Valentina Adorna is a senior exchange student from Villette, Italy who moved here this year. Valentina moved here for a year to get a new experience away from living in Italy her entire life. 

Valentina was unsure where she would be sent in the United States; she had no idea where she would be going or what to expect. “All I did was choose the United States, and the foreign exchange people sent me here to Montrose, Colorado,” Adorna said.

“I wanted to try American life, since it’s very different from Italian life,” Adorna said.

Adorna wanted to know the true experience of being an American. She wanted to learn more about the United States, the culture, the food, the language, and most importantly she wanted to learn more about how Americans live their normal day lives. She also wanted to come to the United States because “I like to travel and visit new places,” Adorna said.

Valentina changed her daily habits completely when she decided to come to the United States. She changed her eating habits, her  school routine, after school activities, the sports she plays, and how she spends her evenings.

“Here Americans eat completely different foods compared to what I normally eat. Back home I would eat cookies and croissants for breakfast and here they eat completely different things,” Adorna said.

The biggest change Valentina has had to face while being in the United States is how she spends her free time. “Unlike here in America, instead of going home after school in Italy, we would go to the city center with friends and family. We would also go to the city center on Friday and Saturday evenings and be there until late at night, ” Adorna said.

Italian and American high schools are very different. As a 9th grader in Italy, students pick their career path and have choices of specific school. For example, the choices of specialty programs include “the scientific, linguistic, tourism, mechanical, informatics is all just one high school,” Adorna says. It is similar to applying to the engineering school of a four year university

Another difference is that the schools in Italy do not offer clubs, sports, activities, or school dances. With the school system in Italy “ we also don’t change classrooms. We all stay in the same classroom all year and we have the same classmates all year as well. The only thing that changes are the teachers,” Adorna says.

So while Valentina is in the United States she decided to experience the true American life as much as she could. So she joined a sport. She decided to join cheerleading. As of now she is glad she chose cheerleading because she hasn’t ever been a part of a team where you’re like family.

Valentina is a very unique person who wants to continue to try new things. Moving away from home was a big decision for Valentina, but she doesn’t regret a thing about moving here. She has a great host family who takes care of her and is there for her through this transition. She can’t wait to make more memories here in the United States.

Adorna enjoys horseback riding, skiing and cheerleading. Valentina has been cheerleading for about four months now and before cheerleading she never truly knew what it meant to be a part of a sport.

After graduation Valentina plans on returning back to Italy where she will then complete another year of high school. From there when she graduates she is still unsure of what she would like to do from there.

Before she can embark on another adventure abroad, she has to go back home to finish up Italian requirements for graduation. She has one more year of high school when she goes home.

From her experience of being here so far she feels like every memory she’s made so far she will remember forever. “My favorite memory of going to school here will be going to school itself because of how different it is from mine in Italy, and it’s a lot more fun, because there are so many things to do here,” Adorna says.

Adorna felt like another difference of being here is that the cities are very far apart. Where she is from everything is so small and close, towns tend to blend into one another. “In Villette every city is very close to one another and I rarely have to go far to get what I need in the cities. My town is small enough that it’s a walking distance from where our cities are,” Adorna said.

Valentina is excited to learn more and more about the United States while she is here. “There is much more I have to learn, but I’m glad that I had the opportunity to come here and make new friendships,” Adorna says.