“They come from around the world and they all share a common desire: Soak up as much of the American experience as possible. Then, they return home and they become ambassadors of sorts, maintaining lifelong connections to a country that they admire and people that they come to love. In…
Benedetta Villano, an exchange student from Italy, was able to graduate high school in Italy and in America. Read some of her amazing story below, or read the full article here. Benedetta “Benni” Villano is a 17-year-old exchange student from Italy that was placed with a host family in Yuma,…
Irene Huguet is a Spanish exchange student attending high school in Wantagh, New York. Irene arrived to New York this past summer and has been loving every moment she has been here. She is a high honors student, as well as the starting center for the girls basketball team. Irene…
Studying in the United States can be an enormously eye-opening experience for a teen who has spent most or all of their formative years immersed in the culture of their home country. But for many incoming exchange students, their first experiences in America are certainly not their first interaction with…
You’ve packed your bags, bought your plane ticket and may have even started saying your goodbyes to friends and family — but the international exchange adventure is just beginning with your new host family. Before you know it, you’ll be spending a big part of your day with brand new…
A semester or year spent living overseas as a teen elicits plenty of emotions — excitement, anticipation, and wonder just to name a few. That said, some level of discomfort and even sadness is inevitable when an exchange student embarks on an extended trip so far from home. Helping your…
Virtually every international student comes to the United States with some idea of their goals academically. After all, studying abroad is still very much that — spending time in an American classroom, learning alongside other teens and receiving grades just like a normal high-schooler. But for cultural exchange students, the lessons…
There are plenty of reasons to spend a semester or year living and studying abroad, from learning about new cultures to forging lasting relationships with people all around the world. But for many teens and their families, studying abroad is a very big step both emotionally and financially. Many stop…
New food, new people, a new environment… nearly all of us enjoy trying something “new” on vacation. Whether you’re a beach bum or an outdoor enthusiast, just about everyone enjoys ditching their daily routine and doing something out of the ordinary every once in a while. Studying abroad can help…
Only a decade or two ago, international travel and cultural exchange looked very different than it does today. While handwritten letters and the occasional phone call used to be the preferred method for international communication, nowadays technology like Skype and Facetime allows exchange students to have face-to-face conversations with family…