An exchange student is a high school student from another country who joins a school in a completely new country.
Puyallup High School has had the great opportunity to welcome a few exchange students each year for decades, giving them not only an education but also a taste of a new place.
This includes trying foods they’ve never had before, experiencing weather they’re not used to, and adjusting to school environments that are different from what they know.
Martina Belluzza is one of the five exchange students at Puyallup High School. She is a senior from Italy.
Exchange students, many are surprised by the school system, food, and the way people act, while also having to adjust to new routines and social environments.
“I think that I discovered how nice people are here. For Valentine’s Day, I was sitting in the commons, and a girl I didn’t know came up to me and said, ‘You’re so cute,’ and gave me a paper with chocolate that said, ‘You’re perfect.’ It surprised me how easy it is for someone to make your day,” Belluzza said.
Speaking of kindness, that’s exactly how Martina is with her friends, and her family. When talking to her host family, Siri and Joe Avell, who have been hosting exchange students for years, they made it clear right away that who she is at school is exactly who she is at home.
“What you see at school is what you get at home. She’s not faking it. She’s always positive,” Siri Avell explained.
Meeting someone who can turn a bad day into a good one just through their words and energy is great. Her friend, Nicole Boswell, described her as the sweetest person ever.
“She’s very sweet, caring, and very funny.” Boswell said.
Joe Avell also shared how Martina constantly expresses gratitude.
“I’ll remember how she’s always expressing gratitude. This morning, we had two cookies on the counter in a Ziploc bag. She already had her lunch packed, but I added the cookies to it, and she didn’t just say thank you, it was an exuberant ‘thank you,’” Avell said.
Here in the U.S we have yellow school buses, separate lunches, homecoming / prom and so much more, which is so different from schools outside of the U.S.
“We move here and not in Italy. Here teachers have their own rooms they decorate, and the students move class to class but in Italy the students have the same class and we decorate, we bring things from home,” Belluzzo explained.
Another thing that was talked about is her life outside of school.
“She walks everywhere. To get to the bus, to go to school, to get anywhere. She’s a rower, so she’s in a rowing team, and she talks about that a lot, things she does with her friends. They live in a pretty big house arrangement with grandma, like grandparents,” Siri Avell says.
A word to describe Martina according to Siri Avell would be that she is ‘positive’.
“In her attitude, she’s so positive about everything. She’s happy all the time… it’s great,” Avell explained.
At the end of the day, having exchange students like Martina at Puyallup High School doesn’t just change their lives, it changes ours too.
She didn’t just come here to learn about a new country, but she also showed the people around her how something as simple as kindness, positivity, and gratitude can make a big impact.
Even though her time here won’t last forever, the way she made people feel is something that will stay long after she leaves.
And maybe that’s what makes the exchange experience so special, not just learning something new, but leaving a piece of yourself behind wherever you go.
