The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way we do many things in everyday life, but not only. It has also affected travels and school exchanges, with which we are very familiar since they are a substantial part of the great learning plan offered by our school.
But this did not discourage us and we happily decided to take part in the online exchange with the New York school “Scarsdale Highschool”. The exchange took place on the platform Zoom, which not everyone knew or had previously used, but is instead the platform of choice in American schools. Initially the situation was quite tense and the embarrassment arising from meeting each other for the first time prevented the conversation from taking off, but the teachers managed to make us more comfortable and we were able to exchange a few words with the Americans (who obviously spoke more than we did). Nonetheless, as soon as we were split into smaller groups, we commenced mutually asking questions, led by curiosity; we had the opportunity to develop an interactive comparison between two different cultures, addressing many topics, such as the school system, various customs and traditions, and the pandemic situation.
What left many of us surprised was the intense interest of young Americans in politics: in fact, they were the ones who brought this up and for us Italians, who are not always interested in it, it was truly surprising. Certainly, the upcoming presidential elections have further contributed to the fact.
We also discovered that the first thing that comes to their mind when thinking about Italy is food, but this didn’t really leave us too surprised!
After this first part dedicated to getting to know each other, we moved on to the more challenging phase. For this project, we were divided into groups made up of Americans and Italians. Each group had to create a presentation on one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals outlined in the UN 2030 Agenda. The goals touch a variety of different areas, but almost all the groups focused on the one concerning climate change and the one concerning quality education.
Thanks to this project we have been able to better understand not only the American way of thinking on these issues, but also the life of American students in general. We observed that American students’ attitude to collaborative tasks and group work is much more effective and mature than ours, as Italians students are more used to working independently. The projects carried out were very original and it was easy to work together, even though, since each meeting lasted only half an hour, we had little time for free conversation, and organizing the work was a bit of a challenge. For American students school is not only a source of stress but also a quiet place to be with friends. In fact their school environment is more relaxing than ours, where teachers and educators are very demanding. This is why we feel much more under pressure and we are often unable to manage stress. American students, on the other hand, seem to be calmer and relaxed from this point of view. Even though it may seem a superficial attitude towards education, we don’t think it is the case.
We managed to complete our task in time and to deliver the projects to the whole group and this marked the end of the exchange.
This experience was formative and stimulating and, although it was held online, it allowed us to create a special kind of closeness with students from a geographically very distant country. In addition, we had the opportunity to expand our knowledge and improve our language skills by taking part in dialogues. We had a lot of fun participating in this project, as we were able to meet students from a different cultural background. Also, in this very tough historical moment, being able to come into contact with people of our age from a distant part of the world is a privilege and we have to be grateful for this.
We all hope to stay in touch with them and that soon the situation will finally allow us to meet them in person!
(Beatrice Giurgica, Eleonora Orlando, Anna Seffino and Alessandra D’Avia 3C)