Imagine being the oldest of four girls and hosting two female exchange students. Then, as an adult, becoming the mother of three girls and hosting six more female exchange students, that is a lot of girls, fifteen in total! I have always had role models to look up to, strong women to model myself after. My family has hosted six exchange students from different countries. My mom also had a similar experience growing up; her family hosted two exchange students. The experience made such an impact on her life that she wanted to host more foreign exchange students again with her own family. My mom has instilled the values of giving and being open to others throughout my whole life.
Having six older sisters from different countries, I have learned much about their diverse cultures. Our first exchange student, Blanca, from Spain, taught our family about the Catalan tradition of Caga Tío, and our family still participates in it every year. This is a unique Christmas Eve tradition about receiving gifts. My dad’s side of the family is Scottish, so when we hosted Anna, our Scottish exchange student, it was interesting learning more about my dad’s side of the family and our culture. For example, there is a castle named after the McLaughlin clan. Our third exchange student, Malene, was from Germany, and I was determined to learn some words in German. I learned a popular Christmas song and how to count to ten in German. The last thing I said to her before she left to go back home was “Ich habe dich lieb,” which is a phrase friends use to say I love you. Ellie was my Bulgarian exchange student and first roommate. During Ellie’s time with us, she began attending church services and became a Christian while with our family. She even took home a Bible I gave her as a gift before she left. When I was a freshman, my family hosted Malu from Brazil. This was the first time we had an exchange student who was near my age, and we became more than sisters; we were best friends. She and I participated in every sport and spent most of our free time together. One of my dreams is to visit her in Brazil. Essi was my most recent exchange sister from Finland. During Essi’s time with our family, she was open to new experiences and tried all things new and American. She taught me to be open to new experiences in life.
Each year, I eagerly greeted our newest exchange student, excited for the year’s adventures ahead. The airport became a symbol for new beginnings and goodbyes for me. Both the best and worst parts of the year were spent at the airport. At the beginning of the school year, we depart to welcome our new family member. Our day is spent laughing, smiling, and getting to know our exchange student. Ten months later, we travel back to say goodbye to a piece of our family, now another of my sisters.
This summer, after I graduate, we have planned a trip to visit our five exchange students in Europe. Our goal is to visit each of their home countries and learn more about their culture and everyday lives. Of course, we also just want to spend time catching up with them.
Each new exchange student brought a missing piece to our family. Although I am one of three biological sisters, our family never really felt complete without our missing piece, our exchange sister. When someone asks me which sibling I am, I always say I am the oldest, but I do not feel like the oldest because I have six older sisters all across the globe, and I would not change that for the world.
