Karen Shell -  lives on the beautiful Emerald Coast of the Gulf of Mexico. I am a widow, I have one daughter that has 3 wonderful sons. I love being a grandmother, it is the best job I have ever had. I got involved with foreign exchange in 1994 after answering an ad to be a host family. I then became an area representative in Feb. 1994 for another program. I worked for them for 11 years and left to go to work with another program. I worked there one year before coming over with NWS to work with my good friend Teresa. I have hosted 24 students from many different countries with the youngest being 12 years old. I tell everyone that Teresa and I grow up together in the exchange business.

Hosting has been one of the best experiences I think I have had the pleasure of doing. To see my daughter and grandsons learn so much about parts of the world some people have never even heard of. My daughter had the honor of going out bound for a summer in Brazil and she loved it. There are so many rewards in hosting a student, so I hope all of you will open your heart and home to an exchange student.

I have had the great pleasure of traveling to Brazil, Mexico, Paris, The Netherlands and China where I worked with the Chinese students and helped them to get their visa. I love to travel out of the country and wish I could take every vacation to anohter country.