Congratulations to Loay from Lebanon, ACES April 2016 Student of the Month! From community involvement and service to academic achievement, family bonding, and generally having an overall giving and positive attitude, Loay demonstrates the qualities of a truly exceptional exchange student.
As Loay’s host mom told ACES, Loay “really takes it to heart that he’s an ambassador for his country and for the program. I’ve just been so impressed at how he has wrung every experience he possibly could out of this year, making a huge effort to touch as many lives as he can.” It is clear that Loay’s attempt to touch the lives around him has been successful. After Loay was enthusiastically nominated online and over the phone by his Local Coordinator, Loay’s host mother called to let us know how much joy Loay has brought into their lives. According to the host mom, all of her 6 adult children spread out both in and out of the United States adore him and think of him as a brother. Loay and his host family truly live out the goals of ACES; among many other cultural exchanges, Loay
volunteers with the family’s church youth group and the host family is fasting with Loay for the beginning of Ramadan. Loay’s family had no intention of hosting a foreign exchange student before, but having Loay changed their perspective and now they are eager to continue hosting. They say Loay just “fell in our lap, just as the best blessing.”
Loay has also participated in the track team, in drama club where he worked stage crew, in a Model United Nations Conference, and in Civic Education Week—a week where he got to sit down with students and policymakers from over 50 countries to learn about the American
government. Loay has spent well over 100 hours volunteering; he has helped organize a blood drive, tutored, distributed food for the homeless, packaged books and supplies to
underprivileged children, and raised awareness about suicide and drug addition. Through these activities Loay notes that he has “changed perspective regarding a lot of issues.” In return, Loay shares that he believes he is also changing others’ perspectives: “every day I feel happy as I share the culture of my county, fix misconceptions, and witness people changing their mind about where I come from.” Thank you, Loay, for all that you have done for cultural exchange. We are so glad to have you on this program!