Squeezing the Most Out of Summer

All of our exchanges begin and end the day in a circle: Each morning and evening, students, Exchange Managers, volunteers, and sometimes host parents will sit or stand in a circle and look to the day ahead or reflect on the day gone by. We send our Exchange Managers a series of questions meant to prompt discussion—questions like, What do people get wrong about you? Who do you want to thank and why? Or, What is one thing you are going to promise the group after you leave? These moments of reflection are a chance for students to pause, dig beneath the day’s fun, and listen.

In June, I joined our West Jordan, Utah, exchange group for their evening closing circle. It took only a few days for the students to become pals, and those new friends stood on a desert of salt stained pink by the sunset, stretching all the way to the Nevada border and the arid mountains beyond. With some herding, the adventurers from more than half a dozen states formed more of an amoeba than a circle, and then out came the evening’s question: “What have you learned about Utah culture so far? And what, if anything, has it taught you about yourself?”

Every student talked about small acts of kindness—holding the door, good morning hugs, cooking for one another—and how those small acts made them feel like they belonged. More than that, it made them feel like they could be their authentic selves in front of people they had not known only a few days prior; people they maybe had even heard some less-than-nice things about before they made their way to Utah. And they said the word ‘authentic’ like it was a rare mineral. Then one student said a line that’s been echoing in my mind ever since: