Get the inside story on going to university in Italy! Serena and Elena talk about how the school year is broken up, where you register, taking exams and how the grading works, what grade point average you need to pass, and much more.

Studying is not the only thing students do at the university. They like to have fun, too. Being from out of town, but too far away for a commute, Serena and Elena rent an apartment with other students. Find out what they like to do in the evenings!

Maurizio is a young student from the province of Pescara, going to school (university) in Rome. He tells us a little bit about himself, and his life in Rome. This is an excellent opportunity to compare how Italian treats tenses with respect to English, especially the English present perfect, and present continuous.

The three highschoolers answer questions about what time they eat and go to bed, what they like or miss about where they live, and much more.

A young man is departing by train and says goodbye to his two parents in different ways. In another scene, a little girl is going to school very reluctantly and her brother has to practically drag her there.

We meet a few of the musicians attending the conservatory and the orchestra conductor, who is no-nonsense and stern.

Matteo makes his way to his uncle's apartment. Never mind that his uncle was supposed to come to the station to get him... They agree that there is no point in worrying Matteo's father with the truth.

Matteo arrives late for class and is told, to sit next to Sara who begins asking him questions. It turns out she is almost blind. After the lesson, Matteo meets some of his classmates.

A teacher reads a passage from one of Shakespeare's sonnets and asks the class to interpret it. Matteo speaks up. Here is the original English: "Mark how one string, sweet husband to another,
Strikes each in each by mutual ordering;
Resembling sire and child and happy mother,
Who, all in one, one pleasing note do sing:
Whose speechless song being many, seeming one,
Sings this to thee: 'Thou single wilt prove none."

Matteo is having a violin lesson when Marioni passes by in the hall and hears him. Matteo's lesson ends early and he is about to learn more about the orchestra conductor everyone thinks of as il bastardo (the bastard).

Marioni puts Matteo to the test, asking him to play first violin in the Brahms symphony, together with the entire orchestra. Later, Domenico tells him about someone who had crumbled under Marioni's harsh treatment.

A colleague of Marioni's chides him for having treated Matteo as he did. He tries to justify his actions, and then goes to have a word with Rosario, a percussion student.

Matteo is at home with his uncle, doing a tricky jigsaw puzzle and ready for dinner. Even though it is clear to Matteo that his uncle is gay, his uncle is very uncomfortable talking about it. Matteo lets his uncle know that there is a girl he likes.

Barbara is practicing piano in the presence of her mother, who tries to encourage her. Little by little Barbara manages to focus on the music, and perhaps not only the music. Another pianist is playing the same piece in a music store. He might be there because he has no piano at home.

Sara is home at dinner arguing with her mother who finds her unbearable. Sara's phone rings with an audio cue indicating the caller. Robbo and his sister Chiara are going home on the tram when, out the window, they see someone they think they recognize.