Argue Like Socrates, Frame It Like Welles: Why I Proposed Two Clubs to My Alma Mater 🎬🗣️

You know that feeling when a movie finishes and you're just staring at the screen, realizing you’ve changed a little? Or when a heated debate leaves you buzzing—not because you won, but because you learned something real about someone else’s worldview? That’s the magic I want to bottle up and bring to students who are still walking the same university halls I once did.

Hi, I’m Gezim Joseph Hazizolli, a proud graduate of the University of Verona. Recently, I sent a heartfelt proposal to my former department, asking to start two student clubs: a Debate Club and a Movie Club. Not for the sake of adding another item on a CV, but because I genuinely believe students deserve more spaces where their voices are heard, their passions ignited, and their minds challenged.

The Spark: From Film Reels to Open Forums

Growing up, I was the kid who got more from movies than just popcorn and plot twists. I felt films. I saw stories as blueprints for who we could become. From the introspective brilliance of Virginia Woolf to the cinematic worlds of Orson Welles, what stuck with me was this: creators don’t wait for things to happen to them. They take action. They question. They disrupt.

And that’s exactly what I want these clubs to encourage: a generation of students who don’t just sit through life like passive characters waiting for a plot twist. I want them to write their own scripts—messy, bold, unfiltered.

🎞️ Movie Club: More Than Just Watching

Movies aren’t just a 90-minute break from reality—they are reality, refracted through light and lens. They carry truths, contradictions, ethical dilemmas, language shifts, and all the raw, beautiful chaos of being human.

In this club, I imagine students gathering to watch films that spark something inside: a memory, a question, a challenge. We won’t just watch—we’ll talk. We’ll ask what that character taught us about resilience. Why that line of dialogue made us uncomfortable. Whether we see ourselves in that world—or want to build a better one.

After all, if we’re still studying Shakespeare 400+ years later, it’s not because the language is “fancy.” It’s because his stories still speak to us. That’s the legacy of storytelling, and I want students to feel empowered to be part of that conversation.

🗣️ Debate Club: Clash of Ideas, Not Egos

The other side of this vision? Debate. But not the “I win, you lose” kind. I’m talking about constructive conflict. The kind where listening is as powerful as speaking. Where opinions are respected even when they’re challenged.

I was deeply inspired by the tradition of U.S. high school and university debate clubs—the passion, the research, the adrenaline of defending a point, and the humility of having your own ideas questioned. It’s not about shouting louder. It’s about thinking sharper.

Language, like opinions, evolves. Early English isn’t better than modern English—it’s just different. Shakespearean metaphors and Gen Z slang both reflect the world around them. So why treat one as superior? Debate gives us the tools to understand change rather than fear it, and to realize that no single truth holds all the answers.

A Space for Change-Makers

These clubs aren’t just extracurriculars. They’re acts of resistance against apathy. They’re playgrounds for thinkers, storytellers, and future leaders who are tired of scrolling through curated feeds and are ready to start creating their own narratives—together.

Because life’s short. And the work we leave behind—our words, our actions, our ideas—is what really lasts.

So here’s to the students who dare to speak, dare to question, and dare to watch a film and see themselves a little differently afterward.

Argue like Socrates. Frame it like Welles.
Real Talk, Real Cinema, No Algorithm Required.No algorithm required.