Description of the integration initiative implemented
Some episodes of her migration experience lead us to notice the interviewee’s strong wish to “make it”. She refers to a family she met in Italy, and to an important emotional support she got at the beginning: nonetheless, her story lets us understand that the strategies that have allowed her to adapt, both socially and linguistically, are actually coming from her willpower.

Personal story
The interviewee is 49 years old, and has lived in Italy for 17 years now. She currently lives alone, and has no partners nor relatives here.
In Poland, the interviewee graduated in law; afterwards, she found a job appropriate to her academic background and started working in an office. Following the communist era, Poland was experiencing economic transition: the life was not easy, and she decided to leave so as to find better working conditions.
The reason that led her to come to Italy was a two-month job option. Then, she went to England for three months, whereupon she decided to return back to Italy as she had met a family here. At present, our interviewee feels good in here, and does not feel like leaving Italy. Being Poland an EU member since 2004, our interviewee had no problems with getting her residence documents in Italy. Compared to London, Florence, being smaller, is a more liveable city. Currently, she regrets a little about the choice of returning to Italy, as the Italian economic situation and job market do not offer as much opportunities to foreigners as London. Upon her arrival, the interviewee made friends with some people in Florence, and even more relationships with Italians from other cities and regions (e.g. Neapolitans): she stresses that those were never close friendships.
She is currently working as a caregiver, assisting the elderly. It wasn't easy at first, but she has gradually got used to this kind of work. She also studied for healthcare assistant. Other stereotypes addressing foreigners in a care profession are related to a “veiled belief” that they are uneducated: for instance, many people are amazed when they realise that she knows things that were, in their opinion, a prerogative of “educated” people. The interviewee believes that, over the years, she has been victim of some forms of discrimination due to her work: according to her, if she had worked in another professional sector, e.g. in a bank, she would have received different treatment.
In any case, she feels proud of her work as it allows her to lead a dignified lifestyle. Upon the question relating to her education, the interviewee replied that she would like to undertake university studies and obtain a degree equivalent to the Polish one, but it was not possible for her to start a career as a university student for economic reasons, and no one could help her financially so far.
Moreover, the interviewee reveals that she has suffered forms of discrimination, linked not only to her nationality, but to her gender as well, for example “it often happened that, upon calling somebody to fix the boiler, I used to be invited to take a coffee together.” Apart from this type of proposals, veiled by sexual allusions, she has never experienced forms of sexual violence, but some of her acquaintances did, meaning that foreign women are subject to forms of abuse. According to her, the situation also depends on them, on the fact that they cannot be alone, hence they choose men who can also turn out to be violent.
Besides, the interviewee believes that a foreign woman faces lesser difficulty in finding a job than a man: the job market offers more possibilities or simpler solutions, such as domestic work, to women, whereas men are offered fewer positions. In this sense, migrant women would be more advantaged in finding a job than migrant men.
When she arrived in Italy, she did not notice any differences between Italian and Polish women: for example, she was raised in a family that never imposed limits on her “just” because she was a woman.
As far as the issue of professional success is concerned, she states that the secret is knowing how to be satisfied. Accordingly, she makes a criticism to Italians for their never being satisfied, for their not knowing how to be happy, and always wanting more. Instead, she believes that the secret of personal success is the right balance between honest work and desires, i.e. expectations, which should be related to one's financial means.

Analysis of the initiative and individual story
The interviewee decided to leave Poland in order to find better economic conditions abroad. She had an opportunity to go to England, but she chose Italy, though with some regrets due to larger job opportunities that she could have had in England than in Italy. No traumatic events emerge from the story, either before or after her arrival in Italy. The stereotypes of being woman and immigrant, especially if native to a particular country, constitute the major problem: this condition may finally take migrant women, like in her case, to sexual demands. Despite some requests that embarrassed her, she has never suffered forms of physical violence or sexual pressure. Another issue that emerged from the story is the impossibility to get recognised her qualification which forced her to find employment as a caregiver: although defended by the interviewee, this profession is subject to a stereotyped imaginary of foreign women who would have two options – care work or prostitution. At the moment, our interviewee is rather satisfied with her experience, and she would not change her current profession as she feels she has reached a certain age which could make it difficult to start a new professional path. Finally, she believes that it is important to be satisfied, without expecting too much from life: the risk is to make plans and pursue goals that often prove to be unachievable.

Results and Impact
The interviewee made some criticisms of Italy's integration policies, namely: the non-recognition of academic and professional qualifications obtained abroad, meagre employment opportunities in comparison to some other European countries such as England. Despite these issues, she is personally satisfied with her life in Italy as it permits her to cultivate her hobbies, as well as not many (but sufficient) friendships that allow her to have moments of sociality.