“Where are you from?”

This is the most frequent question I’m asked when, after an attempt of some interaction in Polish (or Finnish), I shyly reply that I’m a foreigner.

I’m always hesitant to answer, though. Italians are seen as hot-headed, impolite, opportunistic, womanizers and disinterested by many people, and I’m as far as it gets from that stereotype. But I’m going to be put in that same box once I say that, before anyone gets to properly know me.

The truth is — I’m not proud of being Italian. And I wish I could just answer, I’m European. Because that’s where I come from, right? I don’t see myself in the values that Italy and its people have been building for the last 30 years, but the ideals of cooperation, equality and inclusion of Europe resonate with me on a deep level. “In varietate concordia”, states its motto.

And, believe it or not, esports (just like science) are making a difference when it comes to creating a European identity for Millennials and young people.

Esports, due to their nature, are not played in countries: they’re played in servers, large virtual containers that can uphold lots of players allowing them to play together. Servers are usually big and expensive — you don’t want one for each country, but one per continent usually. So the most optimal solution is to group players based on their continent and/or languages, to facilitate cooperation and matchmaking among players. You will find a server for China, where basically all Chinese speakers play, one for North America, with US people and Canadians, one for Russia and sometimes South America as well, alternating between Spanish and Portuguese.

And then there’s Europe.

And it immediately gets complicated, you see? It’s not two or three languages or countries — it’s almost 40 countries with more than 30 languages. Sure, there’s English as common grounds, but is everyone speaking it fluently? And what about the historical and cultural tensions among nationalities that have been warring for centuries against each other? How is any organization going to build a team that can compete at the highest level when the cultural and language barriers are seemingly everywhere?

Yet they do.

In League, you have Swedish and Danish players cooperating, a duo made of a Slovenian and a Croatian and another tag-team of a Hungarian and a Romanian. Dota’s best team has two Finnish hand-in-hand with a Danish, and the second best boasts a Lebanese and a Jordanian. Even CSGO, where single-language teams are more popular, has examples of French players joining forces with Brits and Bulgarians teaming up with Turkish. A unique model of integration and mutual understanding that can’t not inspire me.

It’s safe to say, what looked like a daunting task is finally starting to pay dividends: League’s three European teams all made it to Top 8 after one of them won the last Major tournament, Dota’s finest was all European at The International and five out of CSGO’s most winning teams are from the Old Continent.

It might sound naive, but the core concept is really simple: when there’s a common objective, no barrier exists. When they walk in the same direction, the divergences that separate them just vanish. The one simple but extremely powerful lesson that we should take note of is just to overcome what sets us apart in order to achieve something bigger. Together.

This is what it feels to be European.

To confront, to share, to learn, to understand, to cooperate, to build, to improve.

So this blue, starry flag, these values of concord and a sense of belonging that transcends the place where I was born is what pops in my mind every time I’m asked where I’m from. And I believe one day I will be able to just answer, I’m from Europe.