As soon as Laura LaForgia, an exchange student who spent the 2019-20 school year at East, got off the plane in Italy, she was sent to her bedroom to quarantine.
She had planned to hug her American friends goodbye and be warmly greeted by her Italian friends when she returned home — but as coronavirus became a growing concern and East transitioned to online school, she finished up the school year and hopped on a plane without a proper sendoff.
To help LaForgia remain connected during this tough time, she’s kept in touch with the other exchange students, her host family and history teacher Brenda Fishman, who even mailed her some Lancer gear once she returned home to cheer her up.
Currently, she’s finishing her fifth and final year of high school in a hybrid model — attending four weeks of school in-person, followed by one week of online classes.
After taking classes at East and participating in choir and the musical, it took a few weeks to get back to her normal routine in Italy where school is much more academically focused with no electives of extracurriculars.
“One of the things I enjoyed most about East was the ‘Lancer Spirit.’ We just don’t have much of that here in Italy,” LaForgia said.
LaForgia FaceTimes with her closest American friends about once a week. She also receives updates from her host family every now and then.
Fishman, who LaForgia got to know through the International Club, is the only East teacher she’s remained in contact with. She was the only teacher who asked LaForgia for her personal email. They last chatted in August when they were both getting ready for the return of school.
Luckily, LaForgia was permitted to stay in the U.S. for the full extent of her study abroad program. Since she was in the U.S. during Italy’s peak, and in Italy during the U.S.’s peak, she only had to quarantine for the two weeks after she’d returned home.
However, cases are on the rise again in Italy and LaForgia predicts that schools will close and quarantine will be reinstated.
LaForgia wouldn’t have been able to participate in an international study this year regardless of COVID-19 because she’s required to finish high school in Italy. Since she enjoyed her time at East so much, and would’ve opted to spend another year there if allowed, she’d like to return to the U.S. for college.
Summer abroad opportunities have always been available to LaForgia, but she could only do a year abroad during her third or fourth year and is glad she took advantage of this once in a lifetime experience.
“I definitely miss East and all my friends there, but with all the updates I’ve gotten I still feel very connected to the place I loved so much,” LaForgia said.
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