We are thrilled to shine a spotlight on one of our outstanding exchange students who has truly embodied the spirit of learning, growth, and cultural exchange. Meet Ahmad, who is originally from Lebanon. Ahmad is a YES Program student who has embraced new experiences, fostered cross-cultural connections, and left a lasting impact on his host family and community in Texas.
Learn more about Ahmad and his experience as a high school exchange student from Lebanon in Texas this year.
Why did you want to do an exchange year in the United States?
“Being an exchange student was always a dream to come true. It was the best decision to get out of my comfort zone and discover more about what life is like on the other side of the world and especially if it’s the U.S.”
“Making friends internationally and discovering more about the daily lifestyle of Americans that wouldn’t be shown on the media always interested me. I wanted to experience the feeling of being in such important advanced country that its first word is freedom so I can share what I learn in the States and reflect it on my own country, in addition to representing my country and sharing my culture as an Arab with Americans to let the have a better understanding about us.”
Tell us about your host family and why you appreciate them.
“My host family is a very loving family that is uniquely special because it’s a military family consisted of my host mom, host brother and my double placement from Germany. My relationship with them is so good because we really bonded together so close that I learned a lot of stuff from my host mom as her being in the military, had the chance to have an amazing brother, and learn more about German culture and having a best friend there. My host mom taught me a lot about the legal side of the U.S and she always helped in knowing what the norms of the American culture are. I always wanted to have a brother and I never got one until now. Having a host brother is from the best experiences ever we both share a lot of hobbies together that we enjoy sharing. My double placement from Germany — I could say she is from the best people that I ever met. We’re siblings and best friends that I started to learn German by now in order to know more about her culture and background, in addition to what she told me about during the year.”
What have you learned about American culture and how have you shared your culture with Americans?
“I learned a lot about American culture from freedom, etiquette and differentiating between what is nice and rude in an American point of view. I blended in with American culture really well that I understand how freedom is really what shapes our personalities, and with no freedom in society, we will all be with the same boring personalities. This idea makes too much sense to me because I noticed how students in American high schools express themselves so differently and that is truly beautiful.”
“I tried my best to share my culture with Americans by a lot of presentations, teaching Arabic, showing my flag, talking about my culture casually, and letting them taste something from my culture. I am so proud that I made a change and a clearer points about my culture and every time I was subjected to racism because the person in front of me uneducated, I never took it personal, I just tried to make stuff clearer and make people more aware about what reality is because this is my purpose of being here.”
Did you know you can host an exchange student like Ahmad from Lebanon?
Host families from across the United States come in all shapes and sizes. Whether you’d like to host for a full school year, a semester, or just for a few weeks as Welcome Family, you can make an impact on an exchange student’s life by hosting!
Leave a Reply