Bradley and Lance are an AFS host family currently living in Madison, Wisconsin. As first-time host parents, they welcomed Daniel from Spain into their home for the 2024-25 school year. In this testimonial regarding their host family journey, Bradley discusses the couple’s experience as two busy young adults in their 30s with no children. From the ease of matching with a student to the support of AFS-USA staff and volunteers, the process of hosting with AFS-USA challenged Bradley and Lance’s assumptions about what a ‘typical’ host family looks like.
“If you had asked us just over a year ago if we ever thought we’d be hosting a foreign exchange student (and doing it again!) we’d say: “No way!” As two 30-something year olds with no kids, with numerous friends, hobbies, and interests, and a travel bug, we assumed that our busy lives were unfortunately incompatible with hosting.
And we couldn’t be happier to have been so wrong.
Having both spent time abroad when we were younger through foreign exchanges and study abroad, we had long talked about ways to “pay it forward” for people wanting to experience another country and culture. When we reached out to AFS to learn about volunteer opportunities, I can only imagine the look of shock on our faces when the first thing they suggested was hosting a kid:
“Us? Host? But… We don’t have kids! And we have a small house with one bathroom… And we’re gay! Isn’t that like a ‘three strikes you’re out’ for hosting an AFS student?”
It was exciting to have each of our assumptions and concerns laid to rest one-by-one as the AFS representative patiently explained how all types of families are welcomed and encouraged to host.
“We want students to experience the variety of the United States through real families – that’s you!”
After that, the rest is history, it seems. We immediately applied to be a host family and, as soon as we were approved, got down to business searching for the right student for our family.
AFS helped us narrow down the search criteria to students who were active, independent, open to being an “only child” during their stay, and – most importantly – had preemptively marked being open to living with a [same-sex couple]! With a focused list of applicants in front of us, we quickly chose Daniel from Spain to spend the 2024-2025 year with us!
Fast-forward to now, six months into our experience as host parents with Daniel. We’ve had such a fulfilling time showing him vibrant experiences where we live, exploring the Midwest, supporting his studies and career goals, and learning not to be sore losers when he wins the card game du jour.
When people ask Daniel what he appreciates about his time here in the U.S. and what makes it unique compared to other students he’s met, he ends up listing off many of the things that we feared made us a poor fit to host students. He loves jumping in the car for a spontaneous day trip, walking to summer festivals in the city, and joining pizza night with our friends.
However your family might be different or might not fit the mold, just know that those are precisely the things that make you a great host family. Each student is unique and they deserve a wide variety of family situations and types of people to make their year abroad with AFS life changing.”
AFS-USA welcomes all types of families to host with us. If you’re interested in learning more about the hosting experience, visit our hosting webpage at afsusa.org/host to connect with our staff today!