What are the requirements for a young person who is seeking employment today in business or politics? The most obvious answer seems to be that she or he would need to have a super-specialisation and have received unbeatable training. But Dr. Lorenzo Rosi who is vice president of Erutria Bank and was present at the Open Day of Sophia University Institute thinks otherwise: “In job interviews we ask that the candidate be able to come up with solutions to problems. We consider it the task of the company to provide further training through internships or ad hoc courses, but the most important thing for us is that candidates can use their heads. This is why I recommend Sophia to young people, because it opens the mind, forms people who are capable of dialogue, and are accepting of differences. In other words, from here, people come out who are capable of thinking and not merely executors [of someone else’s thinking].”

It was surely not a traditional University Opening Day, where professors and secretaries explain the curriculum and answer questions about registration procedures and fees – although there was also this. It was rather the students, about 80 of them from 30 different countries, and spread out among three specializations – Economics and Management, Trinitarian Ontology and Political Studies – who did the honours. They told of how they landed at Sophia, the reasons why after three years of becoming highly specialized at another university they decided to come here from such different fields and life experiences. One story said it all, the story of Rami, and Egyptian on the forefront of the revolution that two years ago brought aa breath of Arab Spring to his own land. “I slept in TahrirSquare, I protested with thousands of people in the streets, we fought for freedom putting our lives on the line. But after such a strong experience, I felt the need to be enriched interiorly, and this is what Sophia is for me. I came to the “mountain top” far from the crowd, to absorb Wisdom. No, this is not an escape from the problems. I am continuing to live the revolution at the side of my people but in a different way. I write articles that are published in Egypt as I am nourished by the Wisdom that I find here at Sophia, both in the courses and in daily life with the professors and students. I feel that I am setting solid foundations inside me that will prepare me to bring peace where there is none.”

Where are the economy and the world going?” was the title for one of the three lessons that LuiginoBruni, Professor of Economics. Together with political philosopher Antonio M. Baggio, and theologian Alessandro Clemenzia presented to the students in attendance or linked up via online streaming.

“At Sophia,” Bruni pointed out, “specific skills are reinforced by learning to look further. Study then is not a pre-employment stage but complementary to work, thanks to the stagesthat are being defined for all subject areas.”

Three professionals in the areas of enterprise, academic research and political involvement showed the added value of Sophia in three areas. One of these was Letizia De Torre (Movement for Unity in Politics), former Member of Parliament who reminded everyone that a young person cannot “enter into politics without having a vision of the world.”  “Sophia was begun to express a culture that not only looks to the interests of one party but which, by virtue of its interdisciplinary approach, is open to listening and to criticism, the ability to change a position, to change the dynamics, learning to talk. In short, do not be afraid of the differences. Sophia provides you with the tools to build the dream of a better society for all.”