By Megan Sulak, staff writer 
Flying into O’Hare International Airport after a 14 hour flight, 16 Italian students from Liceo Copernico in Verona, Italy arrived at Prospect to meet their Prospect exchange student and experience a week in America.
The Italian exchange started roughly 13 years ago after the French AP class started their exchange two years before. The Prospect Italian students that are involved with the exchange are in AP or Honors Four Italian at school, which would be during their senior year.
Each day of the week was something new to experience, such as on Sept. 15, the Italian students followed their Prospect student around school and got to be involved in an average American school day. The following days were full of events, some of which were going downtown and riding a private trolley through the city, eating at American restaurants, going to numerous landmarks around the Chicagoland area and traveling to different places with their American families on the days activities were not planned already by Italian exchange coordinator and Italian teacher Lyn Scolaro.
Two Prospect students who are a part of the exchange are seniors Emma Knott and Alyssa O’Connell. Both experiences overall were very positive.
“[The experience] was incredible,” O’Connell said. “It was a one-of-a-kind experience.”
Throughout the week, the Italian students got to experience activities, such as laser tag, Six Flags Great America, the mall and hanging out in their American families’ houses. But not only did the Italian students learn about America, the Prospect students got to learn more about the Italian culture and lifestyle.
“I have learned more of the language [and] about the culture,” Knott said. “The experience overall has impacted me as a person all around.”
O’Connell feels the same way.
“I actually learned a lot of the language, even though they were here and they were able to speak English,” O’Connell said. “You still learned a lot just by talking to them and you also learn a lot about European culture.”