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The College is grateful to a wide-ranging group of Old Members resident in the United States, Canada and Asia who are willing to be a host to Westerman Pathfinders when they are visiting in the host's area of the country. Some hosts are retired, some are in the middle of their careers, others are just a few years out of Balliol. Other factors vary as well, including sex, marital status, income, profession and nationality. Most of the hosts are native-born to the country, but not infrequently the host may be an Old Member of Balliol originally from Britain or elsewhere who is working and living there either permanently or on a short-term contract.
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The primary thing a host is asked to do is to provide hospitality to one or more Westerman Pathfinders during the summer, when and if it is convenient to the host. Former Westerman Pathfinders reporting on their experience of the programme frequently cite the strong value they attach to meeting Old Members of Balliol and having the opportunity to visit their homes and meet their friends and family. From the College's side, the contact that is made between these recently graduated Balliol students and our Old Members abroad is considered one of the primary reasons we are enthusiastic about supporting the programme.
The minimum definition is simply a place to spend the night and this is greatly appreciated by the Westerman Pathfinders. They travel on a decent but limited budget and try to watch their expenses. If they stayed in hotels (and especially in the large cities) their funds would quickly disappear. Also, as any business person knows, staying in motels or hotels week in and week out can become a soulless experience. The versatility of youth is demonstrated by the fact that they return home just as excited to report on their enjoyment of staying in someone's one-bedroom apartment and being given the sofa bed in the living room as on staying in someone's comfortable, many-roomed suburban home.
Some of our hosts lead very hard-working lives and may simply tell a Westerman Pathfinder who wants a bed, 'Here are the keys, this is where you are sleeping, come and go as you please.' They might add, 'Come down to my office tomorrow lunchtime and I'll buy you lunch.' More typically, the Westerman Pathfinder arrives in town and is expected before dinner in the evening, they are given a meal and shown their room, and they have a bit more initial contact with the host. They are incorporated into the host's life on a temporary basis, not unlike the pattern of entertaining family members or friends from out of town who come to stay. Invariably, if the host is at work during the week they might suggest some things the Westerman Pathfinder would like to do in the area and how they can best navigate what they would like to do on their own. It is not unusual for a host's partner or spouse to end up being as strong or a stronger host than the Balliol Old Member.
The Westerman Pathfinders are instructed not to wear out their welcome by staying too many nights. The usual stay is between one to three nights maximum with one host. If the Westerman Pathfinder is interested in a particular subject that can only be pursued at length in a specific area, requiring more than a two- or three-day stay, it would not be unusual for them to either move on to another host in the area or find their own accommodation in a youth hostel or modest hotel.
Each Westerman Pathfinder will have his or her specific interests in learning more about the ideas and institutions of the host's country. If you are host to a Westerman Pathfinder and discover you share an interest, and you would like to help him or her pursue that interest, that would be greatly appreciated. One Westerman Pathfinder several years ago had studied Classics at Balliol and wanted to discover how the subject is taught at high-school level in the United States or Canada. In that instance a host was willing to introduce her to a Latin teacher in a local public school and arrange for her to attend one of the teacher's classes. In 2004, a Pathfinder who was studying to become a medical doctor and specialise in plastic surgery was enabled by a host in a large metropolitan area to observe reconstructive surgery performed by a leading children's specialist in the field. These are just two examples of the sort of help a host might want to provide. However, some of the best memories Westerman Pathfinders bring home involve conversations over a drink or a meal with an Old Member about 'what Balliol used to be like' or 'what did "life after Balliol" mean to you when you were just starting out [like the Westerman Pathfinder] in trying to choose a career'.
Not unless you want to. You decide the number of Westerman Pathfinders you are willing to invite in a given summer. You do not need to decide this in advance; you can simply determine each request as it suits you. (It is helpful if the College knows in advance if there are periods when you are most likely to be receptive to playing host or if there are periods when you are definitely not available.) You do not have to be available as a host every summer. You may want to be a host this coming summer but not the following one. Again, if you let us know in advance a summer you would prefer not to be a host, that allows us to temporarily remove your name from the list so that you are not contacted.
Here are some of the important points we try to make to the Westerman Pathfinders before they leave England:
Each Westerman Pathfinder is given a round-trip airline ticket and sufficient maintenance allowance to travel for four to eight weeks (the length depends on which programme they are on). If they budget carefully, the Westerman Pathfinders should all be fine financially. A host may notice that a Westerman Pathfinder seems unduly frugal. More likely than not, this behaviour is not due to insufficient resources; rather, the Westerman Pathfinder is simply trying to save and conserve as much income as possible - especially in the first part of their excursion and given that this might be a first experience of prolonged travel on a limited budget. It is not expected that the host should be put 'out of pocket' for the Westerman Pathfinder beyond the normal limits of hospitality.
The Westerman Pathfinders are encouraged to stay in touch with their own families back home. In addition, they have been encouraged to contact the College should something go seriously wrong during their travels. Their College contacts are:
If you have email, that is often the quickest and most efficient way for them to contact you. Otherwise, they would have your telephone number on the list the College provides for them.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Development Office by telephone (+44 (0)1865 277636) or email (development.office@balliol.ox.ac.uk).
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