~ Wight Family
Orem, UT
2011-2012
Our experience with our Spanish daughter was WONDERFUL! Thanks to Jen's careful screening process, she offered us several students to choose from that would fit well with our family. We chose Lucia and she fit in perfectly! We had so much fun with Lucia and learned so much about her and her culture as well as about ourselves. Jen was there along the way to help us and support us and take care of any little details that were necessary (like school paperwork). It truly was a "growing" and "learning" experience for each member of our family as well. We love Lucia like she's one of our own and truly enjoyed our time with her. We've made a friend for life! We look forward to more opportunities to host again.~ Smith Family
Riverton, UT
2010-2011
I really enjoyed my time in Utah as an exchange student, even though I had some issues with my first family. Thankfully Jennifer was here to help me go through it and therefore I moved to an amazing new family where I completely fit in. Besides, we had a lot of meetings where we could talk to her and she would do her best to help us. I loved it there, and it was an extraordinary experience I had !
~ Jean - France
West Jordan, UT
2009-2010
We were so scared to have an exchange student. After much explanation and reassurance from Jen, we finally took the plunge! We were incredibly nervous on the way to the airport. I was so nervous when we met her! Now we are more than a month in, and it's easily in my top 5 risks-that-paid-off list! It's so fun learning about her culture and teaching her ours. She fits so well into our family. I definitely recommend it, even if you're scared to death! Be scared, and do it anyway!
~Lund Family
Salt Lake City, UT
2011-2012
About two years ago I went to America for half a year.
On my last plane from Denver to Salt Lake City I got super nervous so I was really relieved when I came out of the plane and saw my coordinator Jennifer Eames waiting for me!
She had already emailed me before I came to America and told me about herself and her family. I felt like I knew her which comforted me a whole lot in that moment before first meeting the family I was going to spend 5 months with! She walked me through the airport to the baggage claim where my host family was waiting. While walking she already called them to let them know I was coming. It was cute how excited she was. It made me get more excited and less nervous too. I was glad she was there!
And also throughout my 5 months adventure with trips to California or Idaho, going to high school and making friends she was always there for me. She called or emailed me occasionally and I knew that I could always call her too. It was nice knowing that I had someone who I could ask or tell anything. Even when I had problems with my host family which was never the case since I had the best host family ever! But it was a good feeling knowing that there was someone I could trust.
~Luisa - Germany
Draper, UT
2009-2010
We signed up for the CETUSA program in 2009. After filling out our info and reading lots of different profiles, we finally decided to host a young lady from Korea. We were able to have Alice in our home for a whole school year, and it was an amazing experience. She really became part of our family. After she graduated, she came back to live with us for a few months and attend college in our town. We have since moved, but we still keep in touch and our children still think of her as a sister. We learned so much, and would love to have the opportunity to host someone again. We also had a wonderful coordinator who helped out with any questions or concerns we had and made it a really smooth process.
~Britton Family
Provo, UT
2009-2010
We LOVE hosting. It's that simple. Our family is currently hosting for the 2nd time, and we love our new daughter just as much as we loved our first. The students bring with them rich traditions and it is so fun to learn of them and find little ways to impliment some of them into our home. Having a student inspires my family to go out and do things and make memories that we probably wouldn't do if we didn't have someone to "show America" to. We love the insights the students have into our own culture and the elightening conversations that we can have with them as we share different perpectives. Most of all, I love how each student has become a true part of our family, sharing in our joys and sorrows, sharing space in our hearts. That love continues on long after the student returns home.
This is something I strongly encourage other families to consider, because the joys that can come from it are immeasurable, and experience can't be obtained any other way. I look forward to many years of hosting and loving these amazing youth who come to learn and grow.
~Jeff and Mary Brown
Spanish Fork, UT
2009-2010
2011-2012
Being a host-parent has been one of the greatest experiences we've ever had as a family. It's so much fun to learn about the different religion and cultural differences of the kids. We are lucky to have hosted 2 kids from the same family in Spain. Vicente arrived in 2010 and was with us the 2010-11 school year. His sister Lucia came last summer and has been with us since. Just like our family, 2 kids from the same parents can have complete and different personalities and it's been fun to see the differences between the two of them. We now consider the Rubio-Arboli family extended family half-way around the world and we're hoping to go to Spain in 2 years to visit them.
~Darren and Karen McCabe
Riverton, UT
2010-2011
2012-2013
We were not going to host a student this year because I felt like I had too much on my plate already. However, when we saw Rebekka's application, we knew immediately that she would be a great fit for our family. We decided to host her, and we have had an amazingly wonderful year! She and her family will be lifelong friends.
~ The LuBeans
Provo, UT
2012-2013
I had never even considered having an exchange student in our home when the opportunity just kind of feel into our laps. We were excited, curious and very nervous about how the experience would go. Now, five months later, I wouldn't change having Lea in our home for the world. She has been such a blessing! She gave our family an opportunity for more love, joy and a new perspective on the world...and she made us fall in love with Utah all over again as we saw our state through her eyes! She is now a friend for life and we look forward to visiting her and her family in Norway one day. For anyone looking to bring new enthusiasm, joy and learning opportunities for their family, I would strongly recommend inviting an exchange student into your home. It's a wonderful opportunity and alot of fun!
~Donna and Geoffrey Morris
West Jordan, UT
2012-2013
I had never even considered having an exchange student in our home when the opportunity just kind of feel into our laps. We were excited, curious and very nervous about how the experience would go. Now, five months later, I wouldn't change having Lea in our home for the world. She has been such a blessing! She gave our family an opportunity for more love, joy and a new perspective on the world...and she made us fall in love with Utah all over again as we saw our state through her eyes! She is now a friend for life and we look forward to visiting her and her family in Norway one day. For anyone looking to bring new enthusiasm, joy and learning opportunities for their family, I would strongly recommend inviting an exchange student into your home. It's a wonderful opportunity and alot of fun!
~Donna and Geoffrey Morris
West Jordan, UT
2012-2013
We had the opportunity to host a 16 year old girl from France 2 years ago. I was very nervous about hosting because as child my family hosted a 17 year old girl and it did not go well. Jen was so great. She help us with the selection process. She is very experienced and knowledgeable about things to look for so the student fits well with the family. It was a great experience. Jen was always there checking on us and our exchange student to ensure all was going well. If we had any issues we knew we could turn to her for help. We have continued to keep close contact with her and her family. They come to stay with us and my daughter was able to go and stay her family. We feel like we are family and I have an additional daughter. We are looking forward to hosting again.
The Davis Family
Fruit Heights, UT
2010-2011
Our family hosted 4 Brazilians for 2 weeks during a soccer tournament. We enjoyed it completely & it gave us a taste of what we wanted to expose our children to expand their horizons of different cultures without traveling abroad. We were nervous when we got our first exchange student for a 3 month summer stay. You never know what to expect! The process through CETUSA with Jen was easy and went smoothly. We enjoyed our summer exchange student experience immensely! Dirk, our "German son," as we now call him, was thoroughly enjoyable and my teen kids absolutely loved learning about his culture and listening to him talk and share. My husband is full German so my kids were enthralled to be exposed to a German from the "Mother Country." We enjoyed taking him on summer vacations and allowing him to see the beauty of the United States. The summer flew by and we were sad to see him go home. The next year we got a school year student from Italy. Giacomo was a fabulous kid and we enjoyed learning about Italy and seeing pictures of where he lives and his family and pets. He loved his experience and we loved helping him love it. And he did the same for us. My kids love him like a brother. Every time we get an exchange student, we vow to go visit that country. After all, the exchange student experience keeps adding kids to our ever expanding family! We love it!
The Augat Family
Riverton, UT
2011
2012-2013
