Pasadena Citizen - News
Students from other countries still waiting for class, home
 |
| Kathleen Hoffman welcomed Quyen Nguyen into her home two years ago as part of the ASAI student exchange program. Now, they call themselves family. |
By YVETTE OROZCO
With just one week left before the start of the school season, 12 young people are still waiting to see if they can go to class.
Kathleen Hoffman is the regional director of the American Scholastics Associated International (ASAI), a non-profit organization which matches young people on student visas from all over the world with American host families in order to attend an American high school.
She is anxiously waiting along with those 12 students.
“I need host families,” she said. “We have 12 young men left to place, one for one semester and the rest are for a full school year.”
While Hoffman’s statement may read like a classified ad, there are 12 reasons why her request is personal.
“If we don’t find host families for them, they don’t get to come,” she said.
Twelve hopeful 10th, 11th and 12th graders from Brazil, China, South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong and Vietnam are traveling miles and miles from home so that they can further their education, master the English language and expand their cultural experience.
“This is about globalization,” said Hoffman.
Hoffman’s own experience is a testament to that.
The young student she hosted speaks English with a British accent acquired from his instructor and is now embarking on a degree in chemical engineering at the University of Texas.
“He speaks better English than a lot of kids born and raised here in the U.S.,” she said.
Paper work, background checks, the entire process of becoming a host family can take less than a week, so there is still time, said Hoffman.
“We don’t like them arriving more than a week behind, but these students are ready,” she said. “They’re just waiting for a family and a school acceptance form.”
Many districts, like Pasadena ISD, do not issue diplomas to foreign exchange students and require streams of red tape before they are accepted into the ASA program.
They must maintain a certain grade point average, they have house rules to follow and program rules to follow.
Leaving their families at 16, 17 or 18 years old, each student is taking a challenge, but one that Quyen Vu Nguyena welcomed.
The former ASAI exchange student lived with Hoffman’s family for two years and is now headed to Austin.
The trip from Vietnam, the red tape and the rules were worth it, he said.
“They (host families) are giving kids an opportunity to grow up, to discover themselves, to open their eyes and see new things they would never, ever have seen in their own country,” he said.
For every student, he added, who does not find a host family in time for the school season, an opportunity is lost.
“The host families are giving somebody an opportunity to make a difference.”
For more information, call 713-477-9176.
Kathleen Hoffman is the regional director of the American Scholastics Associated International (ASAI), a non-profit organization which matches young people on student visas from all over the world with American host families in order to attend an American high school.
She is anxiously waiting along with those 12 students.
“I need host families,” she said. “We have 12 young men left to place, one for one semester and the rest are for a full school year.”
While Hoffman’s statement may read like a classified ad, there are 12 reasons why her request is personal.
“If we don’t find host families for them, they don’t get to come,” she said.
Twelve hopeful 10th, 11th and 12th graders from Brazil, China, South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong and Vietnam are traveling miles and miles from home so that they can further their education, master the English language and expand their cultural experience.
“This is about globalization,” said Hoffman.
Hoffman’s own experience is a testament to that.
The young student she hosted speaks English with a British accent acquired from his instructor and is now embarking on a degree in chemical engineering at the University of Texas.
“He speaks better English than a lot of kids born and raised here in the U.S.,” she said.
Paper work, background checks, the entire process of becoming a host family can take less than a week, so there is still time, said Hoffman.
“We don’t like them arriving more than a week behind, but these students are ready,” she said. “They’re just waiting for a family and a school acceptance form.”
Many districts, like Pasadena ISD, do not issue diplomas to foreign exchange students and require streams of red tape before they are accepted into the ASA program.
They must maintain a certain grade point average, they have house rules to follow and program rules to follow.
Leaving their families at 16, 17 or 18 years old, each student is taking a challenge, but one that Quyen Vu Nguyena welcomed.
The former ASAI exchange student lived with Hoffman’s family for two years and is now headed to Austin.
The trip from Vietnam, the red tape and the rules were worth it, he said.
“They (host families) are giving kids an opportunity to grow up, to discover themselves, to open their eyes and see new things they would never, ever have seen in their own country,” he said.
For every student, he added, who does not find a host family in time for the school season, an opportunity is lost.
“The host families are giving somebody an opportunity to make a difference.”
For more information, call 713-477-9176.
Copyright © 2009 - Houston Community Newspapers Online