Stories from Academic Year in America

  • Volunteers
  • Host Families
  • Students
  • About AYA
  • Learn More
  • Request Information

Holiday Volunteering: A Fun Way to Experience Cultural Firsts!

October 19, 2017 AYA 1 Comment

Sweta enjoys her first Halloween with friends
Sweta and friends enjoying her first time trick or treating

The holiday season is upon us. For AYA exchange participants, this is a prime time for new experiences that are both meaningful and a whole lot of fun. When we share each other’s traditions at these times, we build stronger connections and can learn so much. We are able to try new foods, new experiences and enjoy each other’s company—while making memories to cherish for a lifetime.

Over the next few months, so many regional, national, cultural and religious holiday events provide plentiful opportunities for exchange between students, host families and their local communities. One way to get more involved in the exchange experience, and really appreciate the value of our various traditions, is to volunteer in your local community. When you combine the excitement of a holiday full of cultural exchange and helping others, you often receive even more than you give.

Halloween was a holiday first for Sweta
Sweta getting ready for her first Halloween

Last fall, Sweta was an AYA high school exchange student from India living in Kansas. She shared the following about trick or treating and volunteering as part of her first Halloween experience:

First I volunteered at our Rossville Community’s haunted house. I wore a creepy mask and set under a table and scared the people coming inside the room. When they first entered, I was a statue and when they came closer to me, I screamed and scared them. It was so much fun.

After that, I went trick or treating with my friends around the town and I got a lot of candies. I dressed up as a haunted Minnie mouse. I was unable to find those mouse ears though! But I really, really enjoyed my first Halloween.

Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity of exploring a new culture.

Opportunities to volunteer are limited only by your imagination. Ask around where you live to find something you’ll enjoy doing to provide a helping hand. You may volunteer for something fun; you may volunteer to help others struggling at a time when it seems like everyone is celebrating. Whatever you do, from festivals to food drives, you’ll be sharing goodwill and new traditions, and that is something special.

Learn how you can host a great student like Sweta with Academic Year in America.

Students, Volunteers AYA, cultural exchange, holidays, international high school exchange, kansas, volunteering

Comments

  1. Sweta Sadhu says

    November 21, 2017 at 11:19 am

    Thank you very much AYA! Happy Holidays!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About AYA

AYA logo

AYA is sponsored by the American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS) Foundation, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1967. Its mission is to promote worldwide understanding through cultural exchange. Learn more >

Follow us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • TikTok
  • YouTube

Follow blog via email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Categories

  • FAQs
  • Host Families
  • LC of the Month
  • LC of the Quarter
  • Local Coordinators
  • News
  • Students
  • Uncategorized
  • Volunteers

Recent Posts

  • Student of the Month: Thore from Germany, Hosted in Arkansas
  • AYA Students in Action: The Results of the Global Youth Trailblazer Grants
  • AYA Exchange Student from Mali Chosen as Prestigious Student Speaker
  • Four Exceptional Host Families: AYA’s 2024-2025 Host Family of the Year Runners-Up 
  • Can Families with Older Children Host an Exchange Student? 

LC of the month

Local Coordinator volunteer academic year in america AYA cultural exchange high school exchange year

We love to recognize our field staff every month by asking … [Read More...]

Search

Copyright © 2025 · Daily Dish Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in