By:  Reporter Maddie Terlap

Inspired by her sister studying in San Francisco, Marta Guarienti di Brenzone Virando took a big leap deciding to come to America.

Originally from the northwest of Italy, Guarienti is living with the Huxtable family. She already knows how to speak Italian and French, and learning English was one of the things she considered when deciding to do an exchange in the United States. Her English, however, is nearly perfect and laced with a beautiful Italian accent.

Guarienti remembers her journey to America as nerve-wracking. Her first adventure in America was navigating the big airports and waiting for late planes. “I was also very excited because I was starting a new cool experience,” she said.

Enrolled as a senior, her first impression of NHS was that it was big. Guarienti’s school in Italy is small compared with Neenah with only 200 students. At her school, the teachers move classes and the students stay, so it was strange to be in a school that did the opposite. She has found the biggest difference between Italy and America to be the tests. In Italy, it would be surprising to have more than one multiple choice question on a test, while in America, most tests are all multiple choice questions. Guarienti also mentioned that she finds it hard to wake up early every morning, since school in Italy starts later.

Guarienti is involved in basketball and recently joined Key Club. The best part about being here, she said, was meeting new people. When asked about things she is excited about in the upcoming school year, she listed the homecoming game and dance and Halloween and Thanksgiving, two American holidays.

While still in America, Guarienti hopes to travel to Chicago and San Francisco.