Do a Great Thing for Your Community - Host a Foreign Exchange Student

Do a Great Thing for Your Community - Host a Foreign Exchange Student

(ARA) - Laurie Scott always enjoyed volunteering while living in Michigan, whether helping out at her local zoo or her son's school. But it wasn't until she moved to Nevada five years ago that her volunteer work took her onto the international stage.

New to the state, Laurie and her husband Martin found a volunteer opportunity right in their apartment building. The building superintendent was hosting a foreign exchange student with EF Foundation for Foreign Study and put them in contact with the program's local coordinator. Things happened quickly after that.

"Two weeks later we were being interviewed," says Scott. "A few weeks after that, our first exchange student arrived."

The couple initially got involved in the program to help exchange students. Scott lights up when she discusses the young people her family has met through hosting. "They are all such wonderful kids," she says. "Smart, athletic, fun to be around."

Scott remembers that when each students arrived, it was "pretty obvious" that they were from a foreign country because they didn't understand American customs. Once they became involved in school activities and made friends, however, they immersed themselves in the American lifestyle and gained new points of view.

"Each of our kids came to the U.S. with their own unique perspective on our society and culture, and they weren't always positive views," Scott says. "By the time they left us at the end of the school year, their views had totally changed. Now for the rest of their lives, they will be walking ambassadors for America."

While the Scotts have given so much to students from abroad, she says that they have gotten so much back from them as well. "Now our family extends around the world and we have so many new places to visit," she adds.

Emily Santillo, president of EF Foundation for Foreign Study, stresses the true exchange that takes place when families host. "The best way to experience another culture is by opening your heart and home to a young person from another country," Santillo says. "Your family and community gain the opportunity to learn about another culture while you have a chance to share your American values and traditions."

Laurie Scott agrees, noting that hosting exchange students can build mutual understanding for everyone involved. "We really need programs like this to understand each other. It has been a fantastic experience for us," she says.

EF Foundation students are between 15 and 18 years old, and arrive with health insurance and their own spending money. Host families are asked to provide a room, meals and a stable family environment.

EF Foundation for Foreign Study is a non-profit organization that welcomes high school students from all over the world to live and study for a year in the United States. Since 1979, the program has helped 90,000 students from nearly 40 countries take part in international exchange.

To learn more about the EF Foundation and the steps you'll need to take to become a host family, log on to http://www.effoundation.org or call (800) 44-SHARE.

Courtesy of ARAcontent