What I know scares me more than the unknown” sounds like a contradiction, yet as the interview goes on, Ludovica’s words become clearer. At 27, she has studied international relations in Forlì, completed a master’s degree in the Netherlands, then returned to Italy to study international security between Pisa and Trento.
Her time in the Netherlands, however, did not go as planned. She arrived determined to give “the academic performance of a lifetime”. Between demanding classes, projects, work and her first internship, the academic and professional pressure became too much. She began to question the path she had imagined for herself. “I came to accept that my life wasn’t just about academic performance and career ambition.” Back in Italy, she rediscovered her love of studying and found time for herself again.
Ludovica is ambitious. If she had a Wikipedia page, she would want it to mention her writing one day. “I love writing. I have loved it since I was little.” She hopes to cover environmental issues as a journalist and has contributed to the pan-European newsroom The European Correspondent since 2022. Her imaginary page would also include her travels in the Amazon and New Zealand, as well as climbing, a sport she discovered when she needed it most.
IShe first tried climbing in New Zealand in 2024. She was there for an internship at the Italian embassy, but the work bored her and she felt she was not making the most of her time in the country. On her walk home along the waterfront, she often passed a climbing gym. “One day I thought, why not go in and see what happens?” She tried bouldering and found not only a new passion but a community. “People encourage you. Nobody cares what level you’re at. I’m not good at it, and I don’t care about being good.” What she enjoys most is the company.
Now she wants to go much further than that climbing gym. Her dream of Alaska grew out of reading Jack London’s books, especially her favourite novel, White Fang, and watching the animated film Balto again and again as a child. She would like to follow a route once taken by gold prospectors in the Yukon. “Right now, my mountaineering skills only extend to snowshoeing,” she admits. She is training and gaining experience before attempting the journey.
Music is another of her passions. She especially loves the electric guitar and “the way it gets you going and gives you energy”. Music also features in her memories of Dublin, where she spent a month on a study trip in 2016. She remembers music in the streets, the friendliness of the people and a feeling that is harder to explain: “I really felt at home.” She would like to return, but worries that another visit might spoil the memory she has kept of the city.
When asked what makes her proud, Ludovica hesitates. Earlier, asked which vegetable she would be, in the style of the Italian TV interview show Belve, she chose a carrot. It grows underground and is a little shy, she explained; like her, it has something to say but does not reveal it straight away. Then she acknowledges that she is always willing to try new experiences, even if she sometimes has to overcome her own laziness. Her advice to anyone trying to find their path is to “try lots of things”, including different kinds of work, without putting too much pressure on themselves. Through her own difficult choices, she has learned that exploring also means making room for the people and passions she wants to bring along.
