Border Post on Lorenzo

Just a couple of weeks ago, the Rotary Club of Stanthorpe welcomed an Exchange student from Breno, Italy. Lorenzo Mazzoli will be living with host families in the Granite Belt for the next twelve months and during that time will be attending Stanthorpe State High School. He is keen to become involved in our community and has already joined the City Soccer Club. Lorenzo is currently being hosted by the Pascoe family and will have three other host families throughout his stay here.

Lorenzo is the first Rotary Exchange Student to come to the Granite Belt from Italy. He is 16 and has entered year 11. Hi hometown Breno is a small village in the Camonica Valley, in the north of Italy. In his free time he plays soccer but enjoys all sports including skiing, as well as listening to music and playing videogames. In Italy he studies ten subjects and school starts at 8am, finishing at 1pm from Monday to Saturday.

Lorenzo’s father is is an ophthalmologist and also owns a small vineyard. His mother is a chemistry teacher who works in the high school in Breno and she also owns a brand of cosmetics. Lorenzo has travelled a lot in Europe but this is his first time in Australia. He would like to become a doctor but knows that this will take a lot of hard work. With this exchange experience he hopes to enhance his English, meet new and interesting people and become a better person with a larger knowledge of culture.

The Stanthorpe Rotary Club is a strong supporter of the Youth Exchange program and has hosted many students over the years. The first of these was a Japanese girl, Etsuko “Joy” Yosikama in 1973. As well as hosting, the club sponsors students to go abroad for a year, usually after they finish secondary school. Next year the club is pleased to be sending Lily Banasiak to Italy.