Host Family Story – Whitburn Family

We asked the Whitburn family in Michigan if they wold be willing to tell us a bit about their year with Begona from Chile. Here’s their story:

Our Family
We are empty-nesters. We were blessed with only one child who is grown up and living in DC. We were kind of shocked that he seemed to be jealous that we decided to host a foreign exchange student because it was nothing on the radar and being an only child.

We originally signed up to be a Welcome Family but after skyping we fell in love with her smile and her family. We didn’t know if a teenager would want to stay with us and she even thought it was weird at first but we told her that she had the option of leaving after a couple of weeks she said no she wanted to stay with us.

Her first two weeks was really tough on her. The day after she arrived her grandfather died. It was the first family member she had ever lost. Her second week there was a large earthquake in Chile where her family was living. The next several days were rough. We made it thru it.

[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]We thoroughly enjoyed having the craziness that comes with a teenager.[/pullquote]

Bego essentially became an only child at our home. We thoroughly enjoyed having the craziness that comes with a teenager. Every weekend our house was filled with silly teenagers, trips to the mall, long talks and movie marathons.

Our family members embraced Bego like she has always been a part of our family.

Our Favorite Memory
Looking back over the last eight months I cannot say what my favorite memory is as I honestly cherish all of them. Every day was an adventure. Even the most of mundane days there was always lively conversation and laughter.

It was great watching her grow. She cheered both football and basketball season as well as competitive cheer. This was all new to her and the practices and the tumbling. There are days that she struggled but she always worked through it.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Why We Decided to Host
I was flipping through Facebook and one of our friends who is a Local Coordinator had posted she was looking for a welcome family for a student until permanent placement could take place. I wrote her and told her I would be open to being a Welcome Family. The rest is history.

We love hearing from host families about their experiences! Do you have a story to share or are you ready to create your own? Let us know!