Beatrice Borelli’s story: from Treviglio to the USA for one year,
with Intercultura and the support of Fondazione Pesenti.
1st quarter: September 2017
2nd quarter: December 2017
3rd quarter: March 2018
Beatrice shares her amazing experience abroad, thanks to the annual Intercultura program in the USA.
I thank Fondazione Pesenti with all my heart for giving me this fantastic opportunity. I am discovering parts of myself that have always been hidden. After one month, I think about how happy I am just because I have integrated into another culture, another life so easily and naturally. I am putting my whole self into this experience; time flies by quickly, but I will try to treasure every moment spent in the USA.
Relationships with the new host family:
I love my new family, I love my host parents—they are truly fantastic. I ended up in a double placement, so I share my experience with another exchange student from Thailand. We don’t get along very well, probably because we have completely different personalities (she is shy and introverted, often too much so) and we come from two opposite cultures, so our habits differ. My hosts have five children, but they all live away from home. I’ve met them all and have developed a nice relationship with the youngest son. They are passionate about running and really care about fitness and health. That makes me very happy!
Relationships with the host community and friends:
Fortunately, I quickly made friends with a group of girls. They are very similar to me, even though they don’t share all our habits here. In the evening, the best you can do is go to Starbucks or someone’s house to watch a movie. I love my cross-country team. Every time we have a race, we gather at someone’s house for a pasta party. We also went rock climbing all together. People here are kind and helpful, always ready to assist. I also noticed that manners—especially greeting and thanking—are fundamental for living in the community.
School integration and academic progress, both in terms of performance and relationships with teachers and students:
At first, I was very worried about school because the organization is completely different. They had placed me in classes that were perhaps too easy for me. After two days and several tests, I changed all my courses and now they are perfect. Here, students change classrooms every hour and the teacher is the “king” of their classroom. My classmates are very helpful and willing to explain slowly what I don’t understand. The math teacher is helping me a lot, even after school, since I was placed in the AP Calculus class and some parts of the curriculum that I should have studied were not explained to me in Italy, so we have a kind of private lesson. Another novelty is that everything here is digital now; there are no paper books and sometimes even tests are online. For students, everything revolves around school. I am getting good results and for this I am very satisfied.
Extracurricular activities:
I am part of the cross-country team. It is one of the best choices I could have made. All the girls are very kind and friendly; with two of them, I am forming a true friendship. They always support you, and many times during races I find the strength to continue thanks to their support. We train every day after school; Saturday is long run day and Sunday is rest. This sport is teaching me to believe a lot in myself and, of course, it is helping me stay fit both physically and mentally as it is a great outlet for the mind.
Three positive things I will never forget:
The support of my cross-country team. The first hug from my host parents and the evening camping trip with others.
Three negative things I will never forget:
Spaghetti with meatballs are terrible in my opinion. The first big fight with my host sister (she is also an exchange student from Thailand).
Other:
I thank Fondazione Pesenti with all my heart for giving me this fantastic opportunity. I am discovering parts of myself that have always been hidden. After one month, I think about how happy I am just because I have integrated into another culture, another life so easily and naturally. I am putting my whole self into this experience; time flies by quickly, but I will try to treasure every moment spent in the USA.
www.intercultura.it