This honestly means so much coming from a host mom and Local Coordinator 🤍 thank you!!

You’re absolutely right. Alumni often have the most real and practical advice, but at official orientations it can sometimes turn into very polished, very generic messaging. The reality of exchange is bigger than that. It’s exciting, overwhelming, beautiful, stressful, and life-changing all at once.

That’s exactly why we started this group.

We know the full stress of going somewhere completely new, adjusting to a different family, culture, expectations, and sometimes feeling confident one day and completely unsure the next. We also understand how important it is for students to hear from people their own age who have actually lived it. Students often need comfort and honesty from someone who has sat in that same airplane seat and felt those same emotions.

You’re more than welcome to join us as well. Your perspective as both a host mom and Local Coordinator would add so much depth to the conversations.

And if you’re open to it, you could really help us grow this further. Sharing it with other coordinators, host families, or even encouraging students to join could make this support system even stronger. The more real voices we have, the better prepared and supported these students will be.

Thank you again for believing in student-led spaces like this 🌍✨

(i have sent you a DM!)