Tels Talks – Giovanni Carraro, AI, Analytics and Big Data
Giovanni was a TELS student many times when he was in middle and high school. Today he lives and works in New York, where he deals in Big Data, Analytics and AI.
His Positive Light for today? Being resourceful and not being afraid to make mistakes.
Thanks Giovanni and we’ll see you at the Reunion. Ciao!
1. What has been the biggest surprise that has made you smile of late?
Last month my son (6) asked me what kind of iPad apps I used when I was his age. When I not only told him that the iPad didn’t exist back then, but added that when granddad was small there weren’t even any TVs, he looked at me unbelieving and, laughing, said: “nice joke”, as though I was playing a trick on him. What is innovation for me is just normal for my child.
2. What would you like never to forget?
That question makes me think of Gauguin’s painting “Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?”. For me it’s important to remember the past, everything I’ve learned and experienced and lived through. It’s what helps me make decisions in the present and think about the future. To lose that would mean to lose what determines who I really am.
3. How much has travelling with TELS influenced your personal and professional growth?
A huge amount. I live and work in New York, and Mariarosa and TELS were my first approach to English: TELS was also the first time I experienced a reality different to my own, in a new family, in a different nation, in a different culture. Undoubtedly these experiences not only taught me English, the language of my everyday life, but more importantly to understand how to be a citizen of the world.
4. If you had 5 minutes to tell the story of your life, which images and colours would you use?
The image is the one of a sailing boat adrift on a vast ocean. My life is a journey, without a shadow of a doubt, both metaphorically and in reality. I like to imagine a continuous adventure, where the destination is just a place to moor while getting ready to sail off again. With this image the colour that comes to mind is blue, the sea, the sky, the horizon. Also, in the TELS Method, the Blue is the colour of precision, logic, rationality, definitely features of my being an engineer.
5. What advice to you feel you can give the young people setting off for the first time with TELS, who can get a feel for the “TELS method”?
My advice is to be resourceful. Be willing to experiment, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes, because in the end that’s what makes the difference. There’s no doubt that TELS puts you in the right context to learn, have experiences, have fun, and grow. But in the end it is your spirit, your passion, your courage and focus that determine the end result, which make the difference between a memorable trip and an apathetic outing to a little English village. Deciding to go is the first step, but there are many more to come, and the right spirit will enrich your own journey and that of your companions in adventure.
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Giovanni Carraro, ex TELS student, aged 40, honours degree in Pavia in Electronic Engineering and MBA from the Harvard Business School. Today he lives with his family in New York, where he works in Big Data and AI: in short, an excellent Blue, who strongly believes in the value of mistakes as teachers. “If you never fail you get bored and you never do anything at all.”