T

he summer between my freshman and sophomore 
years, my family housed our first exchange student. 
At the time, Caro, a bubbly soccer player with an 

infectious smile, was a junior in high school from Bully, a 
small French city. She came to Midland, Mich., where my 
family lives, through the Rotary Club Exchange, which 
provides high school students with the opportunity to spend 
a year abroad with three or four different host families to 
better understand local culture.

As British expats in the United States, my family provides 

a unique perspective for exchange students. The students 
come to the United States to learn the American way of life, 
but staying with a British family changes the experience. As 
Caro’s last family in her rotation, she was well accustomed 
to the American way of life by the time she moved in. Her 
English was basically fluent and she had a good group of 
friends at school. I was moving home from my first year in 
college, happy that I’d be coming home to something — or 
more like someone — new and exciting. The idea of having 
a new person living in our house was cool. I looked forward 
to the opportunity to interact with Caro and share with her 
my life experiences and opinions. Caro was someone 
else to hang out with, talk to and practice French with. 
I was excited to have the entire summer to get to know 
her.

As the months went by, Caro and I got close, and the 

experience became so much more. It slowly became 
more normal to see her hanging out at my house, and 
she became another person to hang out with when 
things at the house were slow. She told me about her life, 
I told her about mine and we got to know the nuances 
of each other’s cultures, backgrounds and families. I 
learned about the French school system, and how when 
Caro went back to France, she would have to take the 
bac, a standardized French exam that determines what 
you can study at college. I told her about college at the 
University of Michigan, where we can — and often do 
— change our majors and programs in a matter of days. 
We taught each other swear words in our respective 
languages and laughed about it like children for hours. 

We even planned times to visit each other in the future, or 
meet wherever in the world we may end up.

With all good things, Caro’s stay came to an end and 

it came the time to say goodbye. Even after a few short 
months, we had bonded and created a deep friendship. It 
made me sad to say goodbye to her, as I felt like she was 
becoming a part of our family. Though she was two years 
younger than me, she felt like a sister and someone I would 
see every morning, pouring cereal into her bowl or, after 
dinner, doing work at the kitchen table.

After Caro left, my sister, Maddy, departed for her trip to 

France. She was participating in the same program as Caro 
and would spend a year abroad in Rochefort, France. Having 
Caro stay with us was a good opportunity for Maddy to see 
cultural exchange from the other side. Maddy was 16 years 
old when she went abroad going, and going abroad during 
junior year of high school is frightening. She could see the 
different emotions Caro might go through, how Caro would 
adjust to our culture. And, luckily, Maddy and Caro got to 
meet up across the world in Caro’s hometown.

The house was lonely with my brother the only child left 

at home. I visited often to keep my mom company, as the 
house went from six people to three in only a few weeks. 
It wasn’t long until my parents made up their minds: We 
would have another exchange student as soon as possible.

When Maddy came back this last summer, a new exchange 

student shortly followed. This time: a 16-year-old German 
boy named Lukas. When I went home for Fall Break, I met 
him for the first time and we had the opportunity to hang 
out and get to know each other.

Though Lukas is in the same program Caro was in, the 

experience has been totally different for my family. As each 
person has different interests, motivations and aspirations, 
Lukas and Caro could not be more opposite. Lukas is a 
6-foot-7-inch analytical, musically talented performer 
and the perfect contender for our high school’s basketball 
team. Having never played basketball before, I found it 
comical that in the four days I was home, Lukas was outside 
practicing every day and learning a very stereotypical 
“American sport” to satisfy the Dow High coaches that saw 
a very, very tall kid join the school in September.

I am so thankful that my family hosts exchange students 
because I get this invaluable opportunity to be a big 
sister to someone new. Accepting a new person into your 
home, and your status quo, can be really difficult. When 
it goes right, the experience is so rewarding and fun. 
Saying goodbye to Caro was one of my saddest goodbyes, 
and I’m sure Lukas’ goodbye will be equally sad.

In the future, I encourage anyone and their families 

to host an exchange student because the experience is 
invaluable. It’s not like travelling to another country 
and experiencing the culture firsthand; rather, it’s 
watching someone else grow within your own culture. 
I saw Caro perfect her English, play for her high school 
soccer team and travel all over the country. Similarly, I 
see Lukas dedicating himself to basketball, playing in 
our high school band and even carving a pumpkin for 
the first time. It’s so fun to watch someone observe, ask 
questions and soak up everything you take for granted 
each day.

2B

Magazine Editor:

Karl Williams

Deputy Editors:

Nabeel Chollampat 

Lara Moehlman

Design Editor:

Shane Achenbach

Photo Editor:

Zoey Holmstrom

Creative Director:

Emilie Farrugia

Editor in Chief:

Shoham Geva

Managing Editor:

Laura Schinagle

Copy Editors:

Emily Campbell

Alexis Nowicki

Taylor Grandinetti

the statement

Wednesday, November 16, 2016 / The Statement

All Around the World: On the Other End of Exchange 
B Y I S O B E L F U T T E R

the
tangent

ILLUSTRATION BY EMILIE FARRUGIA

COVER BY SHANE ACHENBACH AND NABEEL CHOLLAMPAT

