Walking into a new school, a new country, with a whole new language, junior Bianca Carnio begins a new school year after committing to being an international student from Venice, Italy.
“I came here to experience American high school life,” Carnio said. “Many American people might not like it here, but being a student from schools that have no extracurricular activities connected to the school, this is a whole new world for me.”
Carnio applied to become an exchange student in September 2024. Since leaving for America before the 2025-26 school year started, Carnio has experienced sadness at not seeing her loved ones.
“The biggest challenge I’m facing is homesickness,” Carnio said. “Being on another continent, alone and without my family or friends and having to adapt to a whole different and unknown lifestyle is hard.”
Carnio’s AP Language and Composition teacher, Ms. Alexendra Kim, views Carnio as someone who doesn’t fear the challenge of higher education classes and wants to push her education, even if English isn’t her first language.
“She’s not someone who sees English as a hindering factor in her learning,” Ms. Kim said. “I’m really impressed with how she applies herself in high classes to be a great student.”
According to NationMasterstats, the U.S. ranks 15th in literacy performance, while Italy ranks 27th. Carnio’s time in AP Language and Composition, according to her, elevates her current learning, as she looks to achieve more in the class.
“I feel I’m progressing at a higher level in education here,” Carnio said. “Ms. Kim’s class has really helped me and the way she teaches supports my learning style so well and I’m grateful for her teaching.”
With English not being a first language for Carnio, Ms. Kim sees her still thriving inside the classroom and being social with many people.
“She has a great social life from what I see,” Ms. Kim said. “Bianca doesn’t isolate herself to just one group of people; she’s very versatile in who she’s talking to and being friends with.”
In contrast to America, Italy doesn’t have extracurricular activities alongside school. Carnio said this has meant a significant difference for her social life as she’s gone from having nothing to do after school to endless opportunities from sporting and Student Council events.
“Having sports that represent our school feels so odd to me,” Carnio said. “Getting to go to football games on Friday is so fun and I’m happy to see all my school friends outside of just a classroom.”
Carnio said she has mixed feelings about being in America. The bad has been not knowing the culture, but she knows all the new experiences will help her in the long term.
“It’s been a mix of highs and lows,” Carnio said. “Sometimes I feel really happy and glad I left, other times I want to take the next flight home because I feel like I don’t belong here, but overall I feel it’s making me stronger and it’ll help me with my future.”
