We asked AFS Volunteer Cynthia Cornelius of St. Louis, Missouri a few questions about her experiences with AFS. Find out what she has to say about volunteering with the Missouri Gateway Team and the benefits of hosting AFS international students!
How did you learn about AFS and what prompted you to get involved?
Through my son’s high school, and my high school was also involved with AFS.
What keeps you coming back to volunteer each year?
Meeting all of the awesome kids who are daring enough to leave their comfort zone to live and learn abroad. It gives me real hope for the future of our world.
What’s a typical volunteer “shift” like for you?
My “shift” begins by planning meals and shopping for all of the supplies for those meals. I have another awesome volunteer who always helps me load and unload my car at the beginning and end of orientation weekends. Once we arrive I have other volunteers help in the preparation of the meals I have planned. We get a great assembly line going.
What have you learned or how have you been personally affected from your experience with AFS?
I have probably learned as much about myself as I have about the traditions of other cultures from my interactions with AFSers. When they ask why we do things a certain way, it automatically makes you see things about yourself and culture in a different light. We are so much more similar than different.
Can you share the best or funniest thing that’s happened to you while volunteering with AFS?
There are so many wonderful memories and events and they continue to accumulate as time goes on, but I think one that stands out in particular is when my youngest son got married and his AFS brothers came to the wedding. Even though we had been an AFS family at that point for many years, the reaction of our family and friends in seeing the closeness of our family with our boys really hit home. Many commented on how seeing us all together made them realize our boys are truly our sons. My Japanese son is getting married this coming February and I am so happy to say that we will all be a part of his wedding too!
What do you want to say to people who might be interested in volunteering with AFS?
I think what most people don’t realize is how much you get in return from both volunteering and hosting. There really is room for one more in your family no matter how busy life is. It fills your heart to open your door and share your home. It makes such a dynamic change in your life as well as in the life of the student you host.