My family is originally from Paestum, Cilento, and, like many southern Italians, moved up to Rome for better work opportunities. I was born in Rome and am the oldest of three boys. We came to the United States when I was about 4 years old. South Philadelphia was our first stop and with all the native Italians living there at the time, I honestly felt like I was still in Italy.

Around age 5, I moved to Cherry Hill with my family and that’s when I realized I was definitely not in Italy anymore. We laugh about it now, but my classmates didn’t understand me and most of my teachers weren’t equipped to handle a boy from Italy who did not speak English.