Special Final Edition: The Catalyst
catalyst (n.): "an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action"
catalyst (n.): "an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action"
Hi everybody, probably a lot of you don’t know me, so I’ll start by introducing myself. I’m Marianna and I’m an exchange student for a semester as a Junior at LC. My home country is Italy, the land known for good food, wonderful sea and...hand gestures. The most common question I have to answer as an exchange student is why I decided to leave everything I had to come here. Well, as an Italian the only time I saw American high schools was in movies and shows, so why not really see how it is with my own eyes?
I will skip the boring part that comprehends piles of documents to file, schools and host families research. It’s now November 2021: my agency tells me that a lot of public schools around the US won’t give me the possibility to study abroad because of COVID. My only opportunity was choosing a private school that could accept me, hoping to find a host family within one month. I won’t lie, I was very scared; my dream was about to fall apart and I couldn’t do anything about it. A couple of days before the deadline to find a family, in January, as a blessing they found someone that could host me for the semester and I will always be grateful to them. I packed everything, said hi to my friends and family and exactly two weeks later I was on a plane by myself leaving all I had to start a new life. I don’t know how or why I chose LC but I just believe that LC chose me.
My first days here were definitely not easy, I didn’t know anyone and I was very scared of talking in English. I heard everyone talking about LC as a big family and community and at first for me it was so difficult to feel part of it. One month, though, was enough to understand what everyone was talking about. I met new friends and everything started to be easier and easier over time. I had so many fun experiences that I will always remember. I meet new friends every day and my English improves more and more.
Being an exchange student has a lot of challenges: homesickness, difficulties with the language, building relationships and sometimes I feel as if I'm on a rollercoaster of emotions. But all the people that surround me know how to help me solve my problems and how to make me feel better anytime. I miss my country, family and friends so much everyday, but no one will ever give me this opportunity again. I consider myself very lucky to be here and, after three months, it’s not easy to think about going back to Italy.
In March I had the opportunity to attend Kairos 47; I will be completely honest saying that those 4 days changed my experience here and probably also my life. Kairos didn’t only give me the possibility to build real friendships but that’s the place where I really understood the main reason why I came to the US. What I learned is that EVERY person that I will meet in my life will give me a piece of him-/herself, no matter how much time we spend together or the type of relationship we have. Everyone I meet has a lesson for me and so do I for them. I came here for a lot of reasons: to learn English, to be independent, to run away from my everyday routine in Italy, and many others. But the main reason was to fill myself with another culture, other traditions and every little lesson that every person I meet here teaches me to grow up and to learn how to accept everyone without judging.
I came here emptying my pockets of everything I had and in late June I will go back to Italy with my suitcases filled with happiness and positivity. In these five months I learned that home is the people that you love and that love you back, and I can say that here I found my second home. My favorite English expression is “Having the time of your life” and I will always be grateful to LC and everyone I met and I will meet here for giving me the time of MY life.
-Marianna Andorno (Torino, Piemonte)
"I don’t know how or why I chose LC but I just believe that LC chose me."
Top, left to right: Annachiara Ricci, Marianna Andorno
Bottom, left to right: fellow group member, Caitlin Quinn, '22, Andorno, Ricci on K47
Below: Special thank you to Ms. Meghan Lister Callen (LC '96) & Ms. Jennifer Potson Huber (LC '97) for their tireless efforts in recruiting & placing these wonderful students in order to diversify and enrich our community! Both Mrs. Huber & her mom, Mrs. Beth Potson, (LC '72; Attendance Officer), also graciously acted as host parents this year, not only to Marianna & Anna, but to several other students from Germany, Sweden, and Spain! If you're interested in providing a similar experience by opening your home to a future exchange student, please reach out to our Director of Enrollment Management, mcallen@lansdalecatholic.com!
"There’s a special connection between the students and the teachers and a special love and passion that people put into what they do here."
January 2022: five months ago. The Covid situation is terrible in Italy, everyone is getting it and people are going crazy again. One person in particular is going out of her mind: that’s me, trying to pack my stuff and crossing my fingers not to get the Covid before the 25th January. I honestly thought it was impossible for me to arrive that day still negative, because all my friends were falling under the virus as skittles. I was quite resigned and my mood was like “Well, if I don’t leave it’s fate for sure and it means I have to enjoy my life here” (stupid excuses I was telling myself to cheer me up). Fortunately, there’s a happy ending: I’m writing this article laying on the bed of my room here in Telford, Pennsylvania, United States of America. The dream of a lifetime. (Maybe not really Telford, but you know what I mean).
I love being here, I love everything about being an exchange student and I find it really hard to explain it on paper with words. I’ll start saying what I would like to tell that Anna of five months ago, waiting in the Munich airport, pretty lost and insecure, unstable, with thousands of doubts and thousands of suitcases, with still the perfumes of her parents and her friends on her skin, but with the heart full of enthusiasm and excitement: don’t worry, you’re gonna love it and it’s definitely gonna be worth the effort. LC is amazing, it is really a family as I’ve always been hearing since I was here: I remember the warm welcome of my first day, all the smiles I received and all the people interested in me and in my culture. There’s a special connection between the students and the teachers and a special love and passion that people put into what they do here. It's the first thing I noticed and that amazed me (also because probably it’s one of the biggest differences between LC and my Italian school). I don’t want to lie saying it’s been easy since the first day: I remember seeing all those people loving each other and with such connection that I feared I would never feel a part of it: but slowly, day after day, smiles after smiles, lunch after lunch, the effort put into following the conversations and trying to join them (my brain was frying the first days)...led to now: I go to school and I feel I am part of it, I’m not just the exchange student who’s gonna leave in June. I have my place here.
A moment that really helped me was kairos. I will never be grateful enough for having had the opportunity to be part of it. That experience was a turning point of my stay here; it really touched me and made me know some deep traits of beautiful people, who inspired me a lot. Attending LC and all the activities it offers helped me understand different things about my faith, my personality, how I want to live my experience here and how to enjoy the time on my own. I love my routine at school: the Wordle with my friends during my home room, walking in the halls with always different people, praying before lunch, always receiving unexpected smiles, the theology period with McCarthy, track immediately after school. LC itself is being my exchange experience and all these people are giving me moments that I already miss. I will always bring with me every laugh, every hug, every smile of these months spent here and the LC sweatshirts will always have a special place in my room.
Annachiara Ricci (Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna),
the exchange student with the weird Italian accent
-Maya Garcia, '22