By Rachel Konieczny
News Assignment Editor
Flavia Pietrobattista said she knew from the minute she visited St. Bonaventure in 2008 that she would want to return to the university her great-great-great-great uncle founded.
Pietrobattista, the great-great-great-grandniece of founding university president, Panfilo da Magliano, O.F.M., is a student at St. Bonaventure for the 2015-16 academic year.
The freshman international studies major, originally from Magliano, Italy, said she plans to graduate from Bonaventure.
“I hope to get a degree from St. Bonaventure, and I would like to work in relationships between Italy and America, maybe in an ambassador [position],” Pietrobattista said. “I would like to do a job that would allow me to travel.”
Pietrobattista attended Bonaventure last semester, according to Robert Donius, professor of Franciscan studies.
Donius and his wife, Kim, serve as Pietrobattista’s host parent. The Italian student took courses on an auditing basis last semester, not for credit, Donius said.
“In order to get a student visa, she had to pass an English proficiency exam that would indicate that she had the capacity to do studies in America,” Donius said.
Donius added Pietrobattista took an English as a Second Language (ESL) class in Alfred last semester in addition to her exposure to English at Bonaventure.
Pietrobattista said she completed secondary school in Italy at the Istituto Technico Economico (Technical Economic Institute) before arriving at Bonaventure last spring.
“It is like an economic and touristic institution,” Pietrobattista said. “In Italy, we don’t have a name of a college and then you decide your major.”
Pietrobattista said secondary school in Italy begins focused study in one particular subject.
Pietrobattista first experienced Bonaventure in 2008, when 21 members of the Pietrobattista family celebrated the university’s 150th anniversary on campus.
“We didn’t know anything about St. Bonaventure and Sr. Margaret [Carney] told us about the history [of Bonaventure],” Pietrobattista said. “So I think, from that moment, I decided that I really wanted to study at an American college.”
Pietrobattista added her decision to study at an American college, rather than an Italian college, is one of the best decisions of her life.
“I really love languages,” Pietrobattista said. “As soon as I was in elementary school, I started English because in Italy you have to start English when you are little. I always like to learn out of languages, like the Spanish or French [languages], so I decided that starting in America and starting English is rewarding.”
As her host parent, Donius said he acted as a sort of liaison between Pietrobattista and Bonaventure.
“For the first details, we just worked it out as a family,” Donius said.
Donius added he Skyped with Pietrobattista and helped to arrange her arrival plans for traveling to Bonaventure from Italy.
According to Donius, his wife, who is fluent in Italian and studied abroad as an international student during her undergraduate career at the University of Bologna, understands what it is like to be away from home.
Donius said he hopes Pietrobattista flourishes and achieves her dream.
“It’s been, really, a university community that’s welcomed her, and it has made it a richer experience [for Pietrobattista],” Donius said. “In some ways, though, I think probably every student here could speak about their own circle of support.”
Pietrobattista said she is excited to become involved in a variety of clubs and activities, such as ENACTUS.
“I think that [in] the moment to decide to go abroad, you have to enjoy everything and start from the little things.”
koniecrc14@bonaventure.edu
