Connections
her family has hosted in their Jaffrey, New Hampshire, home. Theo Motzkin ’11, from Jerusalem, came home with Meyers’ son Edward for spring break. Half a dozen other international students have followed him, some of whom continue to spend holidays in Jaffrey, though these days they are on break from college. Deb and Mike Scheetz P’15 had one daughter at college and a second, Abby, newly enrolled at Exeter when they became a host family to Exeter senior Carla Sehn.The Scheetzes sent a letter of introduction to Carla and Skyped with her parents in Stockholm before the start of school. As the school year progressed, Deb Scheetz says, Sehn became a third daughter who was home for holidays and called when she needed support or a break from campus. She traveled with the family to Cape Cod and Washington, D.C., and they visited her on campus and attended her plays. “We opened up our home but we got an awful lot back,” Deb Scheetz says. They gained a friendship with Carla’s parents, who stayed with the Scheetzes for a week before Carla’s Exeter graduation. The families continue to keep in touch. Abby Scheetz is living in Ireland this summer and Deb credits her spirit of adventure to the model set by Carla. “Studying abroad may have been something Abby was saving for college but I think she saw Carla’s example and thought, ‘What am I waiting for?’” Ed Payne P’14 also discovered that hosting students from around the world spurs a two-way exchange. He and his wife, Tennille Hervieux, opened their Milford, Massachusetts, home to Exeter students nearly every holiday and break during the four years Payne’s daughter Zoey was enrolled. “Zoey is a scholarship kid,” he says. “We recognize she couldn’t have had this experience without support.This is one of the ways we can give back to the school.” In a few instances, they have had several students at one time. “We don’t have a ton of extra room but we’ve got plenty of love,” says Hervieux, who encourages guests to each cook a meal from their home country. They’ve gotten a slew of recipes, from Korean stir-fry to Jamaican jerk chicken, she says, adding that Zoey’s younger brother and sister have benefited from being exposed to other cultures and cuisines. Echoes Ed Payne: “I like to think I’m well read, yet there is a lot about other cultures I’ve learned from having these kids in my home.” One of those kids, Shaquille Brown ’14, spent her first American Thanksgiving with the Paynes. “When we got to Grandma Jean’s house in Rhode Island,” she says, “I got to help roll the Pillsbury crescents and set the table. I even had my first turkey.” Brown, from Jamaica, has relied on an extended network of support during her time at Exeter: She was formally matched with an Academy “host mother” and, like many of her international counterparts, has been welcomed by numerous families over school breaks. “It helps having someone who will open up their home to you for the weekend and take you away from the rush of Exeter,” she says. “It is nice having someone in the crowd who came to see you and only you. It is nice having new family.” Beyond gaining exposure to the cultures of other countries, hosting international students can open doors on cultures closer to home. Says Fumi Matsumoto, “This was the first year for my son at Exeter, and having him bring home a friend let us see into his life at school. It was good for all of us.” —Karen Stewart
Over four years at Exeter Shaquille Brown ’14, from Jamaica, gathered a support system of Academy families and staff who opened their homes when she came back to campus early and helped ease the transition to New England's weather and food. "It got me through," she says.
Carla Sehn ’13, from Sweden, traveled with her host family on school vacations. Here she poses with the National Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C.
SUMMER 2014
The Exeter Bulletin
47