My mother wanted more children, my father did not. The compromise was an exchange student. I thought we would get a single exchange student, someone who would live in our house and fill the empty spot at the kitchen table for six months and then leave our lives. Never did I think that our first exchange student would change our lives so drastically.

His name was Lucas and he came to us at the tender age of 16 from a small town in Germany. I was nine years old and in the fourth grade, the oldest of three kids. I already had two younger brothers and wasn't thrilled with the idea of an older brother, but within a week of Lucas being a part of our family, I had changed my mind.

I thought this stranger was going to be exactly that, a stranger. Instead, he became the older brother I never knew that I needed and yes I did need him. He spent hours playing games with us and teaching us German phrases. We went to football games together, played board games, watched movies and ate too much cereal to image.

He became a central part of our family and saying goodbye was absolutely horrible. Yes we knew that we would see him again, he was family, there wasn't another option but we knew it wouldn't be for a long time.

He was the first exchange student to come into our house. He was the one that opened my heart up and made me wish for others to come into our house. I wanted more siblings, more people to talk to, more family to experience life with.

His younger sister, Franzi came three years later. She too stayed for six months and she too took up residence in my heart. My dream of a sister had finally come true. We played card games all night long, binge-watched "Gilmore Girls", went to Tennis games, and simply laughed together.

By that point in time, we had all met Lucas and Franzi's parents, and they had become my surrogate parents. Not only had I found siblings in another country, but I had found an entire family to love and support.

I thought my heart was full after having the two of them. I thought our family was complete. Once again I was wrong. During my high school years, I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in the German American Partnership Program or GAPP. My school had a sister school in Germany, and every two years we did a month-long exchange. Of course, my family got involved and we welcomed exchange student number three into our house, Elena.

While she only stayed a month, she still became part of our family. She was more quiet and shy, but that didn't stop us from binge-watching movies, playing family games, and visiting as many sites as we could in Texas to show her what American life was like. Our connection wasn't as strong, but she is still my sister in every way that matters.

Exchange student number four came into our lives in the same way, through the GAPP program. Her name was Lena and she became my best friend. Our month together in America was filled with late nights of laughter, binge-watching "Sherlock", countless family games nights, and cooking in the kitchen together. Are you seeing a theme of family games and binge-watching shows yet?

She teased my family like we were her own from day one. A month before I was supposed to go Germany for my part of the exchange, I got an email asking if she could come back for an entire year. We didn't even need to talk about the idea as a family. My time in Germany with her family was just as natural and I love the relationships I built up with her parents and siblings. Who knew that you could learn to love people so deeply in a single month?

Fast forward a few months and she came back to the US. She stayed with us for over nine months. Nine months is a long time, but it wasn't nearly long enough for me. She became such a central part of our family, they all did though. While the previous exchange students had all been older than me, she was my age. The others had taken on the mentality of an older sibling, where she was my equal, my friend.

Last year, my little brother got to participate in GAPP and welcome exchange student number five into our house, a boy named Andreas. Sadly I was already off at college, but I did get to meet him for a weekend where I showed him all that Oklahoma State University had to offer.

He was sarcastic and fit right into the family. My brother and he made so many amazing memories, and I loved hearing and seeing how my brother changed because of the experience.

Five exchange students from 2009-2016, five new members of my family, five people that changed my life. When you give a girl an exchange student, you give her a world where she can find family no matter where she is, where she can appreciate culture and history, where she can learn to turn a total stranger into family. When you give a girl an exchange student, you change her world for the better.