From 14 to 28 July, Professor Ilenia Uggè, professor of the Maria Immaculate Institute of Gorgonzola, accompanied eight students – Sofia, Emma, Sara, Arianna, Anna, Sofia, Matteo and Fabio – on a study trip to New York City, serving as Group Leader.
The experience is part of the international journey already undertaken by the school, which in previous years had brought students to Britain and Ireland. This year the choice fell on the United States, with the aim of combining English language learning to discover a completely new culture and reality.
The mornings took place at Manhattan University, New York City, Riverdale district, where students attended English courses under the supervision and with the valuable support of ISV USA – International Study & Vacation staff. The hotel, located in front of Van Cortlandt Park and a short distance from the metro, has been an ideal base for your stay, combining a quiet and green environment with the possibility to easily reach the heart of Manhattan.
“I saw the boys become safer day after day and participate, even when speaking English was not simple,” says Professor Uggè.
At the end of the lectures, New York turned into a real “classroom without walls” thanks to the afternoon and weekend program that led the group to discover the most iconic places in the city: from Times Square to Central Park, where students also made a boat ride on the pond, up to the spectacular view of Manhattan from the Empire State Building.
The journey was also an important occasion for historical and cultural exploration. Particularly significant was the time spent at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, where the boys could confront one of the most dramatic events in recent American history. Equally important is the visit to Little Italy, which allowed Italian students to rediscover the link between our country and the United States through the history of immigration.
In Ellis Island, then, the group met the testimonies of millions of people arrived in the United States looking for a new life, including many Italians. “Sometimes you understand history better when you can really cross it outside the school text pages,” the teacher points out, highlighting the educational value of an experience lived directly.
One of the most exciting moments was Graduation Ceremony, at the end of the two weeks of lessons during which students received their certificates, the result of commitment, hours of study and also the ability to test themselves in an international environment.
For Professor Uggè, however, the meaning of the ceremony went far beyond the simple certificate: “I had seen them start as children accustomed to their daily environment. In New York I saw them communicate in another language, face new situations, solve small problems independently and become more confident. It was a transformation made of small steps, but very evident. And yes, it made me really proud.”.
After the ceremony, there’s plenty of fun with a day in Coney Island, between roller coasters, laughter and adrenaline.
The journey has thus demonstrated how study and tourism can be integrated into a complete training experience. Learning English in the United States meant using it in real situations, while learning about American culture offered students the opportunity to look with new eyes even at their own.
“For two weeks New York became a school without walls,” concludes Professor Uggè. The boys returned to Italy with photographs, new friendships and a certificate, but above all with greater autonomy, curiosity, security and a broader view of the world.
An experience that ended with the return to Italy, but that, as the teacher points out, “will stay with us for a long time”.
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