Hosting a foreign exchange student was one of the best decisions my family ever made, and it all started almost by chance. We saw an ad on Facebook by our local coordinator and did some research and decided to reach out to ETC and find out a little bit about hosting an exchange student, and before I knew it, we were preparing to welcome a student into our home. We’re hosted our third student this year and they’ve all been from different countries and can honestly say we wouldn’t change a thing if we had to do it over again.
From the very first day, hosting became an adventure for the entire family. Our son, though younger, embraced having an “older sibling” with wide-eyed enthusiasm. There are some adjustments that have to be made with an exchange student in the house, especially if they’re active in school and participate in extracurricular activities, but we’ve always figured it out.
What surprised me the most was how much we learned about ourselves through the process. The good? We were exposed to a completely new culture and found joy in sharing our own traditions in return. The bad? Well, there were a few moments of miscommunication, mostly because of cultural differences, but those moments became learning opportunities. The challenges? Honestly, nothing that couldn’t be solved with patience and a sense of humor.
We did have one challenging experience with a student who struggled with communicating. She was a great kid who thoroughly enjoyed her time in the U.S. but struggled with English and instead of practicing It was tough for everyone, but it taught us the importance of setting expectations and maintaining open communication.
We’re true believers in our exchange students participating in sports. None of the three played organized sports prior to arriving in the U.S. but soon found themselves practicing sports they’ve never played. Our first student decided on tennis and was a natural. She won multiple awards at her sports banquet and was beloved by her teammates, so she continued with her participation in a sport in the spring and played lacrosse…on the Varsity team!! Our current student came home and told us she had decided on her sport and it came as a shock to us all. Wrestling!! She’s a petite girl so wrestling was the last sport we thought she would be interested in. She was a nervous wreck prior to her first match, but when she finally got on the mat she transformed into mighty mouse and pinned her opponent in 28 seconds. It was a proud Host Family moment.
Today, the students we’ve hosted are truly like family to us. We keep in touch through social media and video calls. They’ve become “big siblings” to our son and a permanent part of our lives. Hosting a foreign exchange student has expanded our world in ways I never imagined, making us more empathetic, understanding, and globally connected. It’s been a transformational journey, and I would wholeheartedly encourage anyone to take the leap—it’s so worth it!
