High School Writing in English

 I am hereby hosting two senior high school students, Lorenza Barricella and Camilla Lucia Sasso, who,  mentored by my colleague Francesca Secci, wrote two remarkable short essays on life in the future. 

For centuries, people have imagined what a perfect world might look like. This idea, known as “Utopia”, is often pictured as a place without war, poverty or inequality, just peace, fairness and happiness for all. As the text reminds us, it’s important to have faith that we can come together in order to create a better future for everyone, however while this vision sounds ideal, I don’t believe it’s realistic. Instead, I see a future that is more likely to be dystopian, a world shaped by growing inequality, environmental crisis, and the misuse of technology. A utopian world is beautiful, but it doesn’t seem possible if we look honestly at the way our world works today. 

One of the reasons I believe a utopian society isn’t possible is human nature. As much as we like to think we are improving as a species, humans continue to show greed, selfishness and a hunger for power. These traits have existed throughout history and still shape our world today. Even when people have tried to build ideal societies, such attempts often failed because they required people to act perfectly or think the same way. In reality, people have different values and that often leads to conflict. History shows us that attempts to force a utopian society usually lead to control and oppression instead, turning the dream into a nightmare. 

This is exactly what George Orwell warns us about in his novel 1984. In the story, the government tries to maintain a perfect society by watching and controlling everything its citizens do, even their thoughts. Instead of peace and happiness people live in constant fear, unable to speak freely or trust one another. Orwell’s vision shows how quickly the idea of order can be turned into totalitarianism when human nature and power are involved. The text given also talks about how scientific and technological breakthroughs have changed the society, which I believe is another key point to explain why a dystopian future is more likely to happen. 

Technology plays a big role in shaping our future, and not always in a good way. While it has brought many benefits, it has also created new problems. Social media, for example, was supposed to connect us, but it often spreads misinformation and divides people. Artificial Intelligence and automation are replacing jobs faster than new ones are created, leading to economic instability. Surveillance technologies threaten privacy and powerful tech companies sometimes seem more interested in profits than in ethics. Orwell’s 1984 also speaks to this danger, as “Big Brother” uses screens and microphones to monitor every citizen. When technology is controlled by a few it creates economic inequality and it makes a fair society even harder to reach.

Another reason I believe a utopian world is almost impossible to reach is the environment. Climate change is already causing serious problems such as wildfires, floods, food shortages, and many of these issues are getting worse. Scientists have warned us for decades, but global action has been slow and often blocked by politics or money. If we can’t come together to create a better future for everyone, I believe it’s not possible to build a world where everything works perfectly. Climate change doesn’t just damage nature, it also creates conflict, poverty and migration, all of which can lead to chaos. 

In conclusion, while a utopian world is inspiring and it’s important for us to keep working toward achieving it, human nature, the misuse of technology and environmental destruction all point toward a more troubled future. As “1984” reminds us, even the desire to create a perfect society can lead to something dark and dangerous. Rather than chasing a perfect world, we should focus on facing reality and fixing the problems we already have before things get worse.

Lorenza Barricella                

Future: the time that will come after the present; the possibility that something might happen. 

In primary school I was taught that the indicative mood in Italian is the “mood of certainty”, and I’ve always wondered why the future tense would also be included in something so definite when, by its very nature, the future is deeply uncertain. 

What is the future? To me, it is a sequence of “present moments” in which we are both actors and spectators. We spend our lives planning, sacrificing ourselves for something that may never happen or that, when it does, we fail to appreciate. I don’t want that for myself. I want to wear the uniform I like best, spend time in places that make me feel good and remember the past in order to fully live the present and look to the future with hope. I want to move forward with courage toward what lies ahead. I want to walk toward the Camilla I will become while holding the hand of the one I am and have been. I try to love myself enough not to postpone happiness until tomorrow because, as Lorenzo de’ Medici, not Dante Alighieri (as many wrongly think), once said: ”Di doman non v’è certezza”, “There’s no certainty in tomorrow”. 

After this brief introduction, I think it’s clear that, to me, the future is a form of utopia, an arrangement that doesn’t exist in reality, but that is presented as an ideal. Surely, as time goes by and as history has shown us, our knowledge will improve and there will be major breakthroughs in the medical and scientific fields, as also mentioned in the text. Cars will become even more eco-friendly, they will lift off the ground and travel on parallel routes traced through the air. Grandparents will no longer be shocked by their grandchildren coming out, the Italian national anthem will only be sung in English and gender fluidity will be an everyday topic in schools and pubs. As the band “Pinguini Tattici Nucleari” predicted in their song “Coca Zero”, the debate over crucifixes in classrooms will finally end, “Jesus will be taken down from the wall”, yet the world will still be a country full of old flaws, trying to reconcile with the guilt of its younger generations. Air flight will be accessible to everyone and, something that is already being studied, many will honeymoon on Mars. A lot of jobs will disappear, we’ll work eighteen hours a day and, inevitably, our families will become “small sterile environments”, as described by “the robot” and “the crow”, where AI and drones play a crucial role in public health, and at the same time, humans and machines work together to improve society. 

Yet in my utopian future I wish everyone not just any gift but the one most people lack: I wish them time. Time to laugh and have fun, time to run and reflect, time to be with their families, time to grow and mature, time to hope and to love, time for themselves. From this precious gift, great minds can be born. And, perhaps, in that future we’ll have found cures for today’s incurable diseases. While machines will handle drug administration, doctors will be able not just to treat, but to genuinely take care for their patients. Scientific research will advance, improving the quality of life for everyone and, as the text says, to create a better future. Ukrainians will vacation in Moscow, Israelis and Palestinians will share meals at the same table. Trump will still be President of the United States (forever), but at least he’ll have stopped making up tariffs to impose to the rest of the world. Peace will reign and it will be wonderful to capture every corner of the world with a photograph. 

And, if I really allow myself to dream big, I imagine myself as an excellent professional, a renowned cardiologist who, from her own house in New York, watches the hordes of tourists in Times Square and complains to her children about the mess they make because, as many of us know, no matter how much time goes by, some things never change. 

Camilla Lucia Sasso