Meet Our Students

Meet Lourenco, a 17-year-old who lives with his parents, brother, and two sisters. He values his strong bond with his family and describes himself as friendly, helpful, and enjoys bringing laughter to others. Lourenco sees himself as intelligent and thrives on exploring new challenges and experiences. Passionate about sports like boxing, surfing, gym workouts, padel, and tennis, he also enjoys watching soccer. His aspirations include improving his English, expanding his social circle, and trying new activities in school to broaden his horizons. Lourenco is enthusiastic about sharing his culture and embracing the American way of life.

Please meet Iris, a girl from the Netherlands who will be 17 years old when she arrives in the United States. She lives on a houseboat with her mother, older sister, and their cat. She says that living on a houseboat is common where she lives, due to the number of canals in the area. She enjoys spending time with her family. Her parents are separated, and her father lives on a mountain in northern Spain. Iris enjoys visiting him. She said she likes to play board games with her family, and they also go camping together. She likes arts and crafts and is learning to crochet. She is also learning to play the flute! Iris loves traveling and cannot wait to come to the United States!

Meet Elisa, who lives with her parents, sister, and dog in France. Elisa describes herself as motivated, dynamic, ambitious, and cheerful. She loves spending time with her family, and together they enjoy traveling, visiting museums, and going to the theater. After visiting NYC five years ago, Elisa just knew she wanted to come back to the United States as an exchange student. She enjoys school, with her favorite classes being math, physics, and technology. Her teachers find her serious and pleasant. When not studying, Elisa enjoys horseback riding, but also likes to dance and ski. She is also very passionate about scouting. Elisa looks forward to meeting you and is excited for her year of discovery in the United States!

Meet Mait from Estonia. In his free time Mait enjoys fishing and hiking in the forests or bogs. He likes to cook and really wants to learn American recipes. Mait loves animals, and has a cat at home, even though he feels he is more of a dog person. Mait wants to document his year abroad as a film project to show young people how cool it is to go for an exchange year. He also wants to show the real American way of life not just what everyone sees in the movies. Mait says he is a responsible person who will make sure he does his fair share of household chores. Mait can’t wait to meet your family and hopes to have a great year in the U.S.

Can you imagine welcoming this young man from the Czech Republic into your family? He loves warm weather and would love to be with a family who also loves barbecues! He lives in a small town with his parents, younger brother, and two cats. He loves sports and has taught younger kids to play soccer. He also loves to study languages, political history, and geography. Milan enjoys eating Chinese, Indian, and Thai food, too! He sounds like a curious and well-rounded boy who would be a welcome addition to an American family!

It is a pleasure to introduce 16-year-old Luise from Berlin Germany. Family and friends describe her as interested, curious, friendly, ambitious, and helpful. This impressive young lady is a CBYX scholarship student looking forward to sharing her German culture and heritage with her host family and community here in the United States. She loves her two younger siblings very much and enjoys playing music together with her family. Her mom is an elementary school and music teacher and her dad also plays the violin. Her parents live separately now, but maintain a close relationship living only just down the street from each other. Luise's hobbies include playing the piano and violin, music, reading, drawing, sports, and cooking. She has been playing the violin since she was 6 years old. She often helps her younger sister who is learning the instrument. She plays pop, jazz, and soul in her school's piano band, and signs in the school choir. Coming to the States on exchange has been a dream of hers since she was a little girl. "The people there have roots in cultures from all over the world. I think therefore people are open minded to different cultures and in my eyes the US has therefore become the country of freedom and creativity."

Meet Almudena! She is a happy, sociable and responsible person. Her favorite hobby is playing tennis. Almu has been playing tennis since she was 5 years old and practices year round! Additionally, she also likes other sports such as paddle surfing and volleyball. Almu enjoys summertime the best and will go to the beach everyday to go swimming, paddle surfing, or just sunbathing with friends while listening to music and hanging out. At school, she strives to get good grades and her favorite subjects are English, French and economy. Almu is excited to learn about a new culture and practice her English. She is very grateful to be part of her future host family!

Tamila is a responsible young woman from Uzbekistan. As the oldest child, with 4 siblings, she handles many responsibilities in her home. She loves animals and loves to care for them. She describes herself as very sociable, and she says that she has no trouble making friends. She also enjoys reading, watching movies with her family, and cooking. Read her letter to her host family to learn more about this Scholarship girl!

Meet Celia, a winner of a prestigious scholarship in Spain. This bubbly girl has a variety of interests that will be a great match for any family. Her favorite pastime is her dance group that she is a part of. Apart from dancing she enjoys playing video games with her brother, volleyball, and has recently become interested in Formula 1 racing. Celia is excited to share her Spanish culture, gastronomy and family traditions with you!

More information to follow.