Dare we say that the values of the Olympic Games mirror those of the MMIAM program? The ability to bring together people from around the world, creating a melting pot of languages, traditions, and customs, and providing the opportunity to learn about a host city’s culture—from food and fashion to music and art—serves as a microcosm of the world. While one focuses on athletic excellence and the other on academic excellence, both converged in a city near and dear to the MMIAM program, Milan, last month.
In celebration of the 2026 Winter Olympics, MMIAM Journey editor, Brittany Johnson, caught up with two Milan-based MMIAM alumnae, Camilla Secco and Amanda Vojvodin-Dargenio, who volunteered for the games.
Camilla Secco is a Development & Donor Care Officer at Bocconi University. She holds a Master of Science in Economics and Management in Arts from Bocconi University and was a member of the 11th MMIAM cohort (2024).
Amanda Vojvodin-Dargenio has worked in luxury goods and arts industry. She is the Milan Director of the American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS) Abroad. She was a member of the 2nd MMIAM cohort (2015). Amanda is Canadian but has lived in Milan since graduating from the MMIAM program.
How did you get involved in the Olympics, and what did you do?
Camilla Secco (CS): So, it all started with a little bit of luck. I was scrolling through Instagram when an ad from Balich Wonder Studio popped up. They are the creative team behind this year’s opening ceremony for the Olympics, and they were searching for volunteers.
I thought, ‘You know what? I have time to do that. Let’s try it!’ I was a bit naive because I thought I would just show up, but there was a whole audition process! This put me in crisis mode, but a couple of months later, they emailed me to say I was part of a 1,000-person family that would perform during the opening ceremony.
They created this huge tent area right outside San Siro Stadium, where we rehearsed once a week for two months before Christmas, and then it became more intense as we approached the ceremony. I was selected for a pretty standard role: helping athletes take their seats during the parade. There was a section where they paraded with their flags, then took seats around the main stage. I was assigned to help them enjoy the ceremony—to have this incredible, maybe once-in-a-lifetime experience—but also to make sure they sat in their assigned seats. So, you might say that’s a pretty easy role, which it is indeed. But when you perform for millions of people watching all around the world, and in front of the 75,000 people there in person, even the easiest role can become difficult.
Camilla Secco and the group of volunteers preparing for the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina Olympic Games. Personal archive.
Amanda Vojvodin-Dargenio (AVD): Well, that’s really cool. I had no idea you were part of the opening ceremonies. You did a good job. I was one of the one million people watching you on TV.
I actually applied to be a Team Canada volunteer a year before the Olympics started. They were starting to court people living in Italy, specifically in Milan, for different jobs. I had to submit a video and take Italian and French language tests.
I was assigned to the outfitting committee, which ensures the athletes have all their clothing. Everything was sponsored by Lululemon. I had to go an hour outside Milan to this huge hangar where everything brought on airplanes from Canada to Italy was kept. It was there that we packed all of the luggages. Those videos online of athletes unzipping their luggage—we packed those.
It was really cool. So, basically, you had a checklist with the athlete and their T-shirt size, sock size, etc., and you would walk around with a cart, Lululemon stuff everywhere, boxes and boxes and boxes, and you would just pick what you needed, according to the checklist, and then pack them into the luggage. It was really cool. Never would I have thought that this was a task to be done. But there are so many changes of clothes an athlete needs, and then over the course of the two weeks, they have to be prepared in case something rips or somehow gets ruined.
And then, just last week, when the Olympics ended, I had to go back to check everything that was left over, repackage all the boxes, and then ship everything back to Canada.
Official products from sponsor Lululemon for Canadian Olympic athletes. Credit: Amanda Vojvodin-Dargenio.
I tried to get involved in everything, even though I’m not a sports person. I just thought, ‘This is never gonna happen again. I’m never going to be able to experience this again.’ I felt like I was back in Canada because there were so many Canadians here, and everyone was so proud of where they’re from. I went to Canada House multiple times and to lots of hockey games. I got tickets in advance, so I paid a more normal price. I was part of this 1,000-person WhatsApp group of Canadians in Milan. We would all meet up at the pub every night. I don’t go out anymore now that I’m a mom; I’m usually tired by the end of the night. But every night, for the past two weeks, after I put the kids to sleep, I’ve gone to the pub to meet up with Canadians and watch a game.
I have to say, I had an amazing Olympic experience on the volunteer side, which was so cool because you got to see behind the scenes. But also as a participant, living it as a Milanese, I loved it.
Amanda Vojvodin-Dargenio with Tina, the mascot of the Milano Cortina Olympics. Personal archive.
CS: Yes, I applied for pretty much the same reason. I’m not sporty, I don’t play sports at all, but I thought, ‘This is never gonna happen again in my city. I’ve gotta do it.’
The city transformed. Everybody was really happy and got involved, either through volunteering or just going out for a walk and talking with the athletes; they were everywhere. You could meet athletes all over the city at any point of the day. So it was really enjoyable. I really loved the atmosphere, and I’m glad Milano hosted the games. I know some people are complaining because, of course, the cost of organizing the Olympics is insane, and you might not get an immediate return on investment. But, in general, in Milano, the games were really well accepted and well perceived.
I love to hear that! So Milan is a major international city, with large-scale events often bringing people from all over the world. For example, y’all have gone straight from the Olympics into a Fashion Week. Do you feel like the Olympics were special or just part of life as a resident of a major metropolitan city?
AVD: This event was so inclusive. I feel like you were proud to represent where you were from, which you don’t usually do. You would never see people walking around with USA flags, for example. People would stop on the street just to ask people where they were from. Oh, and the pins!
The pin thing was so cool. So the city was giving out free pins every day in different areas of town to promote exploration across the city. So people weren’t just going to Duomo, but to different neighborhoods to learn what they had to offer. They would tell you where to go that morning, and then at noon, they would start handing out the pins. They always ran out.
CS: I got the Milano one. I actually had to buy it. I couldn’t get it for free, so I had to buy it because it was too cool. I got the Panettone one—the typical dessert of Milano—and then I have some others because the whole pin trading thing just got out of hand. Everybody was going crazy for pins.
Anyway, I also agree that the vibe has been different. As Amanda said, everyone was just happy to chat and meet up, no matter which country they represented. It was really lovely. Everybody was able to just open up and enjoy themselves.
Some of the famous pins from the Milano Cortina Olympics. Credit: Camilla Secco.
Amanda, I know you’re a mom, raising kids in Italy. Did you involve your kids in any of this at all? What was that like for them?
AVD: Oh, it was cool. I couldn’t bring them to games because their attention spans are a bit too short. They’re too young. But I took them to the Duomo; we saw the Olympic rings; they saw the Olympic flame; and they were wearing Canadian things and carrying Italian flags, since they’re dual citizens. Leonardo learned how to count scores, as in telling what the score is in a hockey game. So I’m very proud of him for that. We went to see the final men’s hockey game at Canada House, and the Canadian ambassador was there. She gave him a Canada-Italia pin, and he was like, ‘Whoa, that’s so cool!’
They did a really good job of creating moments for people who couldn’t attend the games. I think a lot of people underestimated how interesting this would be. A year ago, when tickets went on sale, all my Italian friends were like, ‘Me? No, I’m not buying tickets.’ And of course, that’s when the tickets were at normal pricing. So, when the games were happening, and everyone was caught up in them, the tickets were either sold out or super expensive. So they did a good job of creating opportunities for you to feel part of the Olympic experience. There was snow tubing in one area, for example, and of course, you could go watch the games on maxi screens with other fans. This is how I involved the kids.
Amanda’s kids cheering on Canada and Italy at the Milano Cortina Olympics. Personal archive.
So, since you’re both MMIAM graduates, were there any parts of your MMIAM experience that became relevant for this Olympic experience?
CS: The thing that comes to my mind is probably the theme of volunteer management. I remember when we were in Dallas, taking fundraising for nonprofit organizations, we were asked to volunteer for a couple of initiatives. This experience came back to me during the games. While I was volunteering, it became clear just how fundamental volunteers are to pulling off an event of this size. They couldn’t have done it without the thousands and thousands of people volunteering at different Olympic venues across Milano to make the games run smoothly and help athletes and the public feel welcome. Being Italian, I hope that’s what they felt.
Camilla’s group of volunteers at the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina Olympics. Personal archive.
AVD: Now that you bring it up, when I was here, my first time for MMIAM, it was the World Expo in Milan in 2015. So now that I think of it, that’s a really great parallel. When we were here as MMIAM students, we went to the World Expo to study how these kinds of things are put on and what happens after with all that the cities have invested in building and infrastructure. That was actually part of my thesis, asking the question ‘What are you going to do with this?’
I suggested that one of the structures should be used for a fashion museum afterwards. They did put it to use, but as a hub for research in science and technology. I’m not even sure it’s at its max. I feel like they could have done so much more.
I’m really curious to see what they’re gonna do with the Olympic Village. Are they gonna turn that into..
CS: Oh! I know the answer to this! I know the answer because I work for Bocconi. I do development and donor care, and because Milano is a really popular city for students to choose for their higher education, there’s, of course, a problem with housing. So, what they’ve come up with is that those places will be used as student housing. They will become apartments, and some of them will be allocated to Bocconi students, while other rooms will be allocated to other universities in Milano. So they had—and this is something I really appreciate, as you were saying—they had a plan in mind before building those infrastructures.
AVD: That’s great because then at least it’s going to be like a hub that’s still alive. I think that was also something that I took out of my studies: how to create a sense of community and keep it going. I think it’s really important because, like you said, there’s been a positive impact these two weeks. So, how are we going to now keep that kind of positive feeling going in other ways within the city? It would be such a shame if, after all of this, we go back to normal, where, you know, you just walk down the street and if you see someone, you don’t even say anything.
Picture of the project taken from the SOM website (Skidmore, Owings and Merrill architects).
Amanda, you talked a little bit about how cool it was to share that sense of Canadian pride. Camilla, are there things that made you really proud of being Italian and sharing your home country with other people?
CS: There were so many moments that I really treasure. The ceremony itself was this huge celebration of Italian culture, and it was our way of saying welcome to our city, welcome to our country. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we do! I really enjoyed being inside the stadium while everybody was cheering for all the countries and all the athletes parading; it was mesmerizing.
When it comes to the actual games, we had the best Winter Olympics ever. We won the most medals in our history; we placed fourth in the medal ranking, which is phenomenal for a country of our size. This means that we really have an infrastructure and culture for sports, that we can perform in sports other than just soccer. We are a country that’s known for soccer, but then we just did so well at winter sports, so something worked well in the past, and in the way that we invested in sports culture and sports infrastructure, that also made me really proud to see.