Zokir Hayoev '11 and Alessio Tummolillo '12

Alessio Tummolillo ’12, pictured top right, grew up in New Jersey but knew he wanted to come to Europe for college. His parents were both from Naples, and he still had grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins in Italy. Franklin provided the perfect solution, allowing him to receive an American education in Europe while brushing up his Italian and being close to his extended family.

Zokir Hayoev ’11, who is from Tajikistan, went to boarding school in St. Gallen for high school and knew he wanted to stay in Switzerland for college. He had friends attending Franklin whom he had visited a few times while in high school. Franklin was the right place for him, and he easily transitioned to life at the College. Even though he already knew students at Franklin from his high school, he started to look for ways to meet other people and to get involved.

Alessio and Zokir both ended up joining the Franklin men’s soccer team during freshman year and have enjoyed the club sport during their time at the school. Zokir has been captain of the team for two years and has seen interest in playing and following the team grow. “Most of our games are Friday evenings but people will still come out and watch and cheer us on,” says Zokir. The enthusiasm surrounding the team has helped recruit a diverse group of students to join in.

Soccer (or football, depending on where students come from) seems to cross all cultural and social divides at the College. There are players from the Czech Republic, Spain, Croatia, Switzerland and the United States among other places. “Locals play on the team,” says Alessio. “You get to branch out and meet people from all over the place.”

“Playing soccer is an opportunity to bond with teammates on the field and in the pub or over dinner,” adds Zokir. “We get to know each other better on and off the field.”  The team plays in both the fall and spring semesters, and team members practice at least twice a week for two hours at a time. Alessio plays center defense and Zokir switches between midfield and striker.

While men’s soccer has been a big part of their time at Franklin, Alessio and Zokir have both also become involved in other areas of interest and encourage other students to become involved in school life – no matter what their interests.

A Creative Writing and Literature major, Alessio has been involved with the Literary Society and the Franklin Voice, the student newspaper. He also serves as a Resident Assistant in the Florida dorm, helping students become engaged in student life and sharing his knowledge of living in Lugano and life at Franklin with new students. “Franklin activities are what you make of them,” explains Alessio. “The College has a lot to offer, and if it doesn’t offer something you’re interested in, you can go out and do it on your own.”

A double major in International Banking and Finance and Economics, Zokir recently became involved in the Student Government Association as a senior representative along with fellow soccer teammate, Inigo Garcia ’11, who is from Spain. Zokir saw that there were numerous international students at Franklin but that they were underrepresented in student government and other activities. “It’s not part of the culture,” says Zokir of international students who come to Franklin. “I want to try to bring more diversity to the school involvement and get more international students to participate.” He is advocating on campus for everyone to get involved, even if it’s just to cheer on the soccer team, although in the end he hopes to inspire a few people to join the team as well.

Both Alessio and Zokir have enjoyed their classes and Academic Travel, finding new and challenging ideas, cultures and problems to tackle academically and on the personal level. “I feel like every professor has a unique personality,” says Alessio.

“There are very challenging classes,” notes Zokir. “What I like about Franklin are the small classes and student involvement approach.”

Zokir hopes to go to graduate school in Switzerland either in St. Gallen or Lugano and will eventually return to Tajikistan and work for his father’s cotton and textile export business.

As for Alessio, he has another year before deciding what to do after Franklin, but in the meantime he is enjoying traveling and family. He even discovered relatives in Milan with whom he reconnected.

“I really like Franklin,” says Zokir, looking back at the last four years. “I am very happy I came here.”

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