An exchange student is someone who comes into your life when you least expect it and teaches you to trust that little voice inside you saying, “just do it!”. An exchange student is someone who teaches you to take a leap of faith when you really don’t know how things will turn out.
Hosting an exchange student is the hope that you can share your culture with someone new and learn about a whole new culture. It’s the fear that they won’t get along with your kids and finding out that they have become one of your kids.
Hosting an exchange student is wanting to help a teenager reach her dreams and having her spark new dreams in you.
It’s hoping that you have something to offer – something that will make her look back in five years and smile. It’s hoping that your ordinary old life won’t be a disappointment.
In time, that exchange student becomes a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter – and a friend to your pet. She encourages you with her presence and makes you laugh out lout with her stories.
And just when you thought that your heart was completely full of all of the love that it could hold, an exchange student will move in and make room for more.
And the day that you cry when you think about her leaving, you learn to treasure every moment!
-Host Mum
