No matter where someone comes from, they will always have an idea of what is normal for them. What is normal for someone from Southern California is vastly different than what is normal for someone from Northern California. On a grander scale, someone from Spain has even more extreme differences in their perception of life and culture. So, when all these people are transplanted to Piedmont, they will each have their own, different perception of what goes on here.
Senior Arnau Costa, who just came to Piedmont from Valencia, Spain, said that the academic culture at Piedmont is both challenging and exciting.
“Everybody here is much more articulate,” Costa said. “If you ask an open-ended question to a Spanish kid, they don’t know what to say.”
Junior Tommaso Cocuzza, a foreign exchange student from Italy, said that Piedmont has different academic specialties than his previous school.
“In Italy, I attend a classical school, where the material is a lot more focused on humanities like Latin, Ancient Greek, and philosophy,” Cocuzza said. “Here, we seem to focus more on the sciences. The technology at Piedmont is better, too.”
Other newcomers have noticed Piedmont’s intense concentration on academic success and rigor.
“The academic level here is more advanced than in the Philippines,” junior Basma Rey said. I’ve been adjusting to the classes because the [structure] is different but the lessons are the same. In the Philippines, we don’t have homework.”
This competitive academic culture can lead to strange interactions, English teacher Aaron Barlin said.
“I just updated grades this past weekend, and some people are off by a few points of the total 21 and people are emailing me,” Barlin said, “I’m like, shouldn’t you be happy? You have a 98 percent in the
class.”
As a strong backbone for tough academics, teachers are nice and supportive, said sophomore Jezabel Droga, who came to Piedmont after living in England, France, and Miami.
“The kindness of teachers and people really stood out [about Piedmont], I love all my teachers which is a new one,” she said.
Senior Annika Lambe, who came to Piedmont after going to multiple other schools in the Bay Area, said that the teachers are extremely helpful. However, in terms of the social scene, Piedmont is a weird place to get thrown into, because of how long everyone has known each other.
“I think the culture here is very clique-y,” Lambe said. “There is an interesting dynamic at Piedmont because everyone has been together for so long, so everyone knows each other really well, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is nicer to each other.”
However, both Droga and Lambe said they were able to integrate into the culture here pretty well.
“I was kind of nervous on the first day, but I met a few people beforehand and it was easy to integrate. People here are very curious and open-hearted,” Droga said.
Since Piedmont is so tight-knit, there is a real sense of community that is driven home.
“Everyone is always helping or relying on each other,” Droga said. “In Miami, I had more trouble experiencing this.”
Some see Piedmont as a homogenous community, while others see it as a diverse place. There is much more diversity here compared to Spain, Costa said.
Lambe said that this is not the case compared to where she came from.
“Everyone looks kind of the same [at Piedmont],” she said. “There is a lot less diversity than even Saint Mary’s, which is a private school, and Tech.”
The social life in Piedmont is also a little bit different than in Spain, Costa said.
“[It’s odd that] people don’t party every weekend, as far as I know. I have friends in Spain that go clubbing every single Friday and every single Saturday,” Costa said.
Costa said that in Spain there are no house parties, which are common occurrences in Piedmont.
Droga said that sports are really thrust into the limelight in Piedmont.
“I have been doing cross country and it is every day for two hours,” said Droga. “This is really crazy because most schools I’ve been to have sports as an elective you can take, but it’s nothing serious.”
Costa said that this muted sports culture is prevalent in Spanish schools as well, so he is excited for big sporting and spirit events such as football games here.
Lambe and Droga said they are also excited for the football games because it is something they previously missed at their previous schools.
“Saint Mary’s didn’t have night games and I didn’t really go to Tech games,” Lambe said. “I’m really excited for the football games and the spirit [at Piedmont].”
This kind of school spirit excites Rey as well, she said.
“I’m so excited about activities like Winter Ball and Homecoming,” Rey said. “I also want to join clubs.
Droga said that Piedmont is shaping up to be the epitome of what she was looking for in her high school years.
“I have usually been at very small schools where there weren’t any football teams or cheerleaders,” Droga said. “There was nothing. Here is really the high school experience that I have been looking for since I moved.”