There are moments in everyone’s life, days, occasions, and opportunities that we never imagine we will experience. Unexpected encounters and events arrive suddenly, appearing almost unreal, as if they belonged to a distant dream or an impossible fantasy. They are the kind of pleasant surprises we believe could never happen to us. On May 7th, shaking hands with Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, was exactly that for us, the young participants of the ABF Globalab program. It was one of those precious and previously unimaginable moments that suddenly became real in each of our lives.
The visit of the President of the European Parliament and her delegation to the headquarters of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation represented the second step of a journey that had begun in March, when ten young members of the San Firenze committee visited Brussels. There, at the European Parliament itself, they took part in a dialogue and exchange centered around themes that lie at the heart of ABF’s mission: the development of soft skills, global citizenship, education, participation, youth engagement in shaping the future, and the goals of the 2030 Agenda.
This meeting between President Metsola and the young people of the ABF Globalab program also symbolized something deeply significant: a Europe that values and believes in spaces dedicated to young people, seeing them as true workshops for the future, places where talent, beauty, principles, and values can be nurtured and shared. These are environments where young generations can build their future step by step through their own ideas, skills, and determination. It is therefore a Europe not only of ideas, but also of active research into spaces where young people can be guided toward the belief that they themselves have the power to shape their own fulfillment, professionally, but above all creatively, artistically, collectively, and humanly.
The most meaningful message we received during the hours in which ABF welcomed Roberta Metsola into the spaces dedicated to the Globalab project was a new and powerful vision: understanding that the stars on the European Union flag form a constellation of values that our generation can help bring to life. Because we are not simply part of Europe, we are Europe.
Too often, we speak about institutions, communities, or systems as though we are inevitably subordinate to something larger, forgetting that we can instead become creators of its evolution and transformation. We begin to realize that the individual is not merely part of the collective; rather, it is the individual who gives life to the collective itself.
Just as grains of sand form a beach, but each grain is already, in itself, beach, and just as a drop does not simply belong to the sea, but each drop creates the sea, reflects its light, and carries its sound, every individual contributes to what eventually becomes an ocean.
This philosophy toward the future highlights the trust placed in today’s adolescents, in their actions, choices, ambitions, and awareness of European citizenship, both now and in the years to come. Young people are no longer viewed merely as spectators or representatives of a distant future, but as a genuine driving force for transformation. Education and knowledge have always been the fundamental pillars that allow us to become agents of change.
As we begin to embrace this perspective, we also realize how the European flag can once again help many young people rediscover something that, unfortunately, has often been lost: the feeling of belonging to something meaningful and contributing, even through small everyday actions, to something greater than ourselves.
Those stars then begin to represent, in the imagination and hope of young people, a network of shared potential and aspirations capable of transcending the boundaries of language and origin. They become a symbol of emotional belonging that can metaphorically unite us all under the same sky through a shared history, culture, past, present, and future, one that makes us simultaneously connected and unique within Europe, valuing each individual’s originality while pursuing a common sense of collective identity.
For us, this meeting is not simply a cherished memory to preserve among the most beautiful pages of our lives. Rather, it is a profound source of awareness and confidence, an open window toward building a better future together, especially thanks to those who continue every day to improve the present we are living in.
The connection between Europe and the younger generations is therefore the reflection of a changing Europe: an entity in constant evolution, like a kite guided by the winds of modernity, new technologies, global events, and transformations, yet still firmly held in the palms of our own will, unity, knowledge, active citizenship, and transversal skills. Everything changes constantly. Every aspect of the world undergoes deep and often unpredictable transformations. Yet we too often forget that humanity itself is the first guide of these changes, and that everything can evolve for the better, also thanks to us, if we learn and acquire the right tools to do so. Our generation has not only the opportunity, but also the moral responsibility, to preserve and pass on the beauty and values that are entrusted to us today. The light that shone in our eyes on May 7th was simply the reflection of the light we had the honor of seeing that day in the eyes of those who believed in us before we believed in ourselves.
Diletta Maglioccola
