Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 7, 1990 TAG: 9005070078
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FERRUM LENGTH: Medium
It was there when Gianpiero Repole was a high school junior that Ferrum's future top graduate entered an international student exchange program.
The move brought him to Franklin County High School in Rocky Mount - a far cry from his home town in the northern Alps.
"These mountains here are hills to me," Repole said.
But he enjoyed his stay in Virginia nonetheless and dreamed of eventually coming back to attend college.
"I just wanted to try something different in my life," he said. "I didn't want to be like everybody else. I wanted to grow in a different way."
First, however, he had to finish high school in Italy, where students are required to complete one year more than those in the United States.
Then there also was mandatory military service after graduation.
The prospect of returning wasn't looking good.
"For almost a year I wasn't sure if I'd be able to come back, but I kept hoping," he said.
To make matters worse, Repole's father, who works as a security guard and his mother, a seamstress, couldn't afford to send him to college abroad.
But thanks to Broaddus and Jo Shively, his dream came true, culminating Sunday at Ferrum College's 74th commencement.
Repole, 22, the school's valedictorian with a 3.96 grade point average, was one of the 180 graduates to receive a diploma.
The Shivelys were Repole's host family when he lived in Rocky Mount as a high school exchange student. They also wanted to see him come back.
"So, I wrote friends and relatives from Franklin County to Boston and back to raise the money," said Jo Shively, a retired school teacher from Franklin County High.
The contributions, ranging from $10 to $400, poured in.
Repole roomed with the Shivelys again his first semester before moving on campus.
He managed to stay at Ferrum three more years by earning academic scholarships and working as a tutor, cafeteria worker and aide in the student activities office. He also worked as a translator for two summers back in Italy at the World Bow and Arrow Championships.
Still, despite his hard work once he got to Ferrum, Repole said he never would have made it without help from the Shivelys.
"I'm forever indebted to them," he said.
Broaddus Shively, who was elected as Rocky Mount's new mayor last week, nicknamed Repole, "Ravioli." And, the Shivelys introduce Repole around town as their Italian son.
Repole chose Ferrum over other larger schools in Virginia and elsewhere because he believed he would get more individual attention in the smaller setting.
"In Italy, you go to school and you go home. That's it," he explained.
Repole's parents were not able to attend Sunday's commencement because of work commitments.
The Shivelys gladly substituted in their absence, playing the role of the proud parents and sharing hugs with Repole after the ceremony.
A double major in finance and Spanish, Repole is fluent in four languages and plans to learn Japanese this summer while on a cultural exchange to Japan. Next year, he plans to attend the American Graduate School of International Management in Arizona.
He wants to join a multinational corporation after that and eventually open his own international brokerage firm.
Maybe then he'll be able to pay the Shivelys back, he said, unless he is forced into military duty first. After putting it off while in college, his mandatory time still looms.
In light of the help Repole received in attending Ferrum and his desire to repay that debt some day, the remarks of Sen. John Warner, commencement speaker, seemed appropriate.
He told the graduates that for four years they have been on the helping end from faculty at Ferrum College. But now he said it is time for them to reach out and help others.
Warner got a chuckle out of Ferrum President Jerry Boone's flubbed introduction of him as Virginia's "senior citizen." Boone meant to say "senior senator."
And Warner himself got laughs and cheers for his closing confession that he was the school's fourth choice to speak at Sunday's commencement.
Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, Washington Bullets coach Wes Unseld and Baltimore Orioles manager Frank Robinson all turned down the invitation before Warner was asked.
"Not one of those men had the guts to come down here and speak in the shadow of Hank Norton and the other coaches of this great school," Warner said Boone told him. Norton has been Ferrum's football coach for 30 years.
by CNB