Jae Canetti

Compare your career plans as a first-year student with your career plans now. Why did your plans change or not change?

Not much. Same goal, but that goal is less about what I specifically want to do, and more about who I want to be as a person and what I want to put forth to the world.

Now that you are a graduating student, what advice do you wish you could have given yourself as an incoming student four years ago?

Don’t get so locked in on the classes. College is about doing your work and you shouldn’t compromise on grades, but at the same time, there’s a lot more there that you’ll wake up to eventually – people, hobbies, clubs – and it’s all in a one-mile radius of your bed. Take advantage of the variety and accessibility of experiences on campus, because it has no analog in the world outside of college.

Imagine you return to campus for your 10-year reunion. What do you hope will remain the same? What do you hope will be different?

The same: Professors and their attitude towards teaching. It’s what makes Wake Wake. Abroad programs and their prominence on campus, especially as globalization is being tested while climate change is likely going to make it essential for us to be able to communicate across national borders and have that empathy which comes from being personally tied in with another culture.

Different: I really want to see more diversity across social circles. Diversity at Wake is improving for sure, but it still exists in pockets and it’s very easy to sequester yourself into clusters where you’ll exist in your own little bubble and never have your views expanded or challenged – even if you go abroad. College is about having what you know turned upside down, and I’d like to see more in that direction.

Also, get rid of that goofy road that cut Davis Field in half. Put it back the way it was.

What was the most rewarding experience you had as a Wake Forest student?

There are so many, but the one that I think is maybe the most interesting/unique is seeing baseball in all its different forms. I got to work with the best non-professional baseball team maybe in the world, and I’m friends with some guys who will be playing at the highest level not too far in the future. But abroad, I got to see the game in a whole new light. I met a bunch of American immigrants to Denmark who loved the game and started a team in Copenhagen, bringing in Danes, Italians, Central/South Americans, and more in the community. The league keeps growing, and I got to drill holes and lay rocks for the first-ever baseball field in Copenhagen during the process. I played in the first game ever played on that field, and I’ve stayed involved with the community as it keeps on growing and expanding.

And then in Italy, I went to the national baseball conference my second week in the country, traveling by train from Venice to Rimini. I met a professor of statistics at the University of Bologna, the oldest school in the world and birthplace of the term “alma mater,” who loves the game so much and offered to take me on as an apprentice. I met Mike Piazza, my childhood icon and current manager of the Italian national team. I met Brent Strom, the pitching coach of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who gave me the confidence and inspiration to pursue joining a team in Italy.

And then, a few months later, I became the pitching coach and lead analyst for Pianoro Baseball Club. I spent the summer practicing and traveling with the team across northern Italy, playing for promotion into the country’s top league. I met a bunch of great baseball players and incredible people, represented a small town outside of Bologna, learned a ton of Italian, and got to know the places, culture, and game itself in a way I’ve never seen before. I was one of two Americans I met the entire summer, and they welcomed me in like one of their own. Those guys are lifelong friends for me, and I have a second home in Italy with them. I got to make an impact on the team, their players, and even led us to a critical victory. I wouldn’t trade it for the world, and my jerseys from the team are some of my most prized possessions.

Who most impacted your Wake Forest experience?

The faculty. It continues to confound me how I have so many mentors that are full-time professors at this school, and just how many resources I have that are fully committed to helping me succeed. I needed about 15 recommenders this fall and was able to fill those spots in less than a week, because the relationships I’ve formed with professors – even ones with whom I’ve never taken a class – are so strong. They care so much and you can see it in the way they conduct themselves.

In addition, the Casa Artom staff – Silvia, Maria, Cheti and Massimo. They keep that palace alive every day, and it’s because of them that the experience there is one of one.

What surprised you most about your Wake Forest experience?

How huge of a footprint this tiny school has. I’ve found Wake alums across the world, run into Wake students on the street on other continents, visited four continents through Wake, worked with future MLB, MLS, NWSL, and NFL athletes here, talked and connected with industry leaders, and just gotten a bunch of “Go Deacs” in the wild across my four years. It feels like a school of 5,000 with the firepower of a school with 50,000.

Wake Forest has lots of traditions, and sometimes students create their own. Do you have a favorite Wake Forest tradition?

Pitsgiving. Next question.

What was your favorite class outside your major or minor areas of study and why did it appeal to you?

I took Korean Cinema my sophomore year and really, really loved it. I probably spent more time on that class than any of my math classes, just because I had to watch 2 movies a week and do write-ups and sometimes some video projects that required editing, but I loved it to death. 

I’m half Korean and jumped at the chance to take a class revolving around Korea, since there really isn’t much in the way of Korean programming at Wake. Getting to do a deep-dive into a chronological history of movies in the country taught me a lot about Korea’s geopolitical history, cultural nuances, expressions of creativity and humor, and how filmmakers can portray, address, and express a lot of their own struggles and cultural traumas with which I can empathize, having grown up somewhat within the culture. The class ended on Parasite, one of my favorite movies of all time, and my final project was a digital essay on a movie about a historically significant Korean baseball game in the 80’s, letting me combine my love for baseball, film, and my heritage into one product.

Wake Forest’s Pro Humanitate motto is a guiding philosophy for many students and alumni. Did it have an impact on your student experience and has it influenced your plans for the future?

Absolutely. I had a general idea of wanting to work in climate tech when I came into this school, but as I’m leaving, I’ve gained an even stronger conviction to use the privileges I’ve been given to provide back for the world. Wake is a place where life is good and life is pretty easy for many, and the motto for me is a call to not just languish in that privilege, but to use it to create something more. I come from a public service family and knew that I wanted to work in an industry whose end goal benefits something more than myself, and being surrounded by a community of academics, servants, and community leaders has allowed me to give more shape to that mission.

What song or songs will always remind you of your time at Wake Forest? Why?

I spent a lot of time working with sports teams at Wake – I’ve worked for baseball and football over my time here. I’d say that my most memorable songs were some of the standout stadium anthems. For baseball, that would probably be Electric Feel by MGMT – they’d play that at every fall scrimmage. Also Kids by MGMT, sometimes back-to-back. For football, obviously Mr. Brightside every game. Crunk Ain’t Dead by Duke Deuce on third downs… it gets you going.

What non-academic experience at Wake Forest was most meaningful to you?

Traveling — and living — abroad. On Wake programs and Wake scholarship funding, I’ve been to LA, DC, London, Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Prague, Vienna, Innsbruck, Dubai, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Denmark’s west coast, Bordeaux, Venice, Florence, the Tuscan hills, Portofino, Milan, Cinque Terre, the Italian Alps, San Marino, Bologna, Bari, Naples, and more. I attended the world’s largest conference on climate change, met my childhood baseball hero at Italy’s national baseball conference, joined an Italian semi-professional baseball team, helped build Copenhagen’s first baseball field with my own two hands, learned Italian, became a soccer fan, met lasting friends in half a dozen countries, did research on internationally significant projects, and really became a member of the places where I studied.

What is the most fundamental change you’ve experienced since your time as a first-year student?

The way I see the world, shaped by two things: 1) living abroad for extended periods of time, and 2) being given a camera. The former obviously opened me up to a whole other world of perspectives, norms, and people. Finding out what it’s like to go about the daily parts of life that you take for granted in other places — walking to the grocery store, biking to school, speaking a different language the majority of the time, using a different healthcare system, the list goes on — opens you up to things you never would’ve considered if you hadn’t put yourself out there. And going the extra mile to put yourself in those uncomfortable situations and learn those things – joining sports teams, learning the language with intent, and in my case, actually beginning the process for applying for Italian citizenship – makes you consider the good and bad of where you are alongside where you’re from. It blows up everything you thought you knew, but it allows you to escape the box of your upbringing and implicit assumptions about the world.

And the camera…I started doing photo/video in 2021, right before I left for my first abroad program in Copenhagen. Capturing my experiences through the camera has given me a new attention to detail and nuance in every place I go. I don’t go for the big, grand scenery. I find cool signs, labels, packages, elements of architecture or the landscape, vehicles, and other things that I notice as being different. I not only have to investigate them, but then I play with them in my photo/video editor to really bring out their beauty. It’s both meditative and eye-opening to do this, and it allows me to both appreciate the world as it is and put my own little creative spin on a part of it.