Prior to hosting foreign exchange students, Haley said Mother’s Day could be especially hard.
TYLER, Texas — Haley Kouvaris knew she wanted to be a mom, but she didn’t know her first kid would be a teenager from Poland. She also didn’t know her second would be from Czechoslovakia.
Haley and her husband Nick hosted teenager Bianca as a foreign exchange student back in October 2023. It wasn’t planned, but it all worked out really well.
“I wouldn’t change it for anything,” Haley said.
Now, Haley and Nick are opening their home up to another foreign exchange student named Emily. She’s from Czechoslovakia.
Haley and Nick’s struggle with infertility has made having biological children a challenge, yet Bianca and Emily have provided Haley and Nick with an opportunity to treat the two girls like their own daughters.
Prior to hosting foreign exchange students, Haley said Mother’s Day could be especially hard.
“There’s years where Mother’s Day was a day I kind of avoided,” Haley said.
Being a new mom to a teenager had its challenges, but Haley knew exactly who to call for advice.
“I called my mom a lot,” she said.
Emily spent her senior year at Cumberland Academy, where she ran track, participated in yearbook and even joined the cheer team.
“She was the cutest cheerleader ever,” Haley said. “She did a really good job.”
And Emily isn’t leaving East Texas anytime soon. She’ll attend Stephen F. Austin State University in the fall on scholarship to study marketing.
“College is not an option for her back home,” Haley said. “To get to see her flourish and the excitement on her face when she got accepted into college here was just kind of a turning moment.”
It’s pretty cool for a mom to watch her kid chase her dreams.