Rachel Cook admits she left Whidbey Island for Italy last year just a small town girl. When she came home 10 months later, though, she was a citizen of the world.

Cook spent her sophomore high school year in Rome as part of the Rotary Exchange program.

“The experience changed my life,” Cook said. “I was a very sheltered American.”

“It helped me grow in ways that would not be possible here,” she said.

Besides the sights and sounds that can only be found in Rome, Cook developed lasting friendships with students from all over the world.

While in Rome she took in all the tourist sites. She also traveled throughout the country with her host family. She saw Pope Benedict XVI.

Cook said she also learned to appreciate different cultures through her friendships with other exchange students who were also in Rome for the school year.

“I made friends with students from Argentina, Ecuador, India and Ireland. And, of course, lots of Italians.”

There is not ‘right” or “wrong’ when it comes to cultures, just differences,” she said,

“It’s wrong to fault people for their culture or religion,” Cook noted.

Her time in Europe included lots of study.

“We had an international book club and read books that had lots of translations available,” she said.

And then there was the language barrier.

Cook did not speak Italian before she went, but learned to clear the language hurdle with the help of gestures and her constant companion in the early weeks of her stay – an English-Italian dictionary.

“I became more proficient and self-confident about speaking the language later on,” she said.

Cook grew up on Whidbey and has strong family ties to the island. She is the daughter of Wendy and Jeff Cook of Langley, and the middle of three siblings. She has a 13-year-old sister Leah who attends Langley Middle School, and her brother Sam is 24.

Moving to a big city where she didn’t speak the language was quite a change.

“I have a huge island family. I can’t walk down the street without knowing lots of people,” she said. “It was a shock to go from knowing half the people on the South End to not knowing anyone, or even the language.”

But supportive host families eased her transition. She spent several months with the first family; then the remainder with a second family who had a daughter who was the same age as Cook.

“They were just great. Laura and I had so much fun and I was treated just like a member of the family,” she said.

Her host mother, Luciana, treated her like one of the family. Cook had rules to follow and responsibilities around the house.

“She told me without rules and responsibilities you will always feel like a guest. She called me her ‘American daughter.’”

The school year away from home also gave her a larger appreciation for her family and her home on Whidbey.

“Before I went, I took them too much for granted,” Cook said. “Living away from home let me see them as people.”

She also has a greater appreciation for teachers at South Whidbey High School.

In Italy, school was very different. Students stayed in one classroom all day and the teachers would change rooms. Cook wasn’t sure she liked it as well as having the students move from classroom to classroom.

“I need my passing times,” she said.

Teacher-student relationships were different, too,

“The teachers were very formal with us, and we really didn’t get to know them on a personal level,” she recalled.

Cook says that’s what she really appreciates about South Whidbey High School.

“We get to know our teachers here on a more personal level. I really came to appreciate that,” she said.

School was more arduous due to the language barrier and the six-day-a-week schedule.

“Sometimes on Sunday, I just wanted to sleep. But my host mom would make me get up, go out and see and do different things. I’m glad she did,” Cook said.

Her host mom also restricted Cooks’ use of the Internet.

“She didn’t want me sitting in front of computer e-mailing friends back home when I could out doing things,” she said.

Cook said she is grateful to Rotary for giving her the experience of a lifetime.

“I learned a lot about myself,” Cook said.

Gayle Saran can be reached at 221-5300 or gsaran@southwhidbeyrecord.com.