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 Regenia, who runs a cluster in Ohio, about her experience working with exchange students and host families.
Meet Regenia Spoerndle, AYA Local Coordinator for Ohio:
What sparked your interest in becoming a Local Coordinator?
Regenia: I became interested in being a local coordinator after getting my master’s degree and I was looking at job opportunities. I saw an advertisement for working with international students. I have a master’s in communication and had specifically worked with the intercultural communication Professor so I was like this is up my alley.
What’s the best part of being a Local Coordinator?
Regina: One of the best parts is getting to meet these bright young students from all over the world. Sometimes the news can be a little grim and sad and then you meet the young people, and you realize the future’s in good hands!
What makes working with AYA special?
Regenia: I feel AYA has supported me in so many ways including allowing me the opportunity to travel if we place a certain number of students. As a coordinator, we’re invited to an all-expenses paid to the national meeting every year. It’s always located somewhere different in the world and it’s a great time to meet, in person, with people that you work with virtually all year and then explore culture firsthand.
How do your students get involved in the community?
Regenia: My students get involved in the community by completing a lot of community service, as well as at their high schools. They join clubs and they participate in athletics, theater. In fact, in another couple weeks, I’m gathering the group of students that live near me and we’re all going to support a fellow student who’s starring in a theatrical production at our high school.
What methods have you used to find new host families?
Regenia: To find these host families can be challenging sometimes, but we use a combination of social media and getting the word out at area high schools. I’ve had students come with me to, like, foreign language classes, social science classes, like, history places, where it makes sense to talk about culture and hosting and bringing culture to your home. Also, the best way to get host families is through networking. Fellow host families that are already engaged in the process tell their friends or their friends and family meet the student and they want to get involved too.
What makes a great Local Coordinator?
Regenia: I think a great local coordinator comes from a combination of qualities that would include, definitely, patience, having an open mind, being open to new experiences, and especially, having strong communication skills. You need to be very much a listener and aware of cultural differences in communication. AYA provides a lot of training and support for […] helping us all learn how to be the best we can be.
What is the biggest benefit to international education and exchange?
Regenia: What I think is one of the biggest benefits in regards to international education and cultural exchange, specifically, is that it brings regular people together from disparate parts of the world to have real conversations about sometimes hard things or things that might be very different in perspective, but you care about the issue in a different way, once you hear from someone that you care and know about personally. I’ve had the experience of hosting a Muslim student and I’m Christian and we’ve had so many great conversations about our faith traditions, the similarities, and we both decided that if we all could have these conversations in this way that we would conquer the world with love and peace and not have any more division.
What’s your favorite part about attending a National Meeting?
Regenia: My favorite part about National Meeting is obviously the travel — getting to a place that maybe has been on my bucket list to visit, but I haven’t had the opportunity to. It’s also a great opportunity to network with your colleagues who you maybe know through social media or through numerous emails, [or] phone calls, but you get to actually spend time with them. We have educational opportunities as well from really amazing professionals that come and teach us, whether it be about mental health training or just communication skill building and then of course all the sightseeing and building a great number of memories.
Any tips for new Local Coordinators?
Regenia: Well, I would say to new local coordinators and host families both is: have patience, enjoy every minute, because before you know, it the year has ended. And we’re not saying goodbye, because that’s too hard, but we always say see you later.
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 Regina 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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