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Instead of remaining in her native Milan, Italy, for college, Pasini applied to American colleges and hoped to study in the United States. She decided to attend Lehigh University and pursue a degree in environmental engineering.

Although she had visited the U.S. before beginning Lehigh in fall 2016, Pasini still had a lot to adjust to.

“I didn’t know my generation, people my age, I didn’t know what they were like or what they do, and if we would be similar or not, so it was still surprising,” Pasini says. “With the people my age, I realized that there are some differences, when I started Lehigh thinking there was none at all.”

Pasini also said the college culture in the U.S. is different from in Italy. Whereas in Europe many students study in cities close to home, or even commute to school, American students typically live at their colleges.

“The whole thing that you live where you study and your friends are your roommates and also your classmates and you live altogether, it’s almost like community based around an institution,” Pasini says. “And everyone is your age.”

However, she said, there are still generational similarities. Pasini said students everywhere just want to have fun and enjoy their time at school.

Pasini currently lives with two other international students and one student who was born in Mexico, but raised in the United States. She said she has found it easier to relate to other international students.

“My friend group is mostly internationals and it seems like we bond quicker and I trust that bond easier,” Pasini says.

She said that the university does a good job of encouraging relationships between international and domestic students, but that facilitating such relationships is not solely the role of Lehigh.

“I feel like this divide is also self-made. You can’t force integration—it can happen any day, any time, talking to your classmate who is American,” she says. “I don’t think it’s totally up to Lehigh.”

Pasini said she has grown in her time at Lehigh, meeting new people and learning to live away from family. She said she seeks to stay true to herself while adapting to a new county and juggling schoolwork.

At Lehigh, Pasini is involved with European Student Union, a community of students who seek to take values from their home countries and use those values to educate, foster respectful debate and introduce new perspectives. Pasini said she joined the club because she wanted to represent the European population at the university and wanted to further discussion of European lifestyle and culture.

Pasini is also a member of No Lost Generation, an initiative to help refugees, because she is interested in the refugee experience and the struggles of those forced to relocate.

After graduation, Pasini hopes to carve a new path once again.

“I don’t want to go back to Italy because it would be a step back for me; I left for a reason. But I don’t think I am planning on staying in the U.S. long-term because I don’t think I would build my life here,” Pasini says. She thinks she wants to go to a new country in Europe, perhaps Spain or France.