Lots of people have to decide, trying to have a sport career at certain levels, even means to avoid the possibility to continue the own studies in certain contexts.
There is someone who was not afraid to choose between a sports and an academic life, even if the prospects of the first one seemed to be more than advantageous rather than the second one: this is the story of Leonardo Morsut, the volleyball player who decided to renounce to his sports career to follow the risky life of a researcher.
The decision to leave the world of volleyball arrived the age of 25 years in 2006, just when he was a star as “band” (the role that combines the functions of receiver with those of a masher), forcing him to abandon the beloved sport in which, given his young age, he still had long career prospects preferring doing the full-time researcher instead.
This choice also had got remarkable economic consequences for him: in fact, giving up a successful career as a professional volley-player meant to renounce the corresponding fees, something like 150 thousand euro per year, deciding spontaneously to settle for a research with a monthly amount of around 1 thousand euro.
The fact was very simple, according to the same Leonardo’s words: he was not satisfied with his first degree ( lasted five years, according to the old system), so he decided to focus on two years of medical biotechnology studies, trying enrolling in the three-year degree in Mathematics at the same time.
“Embryology has always fascinated me, I am passionate about the prospect of investigating within the nascent state of life that develops. The mathematical studies I am doing are far from it.”
In the meantime, Stefano Piccolo, a professor of medical biotechnologies who was interested in Morsut’s works, has found a way to secure a place for him in a three-year research doctorate in Embryology. And at that point Morsut found himself faced with the necessity of a choice: until that moment studying to graduate doing sports at the highest level was practicable for him, despite the great sacrifice, but playing in Serie A and in the national, “subtracting” the time at about ten hours per day in the laboratory, was instead clearly impossible.
“I spent a few sleepless nights” as he told, and then the finale chose: to stop volleyball and to dedicate completely to the scientific research on medical biotechnology issues.
We are sure that taking this decision has been more than difficult for a such talented athlete, but Morsut’s story teaches one of the best lesson about sport, which sometimes appears to be lost especially in this particular period: the satisfaction of being a sportsman on high level is not necessary more than having a life sacred on other passions, even if the benefits are less.
“To do without sport is a painful renunciation, which will surely weigh more on Sunday. But I had to choose between two options that can not be weighed with the same scale.” as he finally admitted.
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