When studying abroad, students may lose the family atmosphere they’re accustomed to, but a University program can help.
The International Friendship Program looks to pair international undergraduate and graduate students with local families to help better understand and share cultures between students and their local “families.”
Currently, the program consists of 65 students and 23 families with a constant demand for more families to meet the demand.
It is a learning experience for both the family and the student, and many bonds have been made through the program, said Phyllis Oster, a volunteer.
Another volunteer, Dawn McCaghy said, “Even after they’ve moved, many of them have stayed either not too far away, or in the States, and you maintain relationships with them.”
Through the program, students involved are able to experience American culture. They get firsthand experience with an American home and foods, along with the chance to learn and practice English with native English speakers.
Senior Rebecca Yoong, an apparel merchandising and product development major from Malaysia, learned about the International Friendship Program through her host grandmother, Betty.
Her overall experience with the program has been really good, especially with having a host family, she said.
McCaghy said families involved with the International Friendship Program may benefit too.
“[The] family gets at least as much pleasure and new knowledge as much as the students do,” McCaghy said.
Mary Lou Riday, a member of a participating family, said, “people connected to this program begin to realize how small the world is.”
For Oster, the relationships between the students and families does not end when the student goes home, but continues with time.
“Long lasting relationships are formed through the connections made through the program— students sometimes invite their host families to their home country to repay the experience,” Oster said.
When the students and families are together, they participate in a variety of different leisure activities, including shopping, musicals, concerts, dinner at home, camping and the students can travel on their own.
“Betty’s been taking me to a quite a number of places to look around,” Yoong said. “She insists international students should know what the culture is like, so she’s taken me to a lot of theater departments and musicals.”
A presentation was given by the International Friendship Program during the international student orientation, where students filled out applications to get involved.
The first time the students and families will meet is during a Pot Luck on Oct. 20th, where the families will bring the food and the students will bring their appetites.
