For most people when they go home it’s a very sacred thing. Opening up and letting people into their family is not the normal thing to do; however, my family is different. My house is basically a home for lost children, and very close friends. This Thanksgiving I brought not only my boyfriend but also a foreign exchange student home with me.

This created some stress for me considering that I didn’t know how my family would react. My family is a very teasing group. We all love each other very much but we also enjoy throwing each other under the bus quite a bit and this made me a little nervous considering I had Othmane home with me. I was sadly mistaken though. My family basically fell in love with this boy. They were teasing him a little bit but the majority was them just asking him questions about the differences between Morocco and the States, and just wanting to understand his life and beliefs. I was so proud to not only introduce him as one of my best friends but to be able to introduce him to my family.

My family is one of the most important things in my life and having them both be able to experience the craziness that we are over holidays was one of my most proud moments. They saw not only the grotesque amount of food that we have, the incredibly offensive way that the Alexanders play games and how competitive we get with each other. He shared the differences between family life here in America and Morocco, he talked about how much he missed the food and his family and also just how much he loved America too.

Going to college and leaving my family was quite possibly the hardest thing I've ever done. I never realized I could miss something or someone so much; however, being able to come home and introduce them to my college friends and mesh my two worlds together has been such a blessing. I'm so thankful for Ouachita Baptist University and for NWA and if any of you are from there or have visited you understand how, even though it’s a very tiny town and the main thing there is a Walmart, its still such a quaint little place that steals your heart and doesn’t like to give it back.

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving and let's finish strong with this semester.