By on April 22nd, 2016

How to Support Your International Guest

For many host families, just getting the chance to converse with an international student and provide them with their immediate needs is more than enough. They are happy to experience the quick, four to ten-week average stay, and be a bright spot for the student during their international study experience. And that is a perfectly okay way to be a great host family.

But others may want to find ways to be more involved, especially if you are hosting a student for an extended period of time. If you don’t have children of your own, or if your children are younger, you may not be 100% sure how to best support an international college student. After all, they are adults, so it’s not the same as attending PTA meetings and praising their every scribbled masterpiece. Here are some ways that you can meaningfully support your new international family member:

Be Available

While no one should ever give up their lives or make any major changes to their schedule in order to be a host family, being available for your student when they need someone is a great way to build that relationship. Offering them extra rides to social events, or being there to talk them through homesick days are both supportive gestures that you can make for your guest.

While the student will be dealing with their school arrangements on their own, with the help of the school’s many aides and advisors, keep in mind that most of the time, these students are on their own for the first time in their lives. They may need the support of a parent-like figure to talk over certain decisions and help them understand all the options. Being available for these moments is also a great way to show some support.

Show Up

If your guest is involved in anything that lends itself to performance, like sports or a choir, showing up to their events and cheering them on is another way you can get involved. Without local family to celebrate their achievements, having a friendly face in the crowd that they recognize can be a real anxiety calmer.

This goes double for any kind of public presentation or event that your guest is a part of in relation to their field of study. If they are helping put together an event for their work study program, or are giving a presentation on a particular bit of research they performed, being there to support them is vital. It shows that you believe in their focus on their career goals, and that’s important for a young person in a new situation.

Keep Them Healthy

Feeding them with healthy food and giving them gentle reminders to get adequate rest is another way that you can provide support to your guest. College students often find themselves cramming late into the night, so having healthy snacks around and doing your best to optimize their room or study area for comfort is ideal. By going out of your way to keep your guest healthy, you’ll be giving them a huge advantage in their academic performance. Their parents back home will thank you for your care as well, and knowing that you are acting as an extension of them helps your guest feel at home.

When you meet your international student, and realize that you want to be a much more involved host, one of the best things to do is ask them how you can help. There may be something that only they can tell you they need, and what better way to open communication than to present a willing ear right away?