Are you fascinated by international cultures? As an AYA Local Coordinator, you can share America with the world by helping international exchange students come to the United States to live with American families and attend American high schools.
In our “Meet an AYA Local Coordinator” series, we look at the people behind the success of our exchange students. Today we hear from AYA Local Coordinator Debbie, who runs a cluster in Colorado, about her experience working with exchange students and host families.
Meet Debbie Odom, AYA Local Coordinator for Colorado:
What’s the best part of being a Local Coordinator?
Debbie: The best part about being a local coordinator is the people that I get to meet. It’s not easy to convince people to take a teenager into their home for five or ten months and so, the people that I do meet that are willing and wanting to do an experience like this are usually very genuine, giving people and so it’s really cool to be able to work with host families that are interested in joining this crazy ride of hosting exchange students!
How do your students get involved in the community?
Debbie: I’m always kind of on them about giving back volunteering for concessions in their high schools or to food pantries or to homeless shelters. Sometimes we’ll do a Habitat for Humanity project together. […]
What methods have you used to find new host families?
Debbie: I’ve never had, like, just one thing that’s, like, where I get most of my host families. It’s really […] that if I call 100 leads I’m gonna get a certain amount, you know. From that, if I post on social media, a lot of it could be emailing people in the community that I know, or coaches, or different people that work at the schools, but it’s never been one thing that really brings in a lot of students for me. It’s just the consistency and the not giving up with trying. It’s just phone call and email and conversation after conversation and not giving up until it starts to bear some fruit.
What makes a great Local Coordinator?
Debbie: I think a great local coordinator is somebody who’s able to listen to both students and host family and when there is any tension, as there is with anybody trying to live, you know, with each other, from different families, that they are able to help kind of facilitate, to come to conclusions whenever there’s little issues or personality conflicts that come up. And I think somebody… where the student feels supported all of the time and that they know that that local coordinator is there for them, as well as the host families feel supported throughout the process as well.
What is the biggest benefit to international education and exchange?
Debbie: I think the biggest benefit to International Education in exchange is especially the International Education week, where the students are expected to do presentations on their home country. Because that happens in November, it’s a couple of months into the school year, to me, it gives these students the opportunity to tell the students in their school about where they’re from and it helps those students to feel a little bit connected to them. They’re used to having exchange students usually in the school, but they don’t know much about [their countries] and so after [the exchange students] give the presentations, I’ve had a lot of students in the past say, “Wow more people came up to me and talked to me because they felt like they knew me better!” So it’s kind of a nice way for them to teach other people about themselves and where they’re from and opens up the door to more friendships for them.
What’s your favorite part about attending a National Meeting?
Debbie: This is a very solo job. You’re a local coordinator. You’re an independent contractor, kind of by yourself a lot of the times. You’re working by yourself, you don’t have an office that you go to and so the best part about it is being in a room with a number of other people that have the same desire and passion as you. and it kind of like [ignites] that fire again. Being like, “okay, this is why I’m doing this,” and seeing people who have done it for way longer than I have, or just getting into it. […]this really does make a difference and it changes the lives of so many people. So it’s really just everybody getting, you know, getting together.
What is a National Meeting like?
Debbie: National meetings, if you’ve never been able to go, are a really great way to get together with people that do a lot of what you do, but also to learn, like, sessions that we have for the one day that we’re here. It’s really just about learning how to be a better local coordinator and then also having a lot of free time on your hands to go out with other local coordinators, or, if you have a companion that was able to come with you, to go out and explore another city. So, it’s one of those things and as you get to know more and more students — we’ve done a lot of trips where then we’ve extended our time and gone and met up with some of the past students as well. So, it kind of pushes you. As I always say, “I’m going to take this trip. I’m going to play on this trip” […].
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
Interested in becoming an AYA Local Coordinator?
AYA is looking for passionate individuals like Debbie across the United States. Becoming a Local Coordinator is a rewarding opportunity to build your personal and professional network by providing support to international students, host families and your own community.
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