ARKANSAS, USA — Academic exchange organizations across the country are looking to place international students with host families for the fall semester, including in Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley.
Mary Baker, a local coordinator for PAX Academic Exchange, is working to find families in Arkansas who will open their homes to a student who wants to experience American culture for a school year.
Baker said the students participating in the PAX foreign exchange program come from more than 70 countries. They are 15 to 18 years old, proficient in English and come with medical insurance and their own spending money.
The role of the host family is to provide a bed, a place to study, three meals a day, and share American culture.
Baker said organizations like PAX will help match you with a student who’s a good fit for your family.
“I meet with the family, I talk with the family, I want to find out their hobbies,” Baker said. “You have your sports families. You have your musical families. You have your families that just like to read or hang out or play games. I try to find a student who I think would be a good fit for that family. Then I'll look at the profiles, I'll talk to the family about it, and we will go from there to pick who we think [would be the best fit].”
Baker said even if you don’t think you have an exciting family or town, all it takes to be a great host family is to be willing to share local culture.
“To open your homes, open your hearts, it gives you a different look on the culture and a different look on American culture, because things that you think are boring and meaningless, when you see it in the eyes of someone from a different culture that was not brought up that way, it's enlightening,” Baker said. “It’s exciting and fun seeing how they respond to things.”
Students typically stay with their host families for one semester or academic year.
Organizations usually place students with host families until the beginning of the school year. For PAX, the deadline is September.
Another organization, CETUSA, has placed about 700 foreign exchange students with host families around the country and aims to place 300 more by the end of August.
CETUSA Regional Director Lisa Billingsley said she is searching for host families for these students in Arkansas and looking for local coordinators to help guide families through the process.
"[Local coordinators] are the ones that actually go and look for host families," Billingsley said. "They talk to neighbors, family, coworkers, anyone that they come across, they can strike up a conversation and start talking about these students and see if they can spark an interest in a family to want to host them."
Billingsley said this year is some of these students' last chance to participate in the exchange program, as they will be graduating this year. She encourages families in Arkansas to consider applying to host.
"My family has hosted approximately 20 to 25 students ... from 2010 to 2020, and they are some awesome kids," Billingsley said. "You build a relationship with them, and they will come back and visit you."
More information about the exchange programs and how to apply can be found on PAX’s website and CETUSA's website.
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