Meet Our Students

Miharu is a cheerful girl from Japan who is excited to improve her English! Traveling on a school trip to Singapore, hosting an exchange student from India, and getting to know a Taiwanese student who joined her school, has helped her realize that learning English well will help her improve relationships and better understand cultures worldwide. She loves taking photos and is even a member of a photo club. She is excited to capture special moments of her exchange year! With a passion for Japanese anime and manga, Miharu is excited to see the books on the shelves of an American bookstore or library. She has a few allergy sensitivities that she manages well on her own. Ultimately, she is excited to learn from her host family and share wonderful memories together!

David lives with his mom, dad, and sister in a medium-sized city in central Germany, where everything is easy to reach by bicycle – school, the city center, soccer club, and other activities. This allows him to stay active and independent in daily life. He spends his afternoons doing homework, hanging out with friends, going to the gym and soccer but is always home to have dinner with his parents. David is an avid soccer player and also follows American sports such as, the NBA and NFL, especially the Seattle Seahawks. His favorite subjects are math and science because he enjoys solving problems and understanding how things work.

Jade is so excited to become a high school exchange student. Some of her favorite activities are playing piano, running, listening to music, watching movies, fashion and learning about new cultures. Curious to discover a new school system that is so different from her French school, she is looking forward to becoming fully immersed in her new classes and friendships and join cheerleading. Jade is excited to join a host family to learn more about a typical American family and to practice her English enough to become fluent. She is an only child, so she is very excited about the possibility of having a sibling or siblings in her host family! Calm, open-minded and respectful, Jade is looking forward to challenging herself in her new environment.

Meet Nina from France! She has practiced modern dance for the past 10 years, and this allowed her to meet new people and participate in competitions. This taught her to manage stress and gain confidence, but she has not been able to do it much lately and it would be great if she was able to participate in a dance program in the US. Nina also enjoys school, her subjects like business management, economics and human resources will help her with her future endeavors. She hopes to join some clubs at school to focus on leadership as well. Her friends would describe her as fun, outgoing, meticulous, and loves to laugh. Nina likes to meet with friends for coffee, celebrate birthdays, go to concerts and watch football games. She wants to continue to discover new things during her exchange year and cannot wait to meet her new host family.

Cynthia is a thoughtful and gentle student from Taiwan who enjoys quiet moments, meaningful connections, and expressing herself through the arts. She loves listening to jazz music and has played the cello since childhood, appreciating its bold and expressive personality. In her free time, she enjoys cheerful movies, exploring new places, cooking—especially desserts—and sharing food with others. Curious and open‑minded, Cynthia hopes to come to America to experience everyday life with a host family, challenge herself with new activities like cheerleading, and participate fully in cultural exchange. She is excited to share Taiwanese traditions such as making dumplings and writing Spring Festival couplets, while also learning and embracing American customs. Above all, Cynthia wants to build warm relationships, discover a new way of life, and bring those experiences back to share with her friends at home.

Meet Arstenbek from Kyrgyzstan. He is a serious student with a fun side! He is excited to learn about American culture and wants to try baseball and American football. He enjoys hobbies like chess, Monopoly, and table tennis. He is a recipient of the prestigious FLEX scholarship for students that have demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities. He spends weekdays at a boarding school where he is engaged in several interesting projects called GreenLand, Bilimbot, Olimpfund and Olimplearn. He describes the boarding school as an opportunity that he is extremely grateful to be a part of where he is learning cleanliness and respect for elders along with academic subjects. On weekends he is home with his family which includes his mother, father and ten-year-old brother. Helping out at home when he is there is very important to Arstanbek, he cleans, cooks and grocery shops for his family. He is also very passionate about his culture; he plays a traditional instrument called the Chopo-Chor. He also acknowledges what an amazing act of kindness hosting a student is and will truly appreciate this opportunity to its fullest.

Wahel is a curious, energetic, and open minded boy from France who dreams of discovering life in the United States. He loves sports like swimming, running, and badminton, enjoys learning languages such as English and Korean, and has a strong passion for history. At home, he spends his time cooking with his family, watching movies, going out with friends, and taking care of his lively dog, Sania. Motivated, ambitious, and eager to explore new cultures, Wahel hopes to improve his English, experience American traditions like Halloween, Christmas, and Thanksgiving, and share his own French culture in return. His biggest wish is to live with an American family, learn their way of life, and build unforgettable memories while studying in an American high school.

I live in northern Italy with my parents and my older brother. I attend a scientific high school because I enjoy subjects like mathematics. I like spending time with my family, doing activities such as playing board games, watching movies, biking, and skiing. I practice athletics and I am a middle-distance runner. I also enjoy swimming, cycling, walking, and ice skating. In my free time, I like being with friends, watching TV series (especially Suits), reading novels and magazines, and playing video games. I love cooking and eating, especially parmigiana, mushroom risotto, and chocolate desserts. I chose to spend a school year in the United States to improve my English and to experience a different culture and school system. I am excited to try new subjects and meet new people. I am interested in airplanes and would like to become an airline pilot in the future. I am very grateful to my host family for welcoming me into their home, and I hope we will spend a wonderful year together.

Jean lives with his parents, two brothers, sister and dog. He was born in the Caribbean and lived there for the first seven years of his life. He is a practicing Catholic and goes to church every Sunday. In his free time, Jean likes to play tennis, running, swimming, and cycling. He has been involved in scouting for several years. His friends and family often say that he brings energy and joy to the people around him.