Exchange Student Enjoys a Typical Farmington High Senior Experience

In Spain, Marina Courtaut is still a high school junior. But she's enjoying her senior year at , as an exchange student staying with the Halton-Balogh family in Farmington Hills. 

Coming in as a senior allows her to experience more, Marina said, from varsity sports and prom to the Senior All-Night Party. Since August, she has also visited Washington, D.C., Chicago, Niagra Falls and University of Michigan athletic events.

While this wasn't her first trip to the U.S., living here for months at a time has been an adjustment, Marina said. Her host family was very patient with her in the beginning, she said, because "they have to repeat things, and sometimes, you don't understand each other."

The family had an advantage, in that mom Lynn Halton and Marina's mother, Esther, first met through a foreign exchange program 25 years ago. A few years ago, Carli Balogh, now a University of Michigan student, spent three weeks in Spain, while Marina stayed here for three weeks.

Still, Marina said, she faced some big adjustments. In Spain, she stayed the whole year with the same class, rather than having different classmates for each subject. And getting used to the school's trimester schedule was "really, really hard", she said. 

On the positive side, she counts her time with the Falcon varsity soccer team as "one of the best experiences here", and she has especially enjoyed classes in yoga and psychology. 

Friends in Spain have kept in touch; Marina said she receives emails almost every day. When she returns at the end of June, she will complete her "real" senior year and stay in Spain for her first year of post-secondary education. If her grades are good enough, she said, the government will provide funds that can be used to study in other European countries. 

Marina said her time in the U.S. has been "really, really good" and she attributes that in large part to her U.S. family. 

"I think the biggest thing is the host family really helped me a lot," she said. "It really is important for the family to support you and accept you."

The Youth for Understanding exchange program recently put out a call for 2012-2013 host homes. For detailed information on the students and to see whether hosting might be right for you, call Barb Kilkka at 248-932-0811 or write to Kilkka@yfu.org.