By Marcella GALLACE.
For those who love food, delving into a bit of Italian tradition and are proud of parading a Nutella moustache, then say ciao to The University of Sydney’s Italian Society.
Sydney University’s Italian Society has been around for years. However, the society fell inactive during the mid 2000s and slowly the terms “Italian Society” or “Ital Soc,” for short, became foreign to Sydney University students.
This changed in 2012 when Sydney uni student, Mia Tsikrikas, brought Ital Soc back to life.
“I discovered that the executive had actually disbanded which explained why I couldn’t find the Italian Society at O-week that year,” Mia says.
So, I thought to myself, ‘this isn’t good’ and decided to put it back together again with the help of some truly amazing people.”
Current President of the society, Talia Walker, who is of Italian heritage, has always had a passion for the Italian language, its customs and its literature.
In her second year of a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in languages, Talia loves university life and the idea of bringing something back to the Italo-Australian culture through her work as President.
“It has been brilliant meeting so many young Italians, Italian students and people just generally interested in Italian on campus,” Talia says.
What I would love to do is to extend this network to include more students not only in this university, but on other campuses and in the wider Italian community.”
The main objective of the society is to promote the Italian culture on Sydney University’s campus and is not limited to those of Italian heritage. The only catch is you have to be a Sydney Uni student to be able to sign up.
“It’s for anyone who wants to practice Italian skills, whether that be speaking in Italian or learning about the culture,” Talia explains.
Such events held by the society include, Italian conversation and coffee days, Italian bake sales, and movie nights. And with Semester two approaching the Italian flag will be waving at Sydney University’s Re-Open Week at their Ital Soc stall.
“We’re celebrating a little bit of Italian culture on campus,” Talia says proudly.