By Addison Schwing – Staff Reporter

This year, Jonathan Law High School is playing host to Simona Turatti, an exchange student from Malnate, Italy.

Turatti will be spending the year at Law in the 12th grade, in partnership with the American Scandinavian Student Exchange, a program that manages year-long cultural and academic exchanges for youth in 33 different countries.

“The first reason why I wanted to study in the US is that I wanted to learn English the ‘better way’ that I can,” Turatti said.

Exchange programs like ASSE exist to enable youth to learn a second language and experience a culture different from your own.

But why choose the United States, of all places, to study in for a year?

“I love America, and I wanted to discover what it’s really like and about the style of living,” Turatti said.

One of the activities that Turatti is participating in at Law is cheerleading.

“I decided to do cheerleading because we don’t have it in Italy, and it’s a new experience and adventure,” Turatti said.

Junior Hailey Johnson is very excited about Turatti joining the cheer squad.

“[Turatti’s] outstanding on the team, she learned everything really fast, and bonds with everyone really well,” Johnson said. “Everyone loves her.”

Junior Kendal Stryker is also excited about Turatti joining the team.

“[Turatti’s] English is pretty good, she does well with the cheers, she helps with basing and stuff like that, and she’s nice and sweet,” Stryker said.

Freshman Kylie McCool, who is also joining the cheer squad for the first time, said Turatti is fitting in well.

“Turatti is learning the cheers pretty well and we all seem to like her,” McCool said. “She’s really friendly.”

Turatti is taking Physics, Art for Seniors, Calculus, Computer Science, Human Anatomy, Philosophy, and History. She cites Art for Seniors as her favorite class.

Turatti comes from Malnate, Italy, a town near the Austrian-Italian border in Northern Italy of about 17,000 people. She describes her home as similar to Milford, even with a downtown area, yet different all the same.  

“I live in Malnate, but my real life is in Varese, which is the bigger city near me,” she said.

Turatti recalls things from her life in Italy such as taking the train to school, and as the houses being closer together than back home, strong contrasts to her host city of Milford, whose students rely on school buses to get to and from school, and whose houses, by comparison, are farther apart.

One of the more exciting parts of learning about another culture is finding out the truth about common stereotypes.

“I say that the most common Italian stereotypes are that we overeat pasta, we gesture when we talk, and we are all ‘mafioso.’  For Americans, the answer could be that Americans eat a lot, especially fast food, they’re patriotic, and they all own guns,” Turatti said.

Turatti feels that these stereotypes are inaccurate.

“I think that each stereotype is an excessive exaggeration of the features of a country,” Turatti said. ”They may be true, but not for all individuals living there.”

Principal Mr. Thompson has many good things to say about student exchange programs such as ASSE, and the opportunities that they provide.

“I think it’s wonderful,” Thompson said. “I think it’s so enriching and it allows all of us to gain cultural confidence about how others live in the world, and not just the differences, but also how similar they are.”