Meet Our Students

Doniyor is a high school student from Uzbekistan who comes from a close and supportive family. He enjoys helping at home, spending time with his sisters, and relaxing with family movie nights or evening walks. He has a wide range of interests, especially math, law, economics, and diplomacy, and hopes to study pre-law or international relations in the future. Doniyor loves staying active through sports like soccer, tennis, volleyball, swimming, and chess — and he even played on a professional youth soccer team. When he’s not studying or playing sports, Doniyor enjoys filming and editing videos, exploring his city, traveling, and hanging out with friends. He also has a fun and creative hobby: inventing meals using only eggs and potatoes (six so far!), which has earned him jokes about opening a “potato-only restaurant.” He describes himself as positive, curious, and friendly, and he enjoys making people laugh and feel comfortable. Doniyor is excited to experience American culture, improve his English, and build meaningful connections during his exchange year.

Meet Marly from Germany! She is always ready and prepared for her next adventure in life. Marly loves to find humor in situations and honesty is important to her. She is athletic and currently rides horses. She has been riding since she was very young. She used to own a horse and knows how to take care of them. When she is not riding horses, she plays tennis or at the gym working out. Marly just like her mom, loves kids. She babysits in her free time, hangs out with friends, and she loves going to her local soccer games. Marly has a family of 3 besides herself. Her mom, dad and older sister love to travel to other countries and learn new cultures. Both her mother and sister were exchange students in the USA. She has heard such good stories and even has met the host families of both her mom and her sister. Let’s help Marly continue the family tradition and follow her dreams.

Meet Tihalina,16, 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 Luana, a 17-year-old girl 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!

More to follow...

Meet Buldirshin from Kazakhstan!! Buldirshin wants to not only walk down American streets, share stories but enjoying the environment she is in at that moment. She cooks with her mom and helps her siblings with homework. Buldirshin is very motivated to learn about you and America. She wants to know all the things your family cherishes, from dinner choices, traditions and just having fun together. Buldirshin has a strong desire to be a leader in global finance one day. She loves reading books about what she is passionate about. Her music selection of classical music shows her love for the piano and violin. Besides music helping her relax and think, she loves a good game of volleyball. Buldirshin wants to study not only in an American High School, but she hopes this is the steppingstone of being able to attend college in America. She is fascinated with the economic growth America shows and has decided that is what she wants to study. Buldirshin is very friendly and respects family values. She cannot wait to meet her new host family, learn, grow and become a part of your family.

Arianna, 16, from Italy lives with her family, which includes her mom, dad, brother, and their beloved dog, Lola, an Australian Shepherd, she loves animals. Her little brother is her favorite person. She describes herself as a funny girl, who loves talking, making new friendships and new experiences. Arianna has a deep passion for cooking, particularly when it comes to baking cookies. Her other interests include theatre, bicycling, listening to pop music, traveling and exploring new places and watching movies (her favorite genre is horror). Ari loves children and has worked as an entertainer at a summer camp for the past two years. She has also tried various sports, including dance, swimming, basketball, tennis, and gymnastics, with tennis being her favorite, she played for six years. After high school, Arianna dreams of becoming an au pair in the United States. She chose to participate in an exchange program to share Italian culture with her American family and community by cooking traditional dishes. Additionally, she aims to become more independent and improve her English skills. Although she is uncertain about her future, Arianna knows she loves working with children and envisions a career as a teacher. That's all from Italy for now, looking forward to meeting you!

Alexis (15) 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.

Friedrich lives with his parents and three siblings as he describes his family as close, supportive and spending a lot of time together.  At school, Friedrich describes himself as a serious student, his favorite subjects include Art, English and German.  He has also participated in several school plays.  For hobbies he enjoys playing handball, photography and gardening. His friends describe him as calm, trustworthy and easy to get along with. Additionally, he describes himself as tidy and organized.  He is excited about attending High School in America, his mother was an exchange student in the 11th grade and had a lot of fun.  He looks forward to experiencing different teaching methods, school spirit and pep rallies, and he would love to try baseball.

Meet Emma, 15, from France.  She writes, “I want to live the everyday life of an American teenager….I want to understand the culture, traditions, and way of life of an American family…it is a dream to be part of a family abroad, to share moments with them, to celebrate holidays together, and to learn from each other.” She describes herself as coming from a very close-knit family which includes her parents, her little sister and her beloved dog, Urion. Her parents own their own bakery, and she is eager to help them where she can.  She envisions herself helping her host family in their home as well and baking French pastries with them as a way of sharing her traditions. She is also looking forward to learning her host’s traditions and thinks the best way to learn about another culture is to live with a host family.  Her hobbies include jazz dance, afro dance, swimming and reading.  Besides caring for her dog, Emma also has experience caring for and riding horses. Please consider opening your home to Emma, she is looking forward to making this a year a year of friendship and sharing with her host family as well as personal growth and increased confidence!