennis courts, basketball courts and the boat dock. To the left of the avenue is the football field with the athletics track, where the Navy helicopter landed with Pope Benedict XVI visiting Venice and even before Ronald Reagan for the G7 Summit.
Beyond the football field, a beautiful structure in red brick and white marble can be glimpsed.
The "Francesco Morosini" Military Naval School is an interesting and highly dynamic logistics reality and this explains the very strong interest of aspiring students, manifested by the constant increase in applications for the annual competition.
In some dates of the year it is possible to go down in the activities carried out because the "Morosini" opens its doors in anticipation of the imminent exit of the competition announcement to access it: it is theOpen day with the Institute in full activity! Visitors can see what is done live, how it is organized and the structure as a whole. The groups are accompanied by the staff in charge and informed of all aspects: from the type of training to the menu, from the line to the gymnastic activities.
For an outside it is certainly fascinating to see a group of students who come with sailing boats or who do some running rounds of the "campaccio" for psycho-physical strengthening or that run through the corridors in blue uniforms. Standing erections, proud and determined looks, order and personal care are the trademark of Morosini.
But the seats are few and the selection is strict. 70 places in all: two classes from 26 places for the scientific and a class from 18 for the classic. The Morosini is a secondary school of education where the last three years of the Licei Scientifico and Classico Tradizionale are held, whose aim is to educate young people and arouse their interest in life on the sea, orientating them towards activities related to it. connected, integrating the preparation with a pre-university training of excellence that allows professional visitors prestigious outlets, not exclusively addressed to enlistment in the Armed Forces, but also to employment in the civil world.
Once inside the central building, in which from outside we can read the writing in big letters "Patria e onore", crossing, at the foot of the stairs, a large and varied group of visitors made up of children and parents. They are waiting for the turn to go upstairs to visit the rooms. They wait with increasing excitement. Three sailors patiently manage the visitors, making them enter into groups on the direct order of an officer.
I notice a very excited and attentive boy who waits, in a composed way, his turn to climb even if he continues to stand on tiptoe and to lengthen his neck to peer over the landing.
You look around: it's a mixture of emotion and hope. Look for a visual agreement with other aspiring students: girls and boys who want to experience something unique personally, rather than read it on advertising brochures.
The aspiring students accelerate the pace, the parents who accompany them struggle to stay behind. The boys are very excited and already see each other in uniform!
The student's life is marked by the daily rhythm between study, sport and recreational activities aimed at training the perfect citizen and military. This is why Morosini focus a lot on correctness, order and sense of duty. The student is followed by a civil teaching body and the study plan is, of course, that contemplated by the Ministry of Education. Very important are the seafaring disciplines, which represent a sporting and training reference of excellent thickness: the students therefore have the opportunity to try their hand at sailing, canoeing, rowing, swimming and Venetian rowing with boats all present in the dock of the Institute. However, other sports such as athletics, basketball, volleyball, football and gym are not overlooked.
During the three years they complete their experience with winter and summer training and training activities, among which: the mountain setting week, the visit to the Command and Enti of the various Armed Forces as well as the Summer Naval Education Campaigns on the Marina Militare ("Nave Amerigo Vespucci" and "Nave Palinuro") and the "Force Protection" module at the Marina di San Marco in Brindisi. These activities represent a moment of personal growth and an opportunity for knowledge and contact with different military realities for a more informed choice at the end of the three-year scholastic course.
To understand more the whole frenzy of aspiring students to undertake a lifestyle so dynamic and full of commitments, but also very demanding and rigorous, just think that by regulation they can not bring the watch to the wrist because their life is marked by the sound of the speaker, I ask directly to two "pivoli" of 16 years (as they are jokingly called those of the first year): Marisa Coppola of Ancona and Antongiulio Izzo of Caserta. I ask the same questions, so the comparison allows us to understand why they were bewitched by the wooden bridge.
Marisa, why did you choose this kind of life?
I wanted to have a different lifestyle from other teenagers. I decided to follow the values that represent me and I would like to serve in FFAA.
What expectations do you have for your future?
At the end of the three years I would like to try to enter the Academy of Livorno and then enter the Port Authority to help those in difficulty at sea and to be in contact with the people. But I do not exclude the Carabinieri Academy.
Antongiulio, why?
My passion was born in childhood. I have always wanted to be a ship captain and everyone in the family was amazed, because no one has ever been part of the FFAA. It is a very strong passion that has grown independently. I was lucky that my family understood my wish and allowed me to visit arsenals and ships, including the Amerigo Vespucci. Then I had the opportunity to enter the bridge of a large modern ship and there I had no more doubts.
And what about expectations?
The Academy and then the boarding! I hope I have the chance to surf a lot.
I greet them and look at them well: they are young and very determined. But the goal is to understand why the Morosini has such a strong charm and the requests for access are always many. At this point I start to think that the legend of the bridge that bewitches you could be true. It is better to get to the bottom of the matter. Better to talk to the officers.
The commander and head of the school, captain of ship Massimo Fabbri, informs me that he too is surprised by the determination of the students and the aspiring ones and adds: "this year we have had to increase the number of places available, because the requests have increased. We are still in the planning phase, but an expansion of the School is planned for the future. The goal is to increase accommodation capacity and reach 90 people a year. Do you know that the ex who present a curriculum where it is written that they attended the Morosini, usually the first 10 minutes of the job interview the examiners are told of the Morosini? For us at the school it is a reason for pride, because in the end the formative value of Morosini is recognized. "
Commander, what surprised you most of the students?
The path of growth! I noticed that when they enter (so they walk the wooden bridge, ed) they immediately start to tune into the School and clearly notice that they modify, refine and perfect their character, their posture and also their language. Sometimes they tell me that on their return home they have difficulty in attending their old friends, because the path they have taken them has opened them to broader horizons and with different values. Keep in mind that if they were forced to enter the Morosini they do not last long. Vice versa, when the choice was spontaneous, we are witnessing an important growth path and they all demonstrate clear ideas. On average, 40% of them remain in the defense sector. For the others there is the support of the National Association of Naval Military School Francesco Morosini.
What personal perception do some former students have?
The bond that is established between them! I noticed that they are very related. The interaction that lasts over time is really very important. It's a bit like a big family, it's not for nothing that the ex-students' gatherings, which usually fall in September, for the 25 °, the 40 ° and the 50 °.
They come from all over the world. They have their association. The younger members make themselves available to the students to advise them and direct them in the choices of the professional career as a civilian if they do not want to continue with the FFAA. They are important people for us as a school and especially for boys, because they show the other aspect of life: that of a civilian.
But also for other things: each course has its godfather and is chosen among the former of Morosini. This serves to keep the tradition alive and to have an extra point of reference. In this age group the bond is much stronger than other age groups. I am not a Morosian, I have done the Academy, we are united too, but the former Morosini feel even more this particular bond created in the most beautiful period of their adolescence.
I greet the commander and I start to the office of the corvette captain Alberto Rosati, commander of the 3 course.
Commander, what did the current students surprise you?
They are girls and boys who leave very heterogeneous environments both at school and at the family level. One of the aspects that surprises me most is their willpower and the spirit of sacrifice aimed at their personal growth. Keep in mind that we're talking about 15 kids who are far from their families and are shaping their future. Another important aspect is the spirit of aggregation.
And of former students?
The Morosini, the former students and the association Assomorosini (so they call it in abbreviated form) are a large family, regardless of the individual path undertaken. I perceive that between them there is a very strong and lasting bond, much more intense than what is created in the Academy.
Both officers actually recognize the very strong and unique bond that is created among the students of Morosini. Link is the result of three years' cohabitation in a school located in the most beautiful part of Venice and cemented by a real willpower that these boys and girls can express.
The visit ends and I start along the avenue leading to the wooden bridge. I realize that if the numbers increase from year to year, it means that it is an implicit recognition to the educational goodness of the School. It is an important recognition and will have an even more important return for the country. In the avenue there are some students who come out because it's Sunday. I hear them speak in an appropriate tone of voice and with a beautiful property of language. I look at them with admiration, because they are the future of our country. Evidently the wooden bridge has really bewitched them!
(photo: Marina Militare / author)
