Seventeen-year-old Silvana Espa, who friends call “Silvi,” is spending this school year in Nevada and attending Nevada High School through the Rotary Exchange program.
Silvi has spent the first part of the school year in the home of Charlie and Michelli Good and will spend the second part of the school year in the home of Robb and Leah Schmidt.
Silvi hails from the island of Sardinia, Italy, where she’s lived her entire life with her parents, one brother, and her twin sister.
In becoming a Rotary Exchange student, Silvi had the opportunity to list five countries she’d be interested in. She admitted she only filled in two, the United States and Australia.
She got her first choice, the United States, but when she found out she was coming to Nevada, Iowa, she shared her honest reaction. “To be fair, I was initially somewhat disappointed, because I felt like a big city would give me more opportunities.” But after experiencing Nevada and our school district for several months, she stressed, “I LOVE Nevada.”
As a matter of fact, she continued, “I think I appreciate more about Nevada than a lot of people who live here. You have a lot of opportunities to develop so many skills, especially in school.”
Silvi has taken part in band and jazz band (she plays piano), will take part in choir, will be part of the spring musical, has been in cheerleading and was in cross country. This spring, she’s excited about taking part in track and field. “I run; a sprinter,” she said with a smile.
Back home, there are no opportunities for extra-curricular activities at school. “School is just studying. We don’t have sports or dances like homecoming and prom.” If students want to do other things in Italy, they must pay to join a club, she noted.
Another difference about school in Italy is that high school is five years long, and they don’t use the terms “freshman” through “senior.” “We just call it 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th,” she said.
When she returns, she will be in her 13th year of high school, and she will also be simultaneously doing three months of catch-up work from her 12th year. “That will be really stressful,” she said.
Following high school, Silvi plans to attend university at Milan to study economy/marketing or languages. “My sister said she thinks I’d do better studying languages,” Silvi said, noting that she’d then probably work as a translator. No matter what she studies, Silvi plans to travel the world.
Languages would be a good fit for Silvi, who already knows five of them: English, Spanish, French, Sardinian and Italian, which is the most common language spoken in Sardinia. “Sardinian is the proper language of my region, but is the language I know the least. It’s mostly spoken by older people.”
To start her year as a foreign exchange student, Silvi arrived in Iowa on Aug. 17, 2024. She said the things that immediately stood out to her were how flat Iowa is and how everything is bigger here, like cars, roads, and houses. She also has felt that Nevada, Iowa is much more “organized” than her home community of 30,000 people. It isn’t just because Nevada is smaller. “Here things just seem more put together,” she explained. It might be because things are more modern here. She stresses that she is from an area where many things, including buildings, are very old.
Silvi will return to Italy in late May or early June, and the one thing she’s sure of is that she’ll want to return to Nevada, Iowa, and the United States to visit in the future. She has felt welcomed in Nevada. “I really like your community.”
Here are a few other questions we asked Silvi and her answers:
What is your favorite thing to eat here? “Crumbl cookies!”
Do you have a favorite restaurant here? “Wendy’s. We don’t have that in Italy. We do have McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC.”
What is most important to you in helping people here understand Italy? “I will say people don’t actually realize how much culture we have. Italy is probably seen mostly that it’s all about the food, a great lasagna! I talk about our monuments, our history, our philosophers. We have the most full, rich literature in almost all of Europe. And art, we have great artists and styles.”
Is fashion different here than in Italy? She laughs a bit. “I will say that teenagers in Italy are more put together when they go to school. We don’t wear uniforms, but we choose jeans, not pajama pants.
Have you found a favorite place to shop here? Without hesitation, “Target! We don’t have Target or those big shops where you can find everything. I also like T.J. Maxs.”
Did you pay attention to America’s election? Yes. She observed and was impressed that American teenagers are involved in the election even though they don’t have a vote yet. “Developing a political thought or opinion is essential for the country, and that’s what I think that we don’t have (in Italy). I know people who are 18 or 21 who have the opportunity to vote … but they don’t, because they haven’t developed a political opinion.”
What have you thought of our holidays? Thanksgiving – “I loved it,” she said, rubbing her stomach. “We had mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, turkey, strawberry Jello with jelly and whipped cream on top of it. It was amazing!” Christmas – She noticed that Americans are more into decorating the outside of their houses than what is done in her country. She also had been happy to see snow happen before Christmas. She’s only seen snow about two times prior to coming here because it’s a warmer climate where she’s from.
Besides your family, what are you missing most from home? “Pasta! American’s don’t have good pasta. It’s tasteless, I’m sorry.”
The Nevada Rotary Club has welcomed exchange students to the Nevada community for decades. The club’s goal is to host a student every school year. If Nevada families are interested in hosting, they can reach out to any member of the Rotary Club. Additionally, the Rotary Club also sponsors students to go outbound to other countries!
–Written by Marlys Barker, City of Nevada
