{"333321":{"#nid":"333321","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Hosts Sought to Provide \u2018Home for the Holidays\u2019","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EMembers of the Tech community have long welcomed international students into their homes during the holidays. Now, a group of students is making it easier to connect those interested in sharing an international Thanksgiving.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p4\u0022\u003EHome for the Holidays is an effort to join international students not going home for Thanksgiving with faculty, staff, and other students who would be up for treating them to a festive American meal.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003ELast year, Brandie Banner, vice president for the undergraduate Student Government Association (SGA) and resident advisor in Housing, hosted two of her residents at her parents\u2019 Alpharetta home.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cMy family loved having them and hearing about their culture, and they kept saying how happy they were to get off campus during the break and have a taste of an American home,\u201d the civil engineering major said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EMaria Silva-Willson, a fourth-year industrial engineering major, has spent all her Thanksgiving breaks away from her family in Venezuela. She spent the first with new friends from Tech, gathering in a dorm for a traditional menu of turkey, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, and pumpkin pie. They followed dinner with a cab ride to shop on their first Black Friday.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cYou see everyone leaving campus to spend Thanksgiving with their families and loved ones, which makes you want to learn more about the tradition and be part of it,\u201d Silva-Willson said. \u201cMost international students don\u2019t have the means to fly home this time of year.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003ESilva-Willson has spent her college Thanksgivings with friends from Tech and from high school but never at a table with an American family \u2014 something she hopes to do this year.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cIt took me three years to understand that Thanksgiving can be celebrated in numerous ways and that there\u2019s not one meal or event that is the rule of the day,\u201d she said. \u201cThe only common theme is to take time to get together and express gratitude.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThe Office of International Education helped advise SGA on this initiative. Meg Popick, international student advisor, has firsthand experience hosting students at her home and organized a similar Thanksgiving host program while working at Boston College.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cAt Tech, most of us are used to being in a very diverse environment, but to bring that to your family is really rewarding,\u201d she said. \u201cThe cross-cultural experience is beneficial for both sides and an important part of an international student\u2019s stay here in the U.S.\u201d International students make up about 21 percent of Tech\u2019s total student population, and fostering globally engaged students is part of Georgia Tech\u2019s Strategic Plan. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003ETo those who are hesitant, Jen Abrams, a public policy major and resident advisor who\u2019s helping organize the initiative, offers pragmatic advice: Just go for it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cIt may be a little uncomfortable at first, as it is whenever you meet someone new, but don\u2019t let uncertainty keep you from the chance to make others feel like they have a home in a place so far away from their own,\u201d she said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EPotential hosts and students looking to be hosted can express interest online by Saturday, Nov. 1. When completing the online interest form, potential hosts can choose whether they\u2019d like to host for just the meal or overnight.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/h-ahomefortheholidays\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHost interest form\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/s-ahomefortheholidays\u0022\u003EStudent interest form\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EInternational students and campus hosts can be matched to share a cross-cultural Thanksgiving.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"International students and campus hosts can be matched to share a cross-cultural Thanksgiving."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2014-10-13 09:48:15","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:15","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-10-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-10-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"333311":{"id":"333311","type":"image","title":"Claire Batten with fellow students during Thanksgiving","body":null,"created":"1449245133","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:05:33","changed":"1475895044","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:44","alt":"Claire Batten with fellow students during Thanksgiving","file":{"fid":"200421","name":"img_8485.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_8485_0.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_8485_0.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":263874,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/img_8485_0.jpeg?itok=vG0AR1kU"}}},"media_ids":["333311"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/h-ahomefortheholidays","title":"Host Interest Form"},{"url":"http:\/\/tinyurl.comsh-ahomefortheholidays\/","title":"Student Interest Form"},{"url":"http:\/\/oie.gatech.edu\/","title":"Office of International Education"},{"url":"http:\/\/sga.gatech.edu\/","title":"Student Government Association"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"106231","name":"home for the holidays"},{"id":"4374","name":"international students"},{"id":"9055","name":"office of international education"},{"id":"1589","name":"OIE"},{"id":"166922","name":"sga"},{"id":"166923","name":"student government association"},{"id":"2282","name":"Thanksgiving"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:gtahomefortheholidays@gmail.com\u0022\u003EBrandie Banner\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EStudent Government Association\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kristen.bailey@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKristen Bailey\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}