Exchange Program Teaches Lessons From a Diverse World

Each year, Education First (EF) High School Exchange Year matches almost 3,000 international exchange students from around the world with host families across the United States. They come for a calendar school year to experience the American culture by attending high school and becoming part of the family. This year, we have three students right here in Lake Nona as well as dozens more in Central Florida!

As an international exchange coordinator, I work closely with the students during their exchange year, but I also help find them amazing host families before they arrive. One thing I love about hosting is that it has given our three younger children the opportunity to have a big sister to look up to! They are learning how different and diverse the world is right in their own backyard. It is especially fun when a box arrives from the student’s home country, and there are lots of goodies and different foods they get to try!

For the students, it really is about the little things. Whether it’s going to their first American high school football game or a family movie night, all their experiences mean so much to them. The experiences during their exchange year, from learning to communicate better to seeing how different the education system is, will shape them into the adults they will become. An exchange year also breaks down cultural barriers, so when they return to their home country, they have a positive view of America and continue spreading that view across the world. So, by hosting an exchange student, you are literally making the world better one person at a time!

A couple of our current EF students reflect on their year in Lake Nona:

“I’m so grateful I had the chance to be an exchange student! It has been the most challenging but most amazing year of my life. I have friends from all over the world and a second family. It was hard to leave my home country, but it’s going to be even harder to leave America. I am more self confident and independent. I will never forget my exchange and the people I’ve met.” – Romane from Switzerland

“It’s funny to see how strangers can change into family in just a couple days. Taking a plane to the other side of the world, walking into a new home with a new family and speaking a new lan
guage was one of the best decisions I ever made. Even though this exchange was just a year (school year), it will be one of the most important years of my life! The people I met, the places I saw, the things I learned, becoming fluent in English, and trying American food are all things I will never forget. But best of all, having a second family on the other side of the world! I am so thankful there are families who open their homes and their hearts to give us this amazing experience, because without them this would never be possible!” – Charlotte from the Netherlands