Have you ever considered hosting a foreign exchange student but didn’t know how to do it? There is a program currently placing students in Arkansas. Ayusa (Academic Year in the USA) is a foreign exchange program for high school students.
Local resident Michael Young and his wife Erin have been participating in the program. They have hosted three students and are currently waiting on their fourth and fifth to arrive for the 2021-2022 school year.
“My wife and I began hosting in 2019. It is such an awesome and rewarding program,” said Young. “We hosted a young man from Netherlands then a Dutch girl. We’re currently hosting a Japanese girl and we have an Austrian and Mexican coming in August.”
Young said he enjoys the program so much that he decided to become a Community Representative last year in an effort to bring more students to central Arkansas.
Ayusa has been around for more than 30 years. It’s a non-profit high school exchange organization dedicated to developing the next generation of global leaders and world citizens. By connecting extraordinary international students with host families in the U.S., they cultivate leadership skills, develop intercultural awareness and enhance global knowledge not only through education, but through experience.
“Miles, language, and cultural differences sometimes make us feel worlds apart from each other,” said Young, “But when you welcome an international high school exchange student into your home, you quickly discover they become family. Through conversations and experiences at home, school, and throughout the community, you will learn how close together ‘worlds apart’ can really be.”
This program, through the US Department of State, allows high school students from other countries to come to the US and spend one year attending high school. The program is considered grass roots diplomacy, providing the opportunity for volunteer host families, schools, and communities to share their America with students from around the world, while learning about other cultures. High School Exchange brings the world to thousands of communities every year across the US, building bridges with relationships that can last a lifetime.
Young said, “I know my wife and I are still very much connected to our previous students. We talk regularly and I actually mailed out a birthday gift to our Dutch boy today. His favorite candy from the US is Butterfinger and I make it a point to send him some for his birthdays.”
He continued, “We have several great schools in central Arkansas, especially in Saline County. I am a former Bryant resident and I know how wonderful this community is. I would love to be able to find host families in Saline County which could open opportunities for exchange students to attend Bryant, Benton, Bauxite or Harmony Grove High School.”
Young contends that hosting a student isn’t as hard as people might think. “When my wife and I were considering hosting, we were concerned about logistics, additional expenses, what if the student doesn’t like us, what if we don’t like the student, etc. Well, the support staff at Ayusa put our minds at ease. The students became like our own children and they come with their own spending money too. We just have to provide a comfortable place for them to sleep and add one plate to the dinner table. It’s really that easy. And our worries about them not liking us — or vice-versa — were squelched long before they even got here. We were able to Skype with all of our students months ahead of their arrivals and already made bonds even before they got here.
He explained though that if something were to happen and they needed help, Ayusa’s Community Representative is a phone call away. “It really gives us peace of mind knowing such an awesome staff is in our corner should the need arise.”
To get started, the website is www.ayusa.org and there’s a couple of local Facebook pages www.facebook.com/myayusa and www.facebook.com/ayusaarkansas. Let them know you saw them on MySaline!