My first experience with an exchange student. Some lady keep messaging my mom (exchange student coordinator), saying how an exchange student was having troubles in her previous homes, and needed a new placement in a home. My family was hesitant, going from one child to two in our home. Aimee the coordinator, she was giving us background on the exchange student, she was from brazil, she has a loving family with parents and she had one brother. Our family came to an agreement and allowed her to come into our house, there was only a little bit of school left, so if it didn't work out she would be leaving soon. My mom answered Aimee back with our family answer and asked what the guidelines were to have an exchange student. They talked for awhile, my mom had to answer a bunch of questions, about our family and rules. Then Aimee had to see our house to make sure the house was safe, it took what felt like forever to make our house clean enough, even though it wasnt that dirty. Once Aimee came over she showed us pictures of the exchange student. 

Her name was cammi she was gorgeous, she had long blond silky hair with a great personality, so we thought. We were about to be her 4th home in America. She had been going to Lakeview and it was already too late in the school year to switch her to Pennfield. 

Within the next week she moved in, we were getting along great. We would do each others makeup, have sleepovers in my room, and we would just acted like sisters. As the days went by we grew closer and closer. She always wanted to go to her boyfriend's house or to basketball games. I saw us grow further and further apart. We went to different schools;  meaning different friends;different schooling events; different places.

 At this time she has been moved in for about a month, she had already been in trouble with my mom multiple times, from being late on curfew, to not telling my mom where she's going at all times; she also would say that she didn't feel good and stay home from school a lot. That would make my mom mad, she wouldn't know if she was really sick or not, and my mom wanted to treat both of us equal so no one would be left out. She punished her how she would punish me, if that was saying no or taking our phones away. Cammi would be mad at my mom if my mom told her no, when my mom told her no she would just lock herself in her room, and just talk to her boyfriend. 

That would make my self esteem go down, when we were like bestfriends, to living in the same house and not even speaking a word to each other. 

It was harder on me when I would clean the house and she just sits in her room or she would be gone, and everything was left for me to do. It was nothing to clean the house by myself, because I always have being an only child, but with an extra body in the house there was more of everything that I had to do.

We were starting on planning our spring break vacation and was asking her where she would like to go, I threw out the idea of driving to Tennessee, so she can see all the mountains and all the fun stuff that there is to do down there. My mom was searching hotels and places to go while we were down there. Tennessee is my favorite place, I have family down there that I am really close with, and I go down there about two times a year. So this vacation was going to try to bring us closer together before she left to go home. We learn in the next weeks, that she had been talking to Aimee the coordinator, and was asking her what it took to go out of the country on a vacation. Aimee told my mom about her asking about the papers to go out of the country. My family was concerned, we hadn't been planning on going out of the country. Come to find out she was trying to hide that she was wanting to go on a cruise with her boyfriend for spring break. She was going to leave behind our backs. She didn't know that we knew, and she was still planning the vacation with us. My mom confronted her and asked her why she was lying and keeping it from us, and is the cruise a priority over living in our home. My mom wants to treat all her children the same, and she would never let me go on a cruise with a guy that I just meet that school year. My mom said “I would never let my child, so why would you think it's okay for you to go with a guy you just met this year and recently started dating.” 

We all had to talk to Aimee and say what we thought, and Cammi just sat in her room for the rest of the time that she was with us until Aimee could find a fifth home for her to go to. Within the next month she moved out. We had already booked our hotels to stay at while we were there, so my best friend Makayla was able to come on vacation with me. The vacation was fun; we went to Nashville, Chattanooga and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for a week and a half. 

After Cammi had left our family, she lost all contact, she blocked us on everything, it made us hesitant to get another exchange student. 

After a few months have passed, Aimee asked if we wanted to get another exchange student, it took a long time for our family to say yes, but we all said yes. She matched us with Veronika, from Italy. Once we found out she was our exchange student, and she found out we were host family, she found us on social media. We contacted and built a relationship before she came. 

We talked about our different cultures, and it was fun learning about different cultures other than yours. She got to know about our daily lives. We talked for a few months before she came. She was coming August, 3rd, before she came to Michigan she had to go to New York, to learn some stuff and she was given information, after she stayed there for a few days she flew into Grandrapids, Michigan. I made a poster so when she got off the plane, she would know it was me, after she came off, she meet our family. 

We went to go get her bags off the belt, we got one bag but couldn't find the other, we had people running all over the airport trying to find it. They couldn't find it anywhere, we finally went to the lost baggage and asked them where is was and the lady had tracked the bag down and it was still in New York that it will be here in a few hours. We went to lunch and we talked and she was asking questions about America. We ate at a steakhouse to waste time. Then we went back to the airport to get her other piece of luggage. Then we brought her home and she has enjoyed America so far.