![\"Nastya](\"https:\/\/nclhx5yj.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/1STORY.jpg\")
Nastya Vershenya \u201901 and Sarah Hanson Salgado \u201903 are each other\u2019s chosen family. Their story begins in Sarah\u2019s seventh grade year at MPA, when, as an only child, MPA\u2019s call for families to host an international student was appealing and exciting. Both Sarah\u2019s family and Nastya, coming as an international student to MPA from Minsk, were looking for the same thing, but none of them expected to gain a bonus sister\/daughter in the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwenty some years later, she’s still a part of our family,\u201d Sarah said. \u201cHer [Nastya\u2019s] daughter calls my parents her grandparents, and my parents refer to Nastya as their bonus daughter. We truly did gain a family member from the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
We were able to connect with Sarah and Nastya together to share their heartwarming story as a host family and bonus family member.<\/p>\n
How did you meet and become family?<\/strong><\/p>\n Sarah found what she was searching for in a sister and friend in Nastya. \u201cI\u2019m an only child. When I was preschool age, my parents had done a couple college student homestays at our house. As a three, four, and five-year-old, that was really fun for me! I remembered liking that, and the summer after seventh grade, MPA sent out a newsletter looking for host families. I called my mom at work to say \u2018Mom, you have to call MPA right now, and we\u2019re gonna do this!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Nastya was drawn to MPA after her family\u2019s experience with Friendship Force. Friendship Force connects families with others, staying with each other as host families for weeks at a time. Her family happened to connect with an MPA family, and they presented an opportunity for the international program to her.<\/p>\n The day Nastya was supposed to arrive in Minnesota, there was a massive airline workers\u2019 strike. She couldn\u2019t get to MSP, and had to reroute to Chicago as the closest available airport. Sarah\u2019s family was so adamant about not delaying Nastya\u2019s arrival, that at three in the morning they made the drive to Chicago to personally pick her up.<\/p>\n Whether or not either Sarah or Nastya realized how long-term their relationship would be, it developed and grew so naturally that Nastya extended her stay with Sarah for the rest of her time at MPA.<\/p>\n \u201cIt worked out that we had a great time with Nastya and a good experience. She was planning to stay at MPA and it just made sense to keep her in our family,\u201d Sarah recalls.<\/p>\n Nastya notes that for her, it was key to have that consistency. \u201cThere were other host families available at the time, but Sarah\u2019s mom thought that there should be consistency\u2013without realizing that it would a 20 year commitment!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a one-year commitment in the beginning\u00ad\u2013it wasn\u2019t meant to be automatically extended through the end of high school,\u201d Nastya said. \u201cAt the end of the first year, I decided I would stay. And then we sat down and had a discussion with Sarah\u2019s parents about me being better about chores!\u201d<\/p>\n What is the most impactful part of each of your experiences?<\/strong><\/p>\n For Nastya, it\u2019s hard to summarize. \u201cIt totally changed my life. In hindsight of what\u2019s happening in the world, I\u2019m very lucky I had the opportunity to come to MPA when I did. Having MPA and Sarah\u2019s family as my home base made a big difference from if I went to a public high school. A small and supportive environment was very positive for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Sarah agrees\u2013she witnessed Nastya\u2019s growth firsthand. \u201cThe path that it took you on and the opportunities you had as an adult\u2026being able to go to MPA and be in the US for your secondary education opened a lot of doors.\u201d<\/p>\n What would you tell another family considering hosting an international student?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI hope other families develop lifelong connections. I think getting the chance to have someone else become part of your family, whether a short or long period, provides so many opportunities for expanding your worldview,\u201d Sarah said. \u201cBe open minded and gracious to have somebody new in your family. It can be an incredible experience.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLearn about their culture and the country they\u2019re coming from,\u201d Nastya noted. \u201cWe\u2019ve gone traveling together to Russia and various cities so I could show Sarah the place that I am from. Really learn what other countries and people that live there are about. It\u2019s much more than just having a relationship with the student, but also their<\/em> family. Sarah doesn\u2019t just know me, she knows my parents and my brother.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMPA\u2019s community and culture made it a lot easier to have a very nurturing and committed experience to being a host family, because the small, intimate community is very welcoming and accepting,\u201d Sarah added. \u201cI had no idea when I told my mom to call that we would have a lifelong connection to each other. It feels like a special gift.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Nastya](\"https:\/\/nclhx5yj.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/3STORY.jpg\")
Why did you and your family decide to become a host family?<\/strong><\/p>\n