Meet Our Students

She’s a dynamic 16-year-old (17 when she arrives) from Italy with a passion for athletics, art, and cultural discovery. A competitive hammer and discus thrower for over a decade, she’s also a dedicated art student who loves painting, drawing, and exploring new techniques. Her hobbies include cooking, caring for animals, watching films and TV series, and learning about music and languages from around the world. She dreams of studying in an American high school to challenge herself, grow independently, and connect deeply with a new culture. Host her—and help her turn curiosity into connection, and talent into transformation.

Meet Indira an amazing student from Tajikistan!! She is so excited to meet her new host family for 2026/2027. Indira has worked incredibly hard to have this opportunity. She is ready to embrace this adventure of a new culture and becoming a part of your family. Her intelligence is a true gift; she loves gaining new learning opportunities' so much she is enrolled and taking higher level classes at the age of 16. Her wealth of knowledge gives her a great social aspect on life. She loves meeting people from all aspects of life and just getting to know who they are. She likes to cook and make desserts; she expresses that cooking is her LOVE language and wants to share her love for cooking with her new host family. Support family is important to Indira; she helps teach her younger brothers. She loves to volunteer her time in many different ways, through family or the community. Becoming a doctor is not just a dream but a way of living her life now for her future. She wants to help communities everywhere; you would be her first adventure in a new place. Help Indira grow with becoming a member of your family and host!!

Meet Adelaide from France where she lives with her father, mother, and younger brother, and their family bond is very strong, playing a “huge part” in her life. She describes herself as joyful, funny, and smart, though she can be a bit reserved when tired, responsible and somewhat competitive, Adelaide has a wide range of interests including: Tennis, Running, Dancing, Music, Singing, Pilates and going to the gym. Currently, she attends a boarding school with approximately 700 students. During her stay in the United States, she hopes to join a choir and the dance team. In her free time, she enjoys reading detective novels and watching detective and medical series. She has explored India and aspires to find a future career that allows her to uncover new places and have unique experiences. “So, to start these dreams, I want to start with the United States, because it’s iconic and full of diversity”.

Martina (Marti) is a sunny, animal-loving student from Italy who’s passionate about understanding people and their behavior. She studies human sciences, rides horses competitively, and enjoys skiing, gymnastics, and cooking homemade pizza with her Dad. When she was 10, she spoke with a girl who had just returned from an exchange year in the U.S.—and from that moment, it became her dream to do the same. Now, she’s excited to finally make it happen! Marti looks forward to learning about American culture, making new friends, and growing through this experience. She hopes to be part of a warm, welcoming family and can’t wait to share laughter, traditions, and everyday life together. If you're looking for a joyful, curious, and caring student to share your home and heart with—Marti is ready to become part of your family.

Anna lives in Italy with her older brother and younger sister. She did gymnastics for years, but due to the stress on her body, she now helps coach young girls in gym and began snowboarding with her dad and siblings. She also loves to run. She is interested in trying out new sports in America, perhaps cheerleading, but also likes music and the arts. Anna likes the outdoors, but likes to spend time inside also, usually in the kitchen. Baking and making traditional Italian dishes are her passion. She loves to cook and bake and would love to help her new family learn new recipes also. She has responsibilities in her home in Italy and expects to have similar ones in her new home. Anna is excited to be part of a family and learn more about the American culture. She is excited about riding a school bus, decorating her locker and experiencing high school in America.

Tihalina from France, writes “I want to discover the world not through books or screens, but through smiles, meetings, and everyday gestures.”  She and her family have adopted goats who they refer to as the “Queens of the garden”.  Besides loving her four-legged family members, she enjoys a close-knit home life with her two brothers and dad. She describes herself as independent and enthusiastic.  She has a wide range of interests including music, reading, photography and scouting which she enjoys due the respect for nature and teamwork that it fosters.  She is also very involved in sports and physical activity such as tennis, basketball, ping pong, track, dance, and roller skating.  She is also very dedicated to the philosophy of cultural exchange. She is extremely focused on bringing unique cultural experiences to the table-literally- she loves to cook crepes, kouign-amman and her family’s special recipe from the Southwest of France,  canelés Bordelais.  Tihalina also wants to learn about and take part in such American traditions as Thanksgiving.  Please consider opening your home to a student who is full of appreciation of other cultures and wishes to learn all she can as well as share the uniqueness of her own with you. 

Meet Arstenbek from Kyrgyzstan. He is a serious student with a fun side! He is excited to learn about American culture and wants to try baseball and American football. He enjoys hobbies like chess, Monopoly, and table tennis. He is a recipient of the prestigious FLEX scholarship for students that have demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities. He spends weekdays at a boarding school where he is engaged in several interesting projects called GreenLand, Bilimbot, Olimpfund and Olimplearn. He describes the boarding school as an opportunity that he is extremely grateful to be a part of where he is learning cleanliness and respect for elders along with academic subjects. On weekends he is home with his family which includes his mother, father and ten-year-old brother. Helping out at home when he is there is very important to Arstanbek, he cleans, cooks and grocery shops for his family. He is also very passionate about his culture; he plays a traditional instrument called the Chopo-Chor. He also acknowledges what an amazing act of kindness hosting a student is and will truly appreciate this opportunity to its fullest.

Alexis is from France, where he resides with his parents and younger sister; his older sister is currently studying at college in England. “Being the only guy surrounded by two girls isn't always easy! So, if you have boys around my age in your family, that would be awesome and a lot of fun for me”. Basketball is his passion, and he has been playing for six years, hoping to join the high school team in the U.S. Additionally, Alexis enjoys mountain biking, soccer (position goalie) and water and snow skiing. He often plays chess with his father and has a fondness for other board games too. He is eagerly looking forward to experiencing Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Meet Luana who is from an Italian city bursting with history and postcard-perfect scenes. Italian born and Peruvian at heart, she shares her lively home with her mom, stepdad, two sisters, her rabbit, and a hamster named Taco. Luana describes herself as active, cheerful, curious and positive, a bit shy at first, then she becomes very sociable. She is a very responsible and reliable person. Luana loves hanging out with friends but also treasures her quiet moments. She enjoys going to the gym and having a healthy lifestyle. She has played volleyball for 2 years, she enjoys being part of a team. Her downtime she enjoys being with friends, music with happy vibes, and quality family time. She enjoys cooking especially desserts and lasagna is her favorite, and she also looks forward to making Peruvian dishes. At school, Law is her favorite subject. She keeps her room tidy “because I like living in an organized space and I work hard to do this every day”. She's got it all figured out—or at least seems like she does!

"Javi" is from Spain and describes himself as fun-loving and always smiling.  He is extremely family-oriented and has 3 older siblings.  He loves swimming, golf and tennis, but soccer is his "passion".   He loves sports and family and every summer his family and cousins, go to a lake house to play sports and enjoy the beach. Javi would love to have a career as a lawyer and play professional soccer.