LINGLE – If there’s one thing to be said about entering a new high school, it takes a bit of courage.

Adolescence is by no means is a walk in the park. For some, high school can be four years of wonderful memories, or four years they would just like to bury as deep in the mind as they can go.

Having said that, choosing to finish your last year of high school clear around the world takes guts. Never mind the typical adjustments a teenager must always make when they are still at home; think about the courage and drive it takes to travel all alone to a completely new country to finish school.

All the while, every close family and friend is thousands and thousands of miles away, and you’re not even an adult yet.

Lingle-Fort Laramie senior, Leonardo “Leo” Belli, has proven such resolution in taking a once in a lifetime opportunity to finish his last year of high school right here in the United States.

Interestingly and humbling enough, his unique and exciting journey could have taken him anywhere in the Nation. Even more so, his travels landed him right here in Goshen County of all places.

Having been taken in and hosted by Torrington residents Aaron and Heather Rutz, Leo states the journey has been nothing short of total fulfilment with what is sure to have long lasting rewards.

Hailing straight out of Palombara Sabina, a small town of about thirteen thousand people just a short thirty-minute drive from Rome; Leo and his “honorary” family opened up about the experience and offered interesting perspectives.

Perspectives from both the American, and Italian ways of life.

According to Leo, the idea of studying abroad was first inspired by a similar journey experienced from an older brother.

“My big brother, who is now 23, was an exchange student in Colorado back in 2018,” Leo explained. “I wasn’t really interested in doing it until September. I was doing good in school back home, and had a lot of friends. Then I just started thinking about it more. It popped into my mind back in September, so I wrote my application for the program and got my family after one month. Usually with the time, it’s probably about a seven month wait.”

Leo would further explain sincerely that the journey from Italy all the way to Goshen County didn’t start without a hitch or two. 

“I was a little shocked because I was in Rapid City, South Dakota at first,” Leo continued. “I knew that’s where I would be going, but I didn’t know anything about it so I was a bit scared. When I came to Rapid City with the first family I had, it didn’t really work out. I called my regional coordinator and stayed with him for a couple of days. It was a last-minute thing because I actually arrived here the day before the first day of school. I was scared about being here in Lingle, and going to a small school. My class in Italy is about 800 students. I’m really liking the small school because I get to try every sport, and everybody knows me.”

Leo’s host mother and Lingle-Fort Laramie Elementary teacher, Heather, concurred with the words of her family’s provisional addition, adding that already working for Education First High School Exchange Year on top of her daily teaching duties has been a strong beneficial factor throughout the entire ordeal.

“I’ve worked for them for about five years, and he was in a different house first,” Heather added. “Unfortunately that didn’t work out, and so our Regional Coordinator asked if we would take him. They all had applications, and we thought he would be a wonderful fit. Honestly we just went with the flow, and the best thing about Lingle is being a small school. It’s kind of different because I work for the company, so I know all about it and how we do things. Leo fits in very well with our family, and it’s been great adding another child if you will. And the rest is history.”

It doesn’t really need to be said how vastly different the two cultures truly are. Of course this doesn’t imply anything negative; it is purely a unique learning experience between two worlds building a perpetual bridge between each other.

Despite the immense difference between the large school Leo is used to back home in contrary to the rather simple everyday viewpoint of a few Lingle classmates, the young Italian admits smaller classes perhaps means better education and understanding.

“In Italy we can’t choose our classes,” Leo said. “We actually can choose our type of high school. Some focus more on history, while others focus more on science for example. I’m in the kind of school which is focuses more on history. Back home I study mostly subjects on philosophy, Latin, and Greek so it’s different. I really like the fact that you can customize your schedule here. The learning methods are much different. For example, chemistry classes in Italy are all theory, but no labs. We don’t switch classes; we just stay in the same class so obviously we don’t have all the things necessary for a lab. This has been a lot fun.

“The good thing about this is the size of the school,” Leo continued. “I’m really enjoying the fact that I can walk in the hallway, and everyone knows me. I get to talk to all the teachers; they are always available to explain things and I love the fact of having high school sports. In Italy if you want to play sports you have to join a club. This helps a lot in creating new friends, and getting close in the environment. I’ve been trying a lot of new sports like American rules football.” 

Leo and the Rutz’s of course are aware that although the experience has been extremely rewarding, all good things must eventually come to an end.

After all Leo’s temporary father, Aaron, recognizes truthfully, being well into the second semester of his school year, he will inevitably have to return safely to his home in Palombara Sabina.

In the meantime, however, the irreplaceable family situation plans on making the most of the time that remains especially when it comes to spring sports.

“It will be weird not having him here,” Aaron said. “It’s definitely been such a good experience because you learn so much about another culture. You pretty much have this ‘forever kid’ that you can go visit, and he can show you his family and culture. It’s been such a good experience that you want to do it again. We actually have a girl lined up next year from Italy as well. Leo has been just wonderful.

“It’s been great watching his growth mostly with with our culture and our sports,” Aaron continued. “It’s always an adjustment, but the pros always outweigh any apprehensions. He puts a lot of time and effort into understanding more about our culture, but he’s always trying to be as good as he can with whatever he does. With football and now basketball, he’s never played those competitively. Now he’s playing basketball. It’s been fun watching his growth in that. We can’t wait to watch him play soccer, because that’s his sport.”

As the family sincerely noted as with any positive or even out-of-the-ordinary experiences, there are always going to be valuable lessons that last a lifetime.

Although Leo freely admits the occasional natural feeling of homesickness, he plans on learning and appreciating as much more as he can about simple Wyoming life throughout the remainder of his time.

As he puts it so elegantly and almost boldly, “Rome will always be there, but Lingle won’t.”

“There of course are some moments when I miss home, but the mindset that I established before the exchange year was, ‘Don’t let the homesickness ruin your experience.’ You will see Rome for the rest of your life, so really try to enjoy this.”

Heather would conspicuously add, “Some people often are hesitant in opening up their house, or home for an experience like this. I would say it’s not hard work at all, and it’s certainly not scary. But it’s an experience you won’t ever regret.”