Good morning everyone. Thank you for your welcome and for your enthusiasm.
My thanks go to the Italian Cultural Institute, to the headteacher, to all the teachers at the school and, above all, to all of you, for the choice you have made and for the welcome you have given me.
I wish to say a word more about your teachers: they are people who decide to live far from their home for several years, who often decide to leave all their security behind. They do this because they know they can build a lot here. It is important that you listen to them, because they have decided to make those sacrifices so that you can have a better future tomorrow. So, we must give these people a round of applause.
The second thing I have to say, and I’m not a teacher, so I don’t have lessons to impart: I just want to say one thing that is linked to what was said before me. As I was entering the school, a young girl asked me “can I ask you a question? I would like to be the next President. How do I do that?”. 
Theoretically, the answer is “I don’t know”, but I will tell you what I have learned. You must never stop studying, because there is no greater freedom than the freedom knowledge gives you. When you have knowledge, no one can fool you. No one can make fun of you. You study and you learn to be free, because knowledge is the primary form of freedom. The other thing I have learnt in life is that it is not others who decide your destiny: you are the one who decides where you want to go; it is always and only you. This is what happened to me: not that I had set myself these goals, but I always thought that I must do everything to the best of my ability, in the best way possible, and with sincerity, dedication and also a willingness to make sacrifices. This led me to be Italy’s first female President of the Council of Ministers; I could maybe have become something else, but the point is that you can get anywhere. The only thing you must not accept are limits that others have decided for you. You are the ones who decide what your limits are; you are the ones who decide what your goals are. Once you have decided, study and you can reach those goals.
Good luck to all of you and to your families and congratulations for what you are doing for Italy, because by studying Italian, by studying our know-how, you are great ambassadors of Italian culture, but above all for what you will be able to do for your nation. Thank you!

[Courtesy translation]