Summer student exchange?

Foreign exchange student over the summer for a teenager in high school?

• Im currently 15 but by the summer Id be 16 and entering by senior year by then. Im very interested in becoming a foreign exchange student because it would be a totally new experience + looks great ona resume lol. I wanted to know how to go about doing this- any websites, who to contact, etc? Id be interested in Europe- Spain, France, italy, Uk etc. Thanks for all the help.. ** also it would have to be over the summer because I have to finish my junior year so like Mid june-august thanks

• Answer:

  I would like to recommend Youth For Understanding. www.yfu.org I was a host parent/family for several years and had many high school and college level students that I REALLY enjoyed. While I became familiar with a few other exchange programs, I stayed with the YFU program since I liked all their structure and rules . I, myself did not have any children, so I did not take advantage of placing a child of my own in the program, but have kept in contact with many of the students who lived with me for as little as a couple of weeks, to over a year at a time. One family in particular I hosted a wonderful young Japanese girl [ who I think of as a daughter] and during one of her stays with me [ she came several times ] , I actually introduced her to her future husband !.... additionally, all three of THEIR children have ALSO been in the program. In fact one son is currently in the USA at college, and another son is in China at a big university. One WONDERFUL thing about the Japanese program is, that MOST, if not all the host families THERE, already speak English, and they are from REALLY nice, educated , and higher income families. I would recommend that program to anyone without hesitation. Good Luck with your choices. Mary [email protected]