This past month, the president of the Italian Honor Society, Amanda Coccia, won a contest to participate in a summer exchange program in Italy. One may ask, how did this extraordinary experience happen to fall into her lap? Well, it all started one evening when Amanda was researching exchange programs and came across a contest to go to Narni, Italy for two weeks this summer. The competition was set up by IACE, the Italian American Committee on Education, a organization which our high school is currently a member. Amanda jumped at the opportunity, despite the fact that there was only three days until the deadline, created a short video about Italian cinema, and entered the contest with the support and encouragement of her Italian teacher, Signora Vultaggio. Amanda describes the submission as “very last-minute. I didn’t think I was going to win, but I had to give it a shot.” After two long, anxiety-ridden weeks, she won!

As a result, Amanda will be participating in the IACE 2017 Summer Program in Narni (Terni) from July 11th to July 24th along with nineteen other students from the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut). This group will be participating in Italian language classes in the mornings and going on cultural excursions in the afternoons including trips to Rome, special cooking lessons, concerts at Narni Arts Academy, and much more.

Amanda is hoping that this opportunity will aid her in her efforts to learn more about foreign cultures and enrich her endeavor to accomplish her dream of becoming a foreign language teacher. To date, she has travelled to England and France, making Italy her third foreign escapade. With these experiences under her belt, Amanda is taking her foreign language education to a more serious level. Additionally, as president of the Italian Honor Society and vice-president of French Honor Society, she hopes that this news will inspire the Pat-Med community to learn more about the opportunities that learning a foreign language can provide. Congratulations, Amanda! We cannot wait to hear all about your extravagant excursion in the fall! Buona fortuna!

To see Amanda’s contest submission, click the video above the article.