What would compel a young Italian to leave her home and family to enroll at a state-run university in Chicago? For the three Italians on the 2025 Women’s Volleyball Team at the University of Illinois Chicago, the answer is a combination of wanting to travel, the desire for a challenge and knowing they would be part of a robust community of international students.
Francesca Venturini, who grew up in Bergamo, a city of around 120,000 residents northeast of Milan, was the first of the trio to enroll at UIC, arriving for the fall 2022 season.
