Graduation, What a Day!

"I always forget anniversaries, but November 5th every year produces an automatic reflex, and this has happened 50 times! On my graduation day, 5 November 1965, I felt like an adult for the first time." This is how Mario Monti, Bocconi President, remembers his commencement. "But I didn't understand that my life's destiny was taking form in that moment: Bocconi and Europe. The graduation session," continues Monti, "was in the Bocconi building on Via Sarfatti; my thesis was about the budget of the EEC. I couldn't have imagined that I would work for Bocconi my whole life and that I would work in that building for 30 years. And I couldn't have imagined that I would dedicate most of my work to Europe and to a more European Italy. When you graduate," urges the President of Bocconi, "be careful what you do!" This is because commencement is not just any day, but it's one of those dates that stays engraved in the memories of all graduates, more than 100,000 Bocconians. To share memories related to this event, tell us about them with a tweet, on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn using the hashtag #BocconiGraduation. Just like Mario Monti and other famous alumni have already done.

➜ Angelo Cardani (1972), President of Agcom
"One of the discussants was running late, so the commission chair asked me to wait. But since it was getting late, my parents had to leave mid-morning. Long story short: I ended up alone in front of around a dozen professors. Luckily, my friend Francesco Giavazzi came in at the last minute to back me up, who had graduated with an engineering degree from Politecnico that same morning. That's why he was the only witness at my graduation. My thesis? With Fabrizio Onida, the other discussant, we tested a hypothesis: if growth generated by imports could subsist like that generated by exports. The advisor professor was Innocenzo Gasparini."

➜ Giovanni Cobolli Gigli (1970), Chairman of Federdistribuzione
"I had just gotten married, I was 25 and that day I showed up alone to present a thesis on competitive management skills in companies and how they should be safeguarded. I remember how energetic the discussion was, with persistent questions from Giorgio Pivato, my advisor professor. In that classroom on the first floor at Via Sarfatti 25, there were some of Bocconi's legends, such as Giordano Dell'Amore, but there was a pleasant ambiance and an openness to professional conversation."

➜ Vittorio Colao (1986), CEO of Vodafone Group
"My thesis presentation was a preview of my working life. I was nervous and tense, even though I was prepared and had a good GPA. But, as I learned later, preparation isn't enough to get rid of anxiety before important meetings: actually it might even be necessary to create positive stress. More than the last day of school, graduation was my first day of life."

➜ Alessandro Profumo, (1987) Chairman of Equita SpA
"That July I was working as Director of a branch of Banco Lariano. And that day it seemed very hard to find someone to substitute for me. I finally found a friend who was an official at the bank and so I hurried to Bocconi. I got there out of breath. Waiting for me there were my wife, my son and my mother. I graduated with Roberto Ruozi as my advisor professor and Paolo Mottura as discussant. I remember now that I actually didn't take time to enjoy it very much: after the presentation I hurried back to work."

➜ Elena Zambon (1989), President of Zambon Company
"On the day of graduation, I remember mostly the strong feeling of experiencing a transition, like when we turn the page of a blank book, which still needs to be written, which is a key page for understanding where the story will go. The day of graduation was also a liberating time, after succeeding despite everything, because I also have memories of intense events during my years at university. For example, I remember the panic I had when writing my thesis on a computer, using DOS, when an entire chapter or more was deleted and I was late handing it in. Thinking back, this is how my digital era began... and today, in the internet era, I smile because that experience was certainly a useful one."

âžœ Ivan Dompé (1996), Director of Institutional Communication at Telecom Italia-Tim
On that July day in 1996, Ivan Dompé remembers how the commission made him feel comfortable, "even when the discussion got heated around the role Europe would need to have as a single market (my EES thesis analyzed the macroeconomic changes of the three American, European and Asian blocks, when Japan was still discussed more than China)." And he remembers the energy with which Franco Amatori backed him up, who was his advisor professor along with Marzio Romani: "Amatori always developed a close relationship with his graduating students and I adored him." So everything turned out for the best that day, "even though I presented my thesis with a goatee. I had taken all my exams without it, for superstitious reasons. That day I left it and I haven't gotten rid of it since."

➜ Pasquo Cicchini (1997), Team Leader at Community
"Honor to the vanquished. With this phrase in find, which was the opening headline of a newspaper announcing the death of Giovannino Agnelli, I walked the short distance between home, on Via Ripamonti, and Via Sarfatti. And I told myself: he was good-looking, rich, destined to become the heir to the most important Italian dynasty. He was full of passions and loved life. And he's gone." Pasquo Cicchini entered the classroom for his thesis presentation, room 23, with Agnelli's story on his mind, "but I was ready and determined to tell my story, my passion, my thesis on corporate communication. And after the official graduation, I saw the satisfaction in the eyes of my loved ones. I was also aware that time flies, that a unique and unparalleled period of my life was over. A new adventure awaited me: life as an adult, to take a bite out of each day with the hunger of anyone with passion who loves their work. It's been almost twenty years and even now, every day, I feel that hunger."