She actually made it. It seemed impossible. Wanting to learn German in addition to Italian while on our "short jaunt" to Italy, middle-schooler Leigh asked to transfer to a German-speaking high school so she could eventually "read Ratzinger in the original."
We found the Swiss School of Rome, and weirdly and wildly, she was admitted.
She arrived knowing how to say "Guten morgen."
Spending 5 years with about 20 Italian teenagers whose families had some reason or another for them to be fluent in German (a Swiss or German parent; dad is a Swiss guard, etc.), Leigh was the only American and the only one there "for fun" and "to read Ratzinger."
All the lessons were in German (physics, chemistry, biology, math, history, German language and literature, economics and law, etc.), except Italian literature (in Italian), French (in French) and English literature (in English). She passed the C2 German exam, an international language test, C2 being the highest. She out-performed many of her classmates, even those who speak German at home or who had been enrolled in the SSR since kindergarten) both in the C2 and in her courses in general.
Leigh Kelly Anne, I do not know how you did it. Your stamina, your worth ethic, your discipline, your sheer force of the will, your passion, your love, your resolution, your goodness, your kindness, your faith and love for God--may you blessed always with these extraordinary gifts.After the last day of school, all the girls in your class came to our campus to celebrate. You had sought "class unity" your whole 5 years, and you finally got it in one evening. You hosted a sleepover and wore your t-shirt that says "Jesus" across the front. You are a missionary. a minister, and a shining light.
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