Traveling 5,487 miles, he was finally able to live his dream of seeing the world and experiencing a new culture. Nicola Muca-Cirone is a junior foreign exchange student from Milan, Italy.

“It’s really different, ” Muca-Cirone said, as he compared America to Italy.

Contrary to most students, Muca-Cirone’s favorite part about being here is going to school. In Italy, the students don’t change classes, the teachers do. And there are different types of high schools to attend based on what career path is chosen to follow.

“If you want to study art, you would go to the artistic high school. If you wanted to study science, you would go to the science high school. There is one for everything. If you wanted to be a cook or a waitress, then there is a school for that too,” Muca-Cirone said. “For example, in my school, the scientific high school, all the classes you take are more difficult.”

With so many clubs on campus, it made it easier for him to make friends once he joined Engineering Club.

“Here, you are all more friendly in the way that you approach people [so] easily. In Italy, it’s more difficult to approach new people. So I find myself really okay with this behavior because it’s easier to make friends,” Muca-Cirone said.

But with the good, comes the bad. Coming here meant that Muca-Cirone had to leave everything and everyone he knew back home. Other than his family, Muca-Cirone said he misses food the most.

“In Italy there is a culture around food. In Italy, it’s more of a family thing, more of a tradition,” Muca-Cirone said. “We prepare the food together, and eat it together.”

Muca Cirone was very surprised by how much his host family went out to eat or brought something home. But even then, it felt disconnected.

“For example, here a lot a people eat in front of the TV on the couch, but there is no connection between you and your family,” Muca-Cirone said. “I mean, there is a connection between you and the TV, but in Italy it is not like that. Even if we watch TV, we are all at the same table, facing each other, but the TV is like the background, so the big thing is the family.”

But Muca-Cirone had an experience waiting for him, and his family would still be there when he got back.

“I was really nervous and excited to see another part of the world, but then I realized that I was leaving,” Muca-Cirone said. “There was no way back. Not that I wanted to go back, but I realized [I had to] start my journey.”