For Sofia Bertei, the only home she has known until just a few months ago, was in Genoa, Italy. But Sofia wanted to be a foreign exchange student and that meant leaving home in Italy for a year. “I decided to be a foreign exchange student because I’ve always been curious about other cultures and also because I think the experience is going to make me more mature and independent,” she offered. “It helps you go outside your comfort zone.”

And then she added, “Also, coming to the U.S. has been one of my biggest dreams since when I was a child and getting to live here and experience the American lifestyle is literally a dream coming true.” In August of this year, Sofia arrived in Cut Bank ready to be a junior at Cut Bank High School and ready to move in with her host family, Darin and Laurie Wynn. She had never been to the United States before stepping off the plane in Montana.