You’ve signed up. Did the paperwork. Looked through so so many applications. And finally picked the perfect student for your family. Everything has been approved and they give to green light to make contact.
Now what?!
It is time for your first conversation with your student. It’s scary and exciting for everyone. Believe me. I still get nervous and I imagine I always will, I want them to like me and be excited to spend their exchange year with me. You probably want all those things to, so just remember you are not alone in this.
Sometimes the student reaches out first, I actually got a voice call once (which I was totally unprepared for!), this is a lot easier because you just have to respond and not try to compose some sort of message that expresses your excitement but not too much to freak them out. I equate teenagers with cats….if you are too eager they might hide under the couch. It’s weird in my house.
Now, if your student is so johnny-on-the-spot and you actually have to reach out. I like email first. It’s a little more formal and professional and blah blah but you can put more information in it. I still like to keep it simple: introductions, a tid bit about us, the house, our animals, their double placement (because remember we host two kids at a time, because we are a crazy International family--haha), the area we live in, and the school. Sounds like a lot but it really isn’t, I just try to give them some basic information and let them ask some questions.
If for some….I don’t know….teenage…reason they don’t answer your email (or contact you another way) in a couple days, reach out on a different platform. Instagram is great because most of the students have one. Then it’s more informal and a “hey I’m Heather, I am going to be your host mom next year, I sent you an email, I don’t know if you saw it, I just wanted to say hi”. If still no answer give, it a bit of time. If it gets ridiculous contact your IEC (lingo alert: International Exchange Coordinator) about it.
Let’s assume you and your student have made contact. Continue with it. Talk, ask questions, encourage questions. Let them know about your family, the weather where you live, school sports, and whatever else. It doesn’t need to be every day or even every week (I increase conversations as we get closer to arrival date), just keep it going. It is so much easier when they arrive if you have gotten to know each other a bit before hand. I also highly recommend a video chat, at least 1 if not a few, before they arrive. It’s nice to talk face to face, they can introduce you to their parents (believe me they will be present for the first one), and you can give a little house tour so they can see where they will be living for 10 months.
So that’s that. You did it! You have made first contact with your student. It will be easier from now until you pick them up at the airport when all those first nerves come flying back. But we talk about that later.