Meet Giorgia Torre from Italy
Exchange student Giorgia Torre from Portoferraio, Italy comments on differences between the U.S. and Italy
Welcome to “Walk in their shoes”, a column where we showcase our foreign exchange students and their homes throughout the year.
Giorgia Torre (’24) is from Portoferraio, Italy.
Torre said that at Mead High offers a lot of interesting classes, but of all her classes, her favorite is forensic science. She would love to have a job that involves crime and being part of the police force, which means this class could be incredibly applicable to her.
Torre is part of the Erie High School swim team. She shared she enjoys this sport since she’s “been swimming for ten or more years in Italy and… stopped because of COVID”.
Being an exchange student can be difficult. Torre said, “Staying [here] without all of my friends and my family is really hard.”
She continued, “Getting used to not having my sister and my parents in my house, and not going out with all of my friends every day [were] the most challenging to get used to.”
Torre said her stay in Colorado has made her become more appreciative of things back home in Italy. “Being here made me realize how much I love my family and my friends,” she said. She misses everyone a lot.
Her favorite food in Italy is pizza. Torre said “in Colorado it’s not bad but it’s not like Italian pizza”, the pizza she had back home was significantly better.
After being in Colorado for just a few months, Torre has learned a lot. If she could give herself some advice before moving it would be to “bring more clothes, especially warm clothes”. Torre didn’t expect Colorado to be as cold as it is.
“In Italy I live on an island, so the weather is not as cold as it can be here… It never [reaches] temperatures so low,” she added.
Torre learned English throughout school in Italy. “Even though my English wasn’t really good [when I first arrived], after six months here I can understand and talk with people,” she said. Practicing everyday has made her English improve quite a bit.
Torre hasn’t decided what she wants to pursue after high school, but has a few ideas. She would like to be a police officer for the Italian Armed Forces, but if she doesn’t pursue that path she is determined to work in the forensic science field.