Prove Yourself Wrong: Meet Communications Major Giorgia Zampini

Giorgia Zampini is a junior Communications major and Digital Media Arts and Production minor from Rome. In Fall 2024, she was an intern at JCU’s Web Communications Office. Giorgia is also an Orientation Leader and contributor for The Matthew, the student-run newspaper.

Tell us about your background and why you chose to study at JCU.
I was born and raised in Rome, Italy, where my father’s side of the family is, while my mother’s side lives in Calabria, which I consider my second home. Since I was a child, I have always had a passion for English, and I dreamed of living in New York City. I have been working towards that goal ever since. I heard about John Cabot University during my second year of high school, but I didn’t even consider applying: I was afraid I may not have been ready. Then, during my last year of high school, I decided to attend the JCU open day and that is the day my life changed. I will never be able to express what I felt then. I immediately realized that I had found my place and started working hard to get to where I am now.

What led you to study Communications with a minor in Digital Media Arts and Production?
It was not clear at first what I wanted to study. During high school I thought about it a lot but never really settled on anything. There was a moment when I wanted to study medicine and become a cardiologist, I even started preparing for the admission test. Then I realized that it was not my path and JCU was where I wanted to go.

My first semester here I was an English Language for University Studies (ENLUS) student, which not only prepared me for the following years but also gave me time to get to know the University and understand which was the right major for me. I have always been passionate about media, content creation, and editing, so it just felt right to choose Communications as my major. What I like the most about it is the combination of theory and practice, as I have the opportunity to apply what I learn and enhance my skills. Foundations of Digital Video Production with Professor Brian Thomson was the first class where I actually started editing and working with different types of professional software. I really explored my interest for editing and realized I never wanted to stop doing that. That’s why I eventually added a minor in Digital Media Arts and Production to go even deeper into its more technical aspects.

Is there a class or professor that has had an impact on you and why?
Writing Across the Media with Professor Elizabeth Macias-Gutiérrez has to be my first answer. This is where I started laying the groundwork for everything that followed and where I discovered my interest in journalism with a focus on victim-blaming and sexual harassment. Professor Gutiérrez has been nothing but a wonderful mentor to me and surely many other students; thanks to her support, I was able to submit two articles to The Matthew.

Introduction to Photojournalism with Professor Federica Valabrega is also worth mentioning. Thanks to her I started approaching photography, a passion I always had and never pursued, and I could combine it with what I had learned with Professor Gutiérrez. Now, I can’t leave my house without my camera anymore. As my project to develop throughout the course, I kept working on what I started exploring in Writing Across the Media, which was victim-blaming and sexual harassment. I really enjoy how everything at JCU is connected if you look closely enough: you start working on something one semester and the next one you have the possibility to explore it further through a different project. Professor Valabrega’s feedback was also crucial for me, I would show her pictures I took even if they were not related to the class project because she would give me advice on how to improve. Once after only a few classes, I showed her pictures I took of my cousin at sunset, and after that, I really understood the difference that the use of light makes in a picture, and the beauty behind it. Light changes people, and you can express that through photographs.

Moreover, my internship at the Office of Web Communications is what has impacted me the most. Three of the most amazing people at John Cabot University work there every day and their work is simply impressive. I am truly grateful to have had this opportunity, a first-hand experience of everything that I have been studying, and a chance to learn and improve something new every day. This internship was the perfect mix of journalism, photography, and editing; thanks to this, I can now see a clearer direction of where I am going in the future.

You are also an Orientation Leader. Tell us about it.
I applied for the Orientation Leader position in Spring 2024. Being part of Orientation is hard work and responsibility, but at the end of the day, it is so gratifying. Don’t get me wrong, we also have fun! It is such a rewarding experience being able to help new students, get to know more people, and grow both personally and professionally.

Do you already have any plans for the future after graduation?
My long-term dream would be to move to New York to pursue a master’s degree with my camera hanging around my neck. I’ll keep working hard to get there. I actually just came back from New York; it was my first time there. As much as I love Rome — and even though my family, friends, and life are all here — I never felt like this was the right place for me in the long run. I have always felt a connection with New York, and now that I have been there, I can say that I was right. I simply fit there. I couldn’t sleep at night; I was so excited to visit the city that I would wake up at 5.30 am every morning and go to sleep as late as I could. I did not want to miss even a single detail. I was not only taking photographs with my camera and my phone, but I was also trying to absorb everything. I knew I was going to cry with joy seeing the city for the first time; what I was not expecting was to get so emotional seeing the skyline from the window just as the plane landed.

What advice would you give to a student too concerned about applying to JCU?
No matter how scared or worried you are, you have to at least try. You may even be the most capable person and not realize it. If not, there is always a chance to improve and learn, you just have to take it. I thought I was not good enough and not brilliant enough to be here, and I have never been happier to prove myself wrong.  As someone very wise once said to me, “If you really want something, you can get it; put your mind to it and you can accomplish anything. Chase your dreams, otherwise, they are just fantasy.”